I place these gifts on my altar this Christmas;

Gifts that are mine, as the years are mine:

The quiet hopes that flood the earnest cargo of my dreams:

The best of all good things for those I love,

A fresh new trust for all whose faith is dim.

The love of life, God’s precious gift in reach of all:

Seeing in each day the seeds of the morrow,

Finding in each struggle the strength of renewal,

Seeking in each person the face of my brother.

I place these gifts on my altar this Christmas;

Gifts that are mine, as the years are mine.

Howard Thurman

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” To work for peace, you must have a peaceful heart. When you do, you are the child of God. But many who work for peace are not at peace. They still have anger and frustration, and their work is not really peaceful. We cannot say that they are touching the Kingdom of God. To preserve peace, our hearts must be at peace with the world, with our brothers and our sisters. When we try to overcome evil with evil, we are not working for peace. If you say, “Saddam Hussein is evil. We have to prevent him from continuing to be evil,” and if you then use the same means he has been using, you are exactly like him. Trying to overcome evil with evil is not the way to make peace.

Thich Nhat Hanh
Living Buddha, Living Christ