Colman McCarthy has been an inspiration for my own peacework from the beginning. Right after I escaped from the domestic violence situation. I encountered his distance learning course from the Center for Teaching Peace and took it with great enthusiasm.
A quote of his inspired this post: “The earth is too small a star and we too brief a visitor upon it for anything to matter more than the struggle for peace.”
I understand what he means by “the struggle for peace,” but I eschew the idea of struggle attendant upon peace at all. Sure, peace can be a struggle, but I firmly believe it doesn’t have to be unless we choose it that way.
Wikipedia says, Colman McCarthy directs the Center for Teaching Peace in Washington and teaches courses on nonviolence. McCarthy (born 1938) is an American journalist, teacher, lecturer, pacifist, an anarchist and long-time peace activist. From 1969 to 1997, he wrote columns for The Washington Post. His topics ranged from politics, religion, health, and sports to education, poverty, and peacemaking.
Since 1982, he has been teaching courses on nonviolence and the literature of peace. In 25 years, he has had more than 7,000 students in his classes. In 1985, he founded the Center for Teaching Peace, a nonprofit that helps schools begin or expand academic programs in Peace studies.
He was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award in Sherborn, Massachusetts.
Mr. McCarthy is a person who puts his mind and his mouth where his convictions are. For him, peace is a struggle. It is for me sometimes too. I’m sure he’s had to work very hard to find a place for peace as a legitimate study in and near the Washington, D. C. area, but, struggle or not, he’s done it. He is a peace educator, and we need more of them.
It inspires me, really. His career. His carefully-forged path. I am considering creating a series of teleclasses on the importance of peace in our everyday lives. If it intrigues you, send me an email: susan@susancorso.com
For spiritual nourishment, please visit www.susancorso.com
posted by PeaceCorso on 1/24/2011 4:35 pm
