Let us celebrate Christmas and the holy days of Earth’s other religions by giving thanks to all exemplars and promoters of peace—the men and women who strive for peace on earth, good will to all, through their voices and through their art.
Photo by Bart Everson used under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Thomas Cooper Gotch: Alleluia 1896 (in public domain)
Today, many people around the world are scrambling to find last minute gifts and to prepare for a weekend of celebrations, or are already engrossed in the eight days of Hanukkah (December 20-28).
In this post, we want to give you the gift of music—songs of peace and brotherhood that will fill your heart with love, energize you, inspire you, and give you surcease. Take a few minutes to look and listen and escape from the stress of holiday preparations. Or spread your listening out across a few hours or days.
If any of these songs brighten your day and remind you of the joy that music can bring, please forward this post to your families and friends.
We hope you enjoy all the wonderful music we have chosen to share through these links.
Please let us know if there are any that you particularly like, and submit comments with links to other music videos that you think our readers will enjoy.
With holidays to be celebrated and a new year just around the corner, we hope you will find ways to contribute to peace, justice, and the preservation of life on earth. Consider giving a donation to support our work on Engaging Peace, or give to another nonprofit of your choice.
Christmas is meant to be the season of peace, love, and goodwill to all. If you are a Christian, think of your favorite carols and their messages. None of them says, “spend, spend, spend, buy, buy, buy.”
Give the gift of peace. (Image in public domain)
If you share the belief that the holidays have become too commercialized, and that the main purpose of the season seems to have become the pressure to buy toys that will be broken within a month, think of ways to give the gift of peace.
For example, consider family activities that promote cooperation–such as volunteer service, non-competitive board games, reading stories about peace, or outdoor hiking. Take time to discuss the true meaning of Christmas with your loved ones.
Pose questions such as:
What do the terms “peace” and “goodwill” mean in our daily lives?
What prompts us each to feel peaceful, and what fosters antagonism?
As wars continue to bedevil and destroy both human lives and the environment, there is a growing movement towards peace education that has produced books and other materials designed to promote peace and reconciliation in children and adults, and to foster awareness of the need to resist the destruction of our environment in the endless pursuit of money.
We provide below a sampling of books for children and adults, as well as films that are season-appropriate gifts. For additional suggestions, see our pages of resources for adults and kids. As you do your holiday shopping, please consider these suggestions.
Children’s books about peace
101 Relaxation Games for Children: Finding a Little Peace and Quiet In Between (SmartFun Activity Books) Can You Say Peace? Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Journey to Change the World… One Child at a Time ( The Young Reader’s Edition)
Books for adults about war and peace
The Book Thief The Lacuna: A Novel (P.S.) Moral Politics : How Liberals and Conservatives Think Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War (American Empire Project)
Films about peacemaking
Joyeux Noel (Widescreen)
Forgiving Dr. Mengele
Howard Zinn – You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train
Invictus
Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology
Pat Daniel, Managing Editor of Engaging Peace
, reading stories about peace, or 
