Sometimes in seeing others we come face-to-face with the mirror and see things within ourselves. I did that today.

It's not like I didn't know those things were there inside me. It's more like I overlooked them and tried to go on about my business.

But now they are my business. Perhaps more so than anything I'm trying to do for you or the rest of the world.

What I saw really put me in my place.

In today’s world, peace needs to become more than just a word.

Today’s students are bombarded with television images, video games, and magazine articles/newspapers that give importance to conflict and war. Violence has become commonplace and accepted as part of our society and, for some students, it is a way of life.

Everyone's talking about the economic meltdown happening before our very eyes.

And when they aren't they're lamenting over the failure of the major political parties to serve us instead of themselves, even while dutifully taking sides in their game of musical chairs to see who will next get the keys to the kingdom.

I guess our own troubles aren't enough. Maybe we need this massive dose of fear in order to face the consequences of our own inaction.

Did you know that the United Nations sponsors a University for Peace?

"Headquartered in Costa Rica, the United Nations-mandated University for Peace was established in December 1980 as a Treaty Organization by the UN General Assembly. "