The Peace Planet Proclamation

From the time of the first devastating vision of war and destruction in 2003 (see my description of this), I decided to make myself radically available to becoming a peacebuilder. My mantra became, "Use my life." It was a period of intense listening and planting seeds of courage that I knew I would someday need. Everywhere I went, I met people who shared my great love for this world we inhabit together. I began thinking of those who came before us who wrote documents that liberated our minds from the narrow thinking of their time. The conviction that we needed something in writing to help make a conscious shift in our direction as a planet toward peace became my mission. But how could one possibly write something that was inclusive enough? So many cultures and languages, different belief systems and values comprise our world. We do have the world wide web, truly a miraculous gift for the times we are living in. During the day I would ponder, What would it look like to have a Proclamation of Peace for our whole planet?

In April of 2006, I was shaken awake in the middle of the night and the first Peace Planet Proclamation poured out, fully formed. I edited nothing. I went back to sleep and in the morning I knew that this was my part to do. Since that time, the Peace Planet Proclamation has made its way around the world to nearly all the major continents. A delegation of the Gather The Women conference took it to Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Kenya, and then on to South Africa to Nelson Mandela. A member of the U.S. Dept of Peace Campaign took it with her to several countries in Europe, and so on around the world. Once the Proclamation was finished, I met people who offered to translate it nearly every day. Today it is being translated into 14 different languages.

The first Peace Planet Proclamation was very powerful but it, too, like me, had to evolve in order to serve the highest purpose—focusing our thoughts on the purely positive vision and intention of Peace. The final proclamation, represented in the image above, came about with much prayer, meditation and the help of my women's peace circle members. To those loving friends who are my sisters and confidantes on this path of peace, I am truly grateful. From this peace circle, which has been meeting for eight years now, I have learned what it means to practice peace.

We at the Peace Planet Project have participated in our share of auctions, bake sales, yard sales, etc. for fundraising. ALL of these types of events are time-consuming and often exhausting for the stalwart volunteers who donate their time for good causes that need funding to achieve their goals.

When the Peace Planet Proclamation was complete, the author, Laura Merrell, had an opportunity to donate framed versions of it to various auctions where it sold at surprisingly high prices. It was also very successful with youth, peace, and church-related groups who purchased the Proclamations for $5, rolled them up and put their sticker or ribbon on them, and sold them for $10. We had groups in Florida, New York, and New Jersey sell out 500 Proclamations within two weeks, earning $2,500 for their organizations, quite effortlessly! Members of the organizations each took 5 to 10 Proclamations and sold them or sometimes bought them themselves to give as gifts. This ease of raising funds caught our attention! How could we duplicate these successes in the service of peace?

Announcing... a nationwide fundraiser for the creation of a United States Department of Peace. Raise funds for your organization and contribute to The Peace Alliance. Peace Planet Project's goal is to raise 1 Million dollars to help create the U.S. Department of Peace. To that end, the Project is donating 10% of its income from the sales of the Proclamation to The Peace Alliance. We are also suggesting that each organization that uses the Proclamation as a fundraising tool also contribute 10% of their sales to The Peace Alliance. Working together, all things are possible!

If you are a group or organization that would like to purchase larger quantities of the Peace Planet Proclamation for fundraising purposes, we are offering a wholesale rate of $5 each and free shipping for orders of 50 or more Proclamations. There is an 8.2% sales tax for WA residents only. Enter the quantity you want, but it must be at least 50. IMPORTANT: The quantity "1" will appear on the next page. Please adjust the quantity to 50 or more. Your group or organization need not be nonprofit. There is a location for you to enter the name of your group or organization on the order form, if you'd like to share this information with us. To proceed, click the button below. Please remember to enter at least 50 as your quantity with this button.

*Gandhi ("You must be the change you wish to see in the world.")