Alan O’Hare – Engaging Peace

Peace Within The Creases

Posted on August 27, 2018August 27, 2018 by kathiemm

~Deana J. Tavare

by Deana J. Tavares Tavares

At 94 years old, Ora Spadafora still dreams and inspires within the process. Peace is her dream, and she makes sure that it flies into the hands of everyone along her path. When she goes out to eat, she always thanks her server with a bright representation of kindness and connection. The colorful paper cranes that were gifted to me will serve as a reminder that we must pass on whatever fragments of peace that we possess within our bones, to the next generation.

e dotention has conn Within each crease of her paper creations live her shared experiences, words, energy, and spirit. One simple gesture done with great intention has connected our hearts and created another link in the chain of peace. I absorbed the energy and light that she so generously rained down on me.

Beauty upon beauty is what I witnessed. I saw her many layers of light unfolding and folding right in front of my eyes. She still questions. Maybe when we stop questioning is when we truly stop living.

Ora Spadafora with Alan O’Hare and Dot Walsh on Dedham TV’s Oneness And Wellness) You too can be inspired by her words and presence. Stay tuned to see her interview on: dedhamtv.com

Ora mentioned that her granddaughter says, “It is what it is,” and then she responds by saying “But what is it?”

Every day I am blessed, but today I was blessed to be in her presence. I felt her words of peace curl up in the sunniest part of my heart, and there they will remain. It takes many pieces folded together to create a better world. My dreams of peace were gifted one thousand cranes’ wings to fly that day by the beautiful bright aura that is Ora.

Note from Kathie MM:

Follow Ora’s lead. Speak out for peace, for disarmament, for social justice at every opportunity. Join together with some friends and contact your local cable TV station with a suggestion for peace talks.

Deana’s original and somewhat longer post can be seen on her blog at https://jummyjeenz.com/2018/08/08/peace-within-the-creases/

bsorbed the energy and light that she so generously rained down upon me. Beauty upon beauty is what I witnessed. I saw her many layers of light unfolding and folding right in front of my eyes. She still questions. simple gesture done with great intention has connected our hearts upon me. Beauty upon beauty is what I witnessed. I saw her many layers of light unfolding and folding right in front of my eyes. She still questions. created another link in the chain of peace. I absorbed the energy and light that she so generously rained down upon me. Beauty upon beauty is what I witnessed. I saw her many layers of light unfolding and folding right in front of my eyes. She still questions.

Activism lives! Engaging Peace was there. Inauguration Day on Boston Common, January 20, 2017

Posted on January 22, 2017 by kathiemm

Peace activists Alan O’Hare and Dot Walsh on Boston Commons in front of the Massachusetts State House, with an Engaging Peace banner, on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2017. Author: Andy Celley

by Dot Walsh, with photos from Andy Celley

Rebecca Solnit tells us:

“This is an extraordinary time full of vital, transformative movements that could not be foreseen. It’s also a nightmarish time. Full engagement requires the ability to perceive both.”

Friday, January 20^th, was Inauguration Day. I had decided to plan an event from 12-2 pm no matter who showed up. I believed it was important not to be in my home watching the TV or listening to the radio. And so we came together, a small group of close friends, on a very cold day. We made new friends, listened to each other, informed passersby about the work of Engaging Peace, and left more hopeful.

The following message was sent to me after the event:

“Thank you for holding the space and inviting strangers to join you. Doing so is a beautiful gift of compassion. While I had never imagined attending something like this before I was glad I did. When I arrived home I realized that I was feeling more optimistic and hopeful.

Thank you for sharing the milk of human kindness.”

Dot Walsh is a devoted peace activist who worked at the Peace Abbey until it closed. She has a long history of involvement with social justice issues including prison, homelessness, and human rights.

Tune in tomorrow for photos and prose concerning the Boston’s Women’s March, January 21, 2017.

Perspectives on violence

Posted on September 12, 2013September 23, 2013 by kathiemm

By guest author Jenna Hassan

Professor Malley-Morrison’s seminar on the Psychology of War and Peace showed me how altering one’s perspective can instantly change one’s entire outlook on a situation.

Alan O’Hare showed us how just moving from inside the classroom to outside the building can change an entire experience. Once we left the classroom, all formality ceased and every student was eager to share views. When we returned to the classroom, the conversation reverted to a formal discussion.

In the film Forgiving Dr. Mengele, Eva Kor showed us how her perspective on the Holocaust and the Nazis changed from anger to forgiveness, giving her a greater sense of health and freedom—but not freeing her to listen to the perspectives of Palestinians regarding Israeli occupation.

Perhaps the most important thing I learned about perspective is how mechanisms of moral disengagement function in ways that allow people to view immoral and inhumane acts as morally acceptable.

I grew up with a Muslim father and an Irish-Catholic mother in Scarsdale, New York–-a predominantly Jewish town. I gained perspective from all three Abrahamic traditions. My connection with each often resulted in internal conflict but was ultimately beneficial, teaching me that we are all much more similar than different.

To achieve peace, it is important that we emphasize our human similarities and resist the messages attempting to persuade us that someone is an enemy because of a different religion, nationality, or ethnicity.

Jenna Hassan is an undergraduate student in the College of Liberal Arts at Boston University, majoring in Psychology and learning Arabic. She took Psychology of War and Peace in the summer of 2013.

A living tapestry of peace and reconciliation (Part 2)

Posted on December 27, 2012December 20, 2012 by kathiemm

By guest author Alan O’Hare, a Seanchie (Celtic storyteller)

Rossville Street, Derry Peace mural — Mural in Derry, Northern Ireland. Image used under CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

As you reflect upon the visions of peace and reconciliation presented in this blog, I invite you to co-create a living tapestry that celebrates the voices of peace activists and serves as a beacon for others.

Focus now on the center of this limitless tapestry, where visitors from across the ages are eavesdropping on the conversations of teachers of peace. In their midst is a floating multidimensional puzzle that pairs of participants work on together.

What a meditative gathering it becomes as Thich Nhat Hanh, Elise Boulding, and Bishop Tutu move gently and playfully among the guests, offering pieces of the puzzle that have fallen to the floor.

As a band of international roving musicians begin playing, Nelson Mandela joins hands with Aung San Suu Kyi and invites other guests to join their dance of celebration and reflection. In moments, a circle of once-alienated sisters and brothers are singing so joyfully that puzzle solvers stop and join in.

On the rooftop is the entrance to an endless museum of art, co-created by prisoners of war and oppression, celebrating the human dream and spirit. In this world of peace, reconciliation, and harmony, standing alone in a corner are remnants of violence inside a dumpster. They await conversion into mulch for growing new forms of learning, creating, and healing. These remnants include photos, drawings, and scrapings of:

Fenced-in, starving prisoners from an endless corridor of concentration camps
Bombed-out images from Rwanda, Hiroshima, Dresden, Vietnam, China, and more others than can ever be counted
Endless reams of plans and designs for weapons of destruction, cruelty and subjugation

From all of these terrifying remnants, we are reminded once again of the tragic, dehumanizing echoes of the past that can move us to learn new ways to be or not to be with one another.

Is this vision realistic, possible, or even desirable? The mission of the griots and other storytellers is to bear witness to the voices of the past and to move us to search among the endless possibilities for a more loving future.

We hope you will join us in pursuing a path to world peace and reconciliation. Please share your stories and dreams at engagingpeace.com.

Alan O’Hare, LifeStoryTheatre.org