Let There Be Peace on Earth (song and lyrics) by Jill and Sy Miller
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me
Let There be Peace on Earth
The Peace that was meant to be…
In 1955, the words to this song was written by a woman by the name of Jill Jackson, and the melody written by her husband Sy Jackson. The song has a rich background and was first introduced at a young persons’ retreat in California. This song has always had a tremendous impact on me, and when times are hard, I’ve often found myself humming it’s beautiful melody. I’ve been humming it a lot in the past week.
These are indeed very troubled times for our nation. I doubt there are very few individuals that haven’t been touched by the events in the past months, weeks, and days in our country. If they haven’t, then they must be living under a rock. Emotions are high, fingers are pointed, hatred is being spewed across all 50 states. It’s heartbreaking what has happened, the pandemic, the lies spread, the attack on “The Peoples House.” We find ourselves in a situation where friends have turned against friends, family members against family members, and neighbors against neighbors. We’ve unfriended folks on Facebook, tried to avoid difficult conversations with family members or neighbors about current events, remained on high alert in grocery stores for fear of a virus that might kill us or maybe an extremist. We make judgements about people who are either wearing a mask or not wearing a mask. It’s INSANE!
But as nuts as it is, it’s real. It’s where America is right now. It’s who we are. And yes, it’s who we’ve always been. Today as we pay tribute to the life of Reverend Martin Luther King. I wonder what he would say if he could speak to us today. He probably knew all along that we’d reach this repugnant pinnacle in our country. But each one of us has a choice. Finding a common path won’t be easy and I’m not so naïve to think we can just join hands and sing together. There are consequences for the actions we take, there are lessons to be learned, but we better start moving in a more peaceful direction or there’s little hope for the future. I’ve forced myself to look at my own reflection in this past year, and I’ve seen things that I haven’t been altogether too proud of. But it’s raised my conscious level, and I’m going to try harder within myself to NOT contribute to the toxic air. I take my leave with the remaining words to the song:
With ev’re step I take
Let this be my solemn vow
To take each moment and live
Each moment in peace eternally
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me
