Becoming a Peace-loving Global Citizen

Excerpts from the book translated into English

Foreword

A steady spring rain fell all last night, ending a winter drought. It was so nice to have had the rain that I spent all this morning walking about in the garden. The ground had that fragrant aroma of moist earth I had missed all through the winter, and the weeping willow and cherry trees were showing signs of new spring buds. I felt I could hear the popping sounds of new life sprouting here and there around the garden. Before I knew it, my wife, who had followed me out, was picking young mugwort shoots that had managed to poke their heads up through the dry lawn. The night's rain had turned the whole world into a fragrant spring garden.

No matter how much commotion may be in the world, when the calendar turns to March spring is on its way. The older I become, the more it means to me that in nature spring follows winter and brings with it flowers in full bloom. What am I that God, in each season, allows the flowers to bloom and the snow to fall so I might know the joy of being alive? Love wells up from within the deepest recesses of my heart, and I am overcome with emotion. I am moved to tears to think that everything of real value has been given to me freely. In my life, I have circled the globe many times over in my efforts to bring a world of peace, and yet it is here in this garden in spring that I am able to taste real peace. Peace, too, was given to us by God, but we lost it somewhere and now spend our lives looking for it in all the wrong places.

To bring a world of peace, I have spent my life going to the most lowly and secluded places. I met mothers in Africa who could only watch helplessly as their children died of hunger, and I met fathers in South America who lived by a river full of fish but couldn't feed their children because they didn't know how to fish. All I did was give them a small amount of food, but they granted me their love in return. Intoxicated with the power of love, I cultivated virgin forest and planted seeds. I cut down trees to build a school, and I caught fish to feed hungry children. I was happy even as mosquitoes bit me all over as I fished all through the night. Even when my feet were sinking knee-deep into mud, I was happy because I could see the shadows of loneliness disappear from the face of my neighbors.

to be continued...