Peace on Earth
I spent yesterday afternoon with 64 other authors at the Oregon Historical Society’s annual Holiday Cheer event. It’s always exciting to be among ‘kindred spirits’ who have devoted years to writing and bringing their ideas to life. It’s wonderful to make new connections with authors and meet readers. Hundreds of people came to purchase books directly from authors.
Seated directly across from the museum bookstore, I couldn’t stop looking at a T-shirt for sale that read:
“Don't make me repeat myself.” —History
I gave over 60 talks on my first book, Waiting for Peace. I began each talk with, “If we don’t learn from history, it tends to repeat itself.”
Yesterday was the 84th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the event that brought the US into WWII and changed my ancestor’s lives. I realized years ago that everyone in the US has a relative that served in WWII in some way. People in the 62 other countries that were involved could say the same thing.
That day so long ago was ultimately the reason I’ve spent the last 15 years bringing three WWII books to life. The inspiration to tell these stories came from one sentence in a letter my grandmother wrote to her college student son, my father, on Dec. 9, 1941:
“Why can’t the poor old earth just learn to exterminate war?”
Will this question ever be answered? I’ve yet to meet a person who is pro-war.
Yesterday, I was surprised by how many people at the book fair picked up Waiting for Peace instead of my new book Dear Nora. Confused by this, I texted a friend about it and she wrote back, “It feels like a very needed topic these days.” At least 20 people picked up the book, flipped it over to read the back cover, then nodded knowingly and sadly to me. An elderly woman, likely a small child during WWII, picked up and read the back cover of all three books. When she put each book down, she looked up at me and shook her head sadly from side to side. Another woman said, “Waiting for Peace—aren’t we all?”
So often, we get the experience we need instead of what we expected. And that’s what happened yesterday. I was again reminded of what every minute of writing these books has been about: anti-war. My family members weren’t heroes and the books were not written to glorify their experiences. They were written to promote peace, keep history alive, and show how average people behaved dutifully and honorably in a world out of control.
Facing the thoughts that our current time period resembles the late 1930’s, I reflect on what average people can do to keep history from repeating itself. I keep coming back to this quote by Anne Frank—
"In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit."
And, as my Grandmother Berkey wrote—
“We are deeply saddened by the war news, but we must not overlook the great amount of good in the world, though it seldom makes the headlines. If we can hold on to faith, hope, and love, we can live without fear. I wish you the best of everything in the new year and peace for all.”