So you want to know the story behind my blog title? This well-discerned title comes from In Pope Paul VI’s message on the Day of Peace 1 Jan 1972.
“We say (again) today in a more incisive and dynamic formula: ‘If you want Peace, work for Justice ‘. ”
This phrase gets it right. Nothing else says so much so compactly and powerfully.
He called for a peace rooted in the pursuit of justice; of equality for the entirety of a mankind who was realizing its own dignity and inherent worth. Later in the message, Paul VI posed the question “…Is not an integral part of justice the duty of enabling every country to promote its own development?”. The PC has three founding goals, which promote cross-cultural understanding in the interest of peace, and then to “help interested countries in meeting their needs”. Bingo. Say no more.
Here’s the whole message: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/messages/peace/documents/hf_p-vi_mes_19711208_v-world-day-for-peace_en.html
If you want a better reason, I had a word limit. Kidding. There were plenty of other titles I thought about (thanks to my trusty SBST binder!) but this was the one – hands down. No thanks to Liz, who’s Americorps NCCC blog title set the bar high! (My 6 Impossible Things on my blogroll) Plus, using Thoreau’s Walden was taken by a fellow ’09 er Brittany (Zambia I Go on my blogroll).
Runners up: “To live deliberately” from Walden and “These are the things of memories”.
