Today we are living in a rapidly changing world. The advances being made by science and technology are leading humanity into amazing, new dimensions. Young people today are traveling the information highway via computers, cell phones, iPods, video games, and more. Technologies that were only fantasized about in science fiction books and movies when their grandparents were kids are now a part of their everyday lives.

However, with all the wonders of post-modern society, we human beings have yet to learn how to live peacefully with one another.

My grandmother, Myrtle Fillmore, co-founder of Unity®, asked more than a hundred years ago, “Who will take care of the children?” I wonder what she would think today when so many of the children of our world are treated so carelessly. People and nations plan wars, drop bombs, plant land mines, and continue to practice “an eye for an eye” morality.

Being Peacemakers
Unity is a healing ministry, and our mission has always been to raise human consciousness, to be peacemakers, to remind people that we all have the power within us to make our lives meaningful and fulfilling.

An exciting project is happening in Unity. Through the Association of Unity Churches International’s Youth of Unity (Y.O.U.), young people from around the world attend the Y.O.U. Conference each year and participate in the Peace by Piece program. For two weeks these teenagers join together in sharing experiences—having fun, attending spiritual workshops, and most important, establishing friendships—that remain long after the teenagers return to their respective countries. It is a life-changing experience for all who participate in this inspiring project.

In 1998 the International Y.O.U. officers represented the youth of the world at the United Nations for the inaugural launch of A Season for Nonviolence. The International Y.O.U. received a standing ovation after their presentation to the United Nations gathering. I’m sure it was a moment they will never forget.

At a recent Peace by Piece program held here at Unity Village, a young man from South America told of the difficulty of maintaining a normal life in a country that is being ravaged by guerrilla warfare and drug trafficking. He spoke of a friend who had committed suicide because he could no longer handle his feelings of despair and hopelessness. As he was speaking about his friend, his voice filled with emotion and it was difficult for him to continue, but he did.

He closed his talk by beseeching his audience to please be kind to one another, because you don’t know just how much pain another is experiencing. Six hundred teenagers were so still as José spoke that you literally could have heard a pin drop. He followed his talk with one of the most effective meditations I have ever been privileged to hear.

After the meditation, the Peace by Piece program closed with a sweet Jamaican boy singing Bob Marley’s song “One Love.” As he began to sing, every young person there spontaneously rose in unison, reached for their neighbor’s hand, and began singing with him. It was an unforgettable moment, and I thought, How different our world would be if we would just remember to be kind to one another.

I live in Jamaica part of each year, and the children of this beautiful island must also deal with the fear of violence. Kingston, the capital, is its largest city and has the dubious distinction of being one of the world’s most violent cities. Kingston’s three-fold challenge is over-population, poverty, and pollution. It is a microcosm of what our whole world must solve if we are to bring forth “a new heaven and a new earth” in the twenty-first century.

The Jamaican people are extremely resourceful, and I’m constantly inspired by how prayerfully and joyfully they remain even when life is difficult. Each year Jamaicans observe a day of peace. Schools throughout the country celebrate with programs and activities promoting the message of nonviolence and peace. In Montego Bay, students of the Unity Preparatory School, which has some 400 children, wrote poems expressing what peace means to them. Donneka Johns, an eleven-year-old, sixth-grade student, wrote a heartfelt plea in her poem entitled “Peace.” I think she speaks for all children when she writes:


Yes, peace is what our whole world needs. Let it begin this very day with you and with me.

Do you wonder what you can do to bring about peace on a global scale? You can make a difference in our world through these inspirational resources: