Nine advocates of peace came together last night at Grounds for Thought to toss around the idea of peace in our world today. Led by Don Scherer, a professor of philosophy at the University each sat and spoke about the meaning of peace.
This session was the first of five sessions sponsored by United Christian Fellowship (UCF), the Philosophy Department, and the John Denver Peace Cloth Campus Series. These sessions were created to honor the retirement of Rev. William Thompson who ministered in the Bowling Green area for sixteen years.
Session one, titled “The Meaning of Peace,” was an open table discussion led by Scherer to find the true definition of peace. According to Scherer it can mean many things including the absence of war and finding inner peace within one’s self.
Each member of the group said that inner peace can be found in many different ways and that students, along with every human being, can find it in themselves.
Rev. Diane Christopherson said that one must, “move beyond comfort zones, and be with people unlike themselves.” She feels that peace can also be found when one finds an area of concern or passion in their lives and then volunteers their time in that area. Many group members agreed with Christopherson including Scherer.
“Work for a cause and you will find how much people are the same underneath,” said Scherer. He along with the group of adults hope that students will come to the next four sessions in the series called Peace, Justice, and Spirituality. Scherer said that peace is a process of society, that there must be interaction in the process by people.
Many times the topic of discussion found its way to the events of September 11th. This brought up topics such as peace keeping efforts of the United States and the idea of war. People in the group talked about how citizens of the United State of America have not really experienced war in their homeland.
“Unfortunately we have a narrow idea of what war is,” said Mary Natvig, affiliated with UCF. She said that it is difficult to grasp the idea of peace when she has not ever been threatened like others worldwide. Natvig questioned how others feel who are constantly faced with war and poverty and what is their look on peace.
Scherer posed a question toward the end of the table discussion: “What motivates you to be peaceful and happy?” The group as a whole hopes that students will become aware of what peace means to them and then learn to use that peace to teach others about its benefits.
