Exactly six years ago this December, I developed the first One
Thousand Acts of Peace website, with the support of my family and friends around the world. It took off and went through several different versions, with the help of a Canadian programmer who volunteered his time and expertise. Visitors to the site loved the idea of practicing three Acts of Peace a day, adding up to over One Thousand Acts of Peace a year.
Peacemakers around the globe translated the website into Spanish, German, Italian, and Chinese (with many more translations to come, I hope). Bloggers wrote about three Acts of Peace a day, while various churches and meditation groups, retreat centers and schools posted links to One Thousand Acts of Peace on their websites. Teachers introduced One Thousand Acts of Peace (KIDS’ TAP) into their classrooms and children were practicing and journaling three acts of peace on a daily basis from New Jersey to California.
While all this was going on, I was researching and writing a book – Julian’s Gospel: Illuminating the Life & Revelations of Julian of Norwich. This all-consuming project took me five years from inception to publication this October, 2013, by Orbis Books. All that time, One Thousand
Acts of Peace filled my mind and heart.
Then one day, I checked the website and was shocked to see that it had been hacked! It was completely gone from the Internet. And the programmer had not backed it up. I was heartbroken.
Yet, unknown to me, the Acts of Peace miracle had already happened. To my great surprise, I discovered that TES, the largest teacher organization in the world, based in London, had picked up ideas from our KIDS’ TAP page and developed complete lesson plans for promoting One Thousand Acts of Peace in classrooms around the globe. A graphic artist named Rafiki had created a delightful video cartoon illustrating the impact of three Acts of Peace a day, passing from one child to the next and the next.*
Meanwhile, our One Thousand Acts of Peace website was also seen by Kary Enns of Mennonite Central Committee, Alberta. She and her colleagues developed a 1,000 acts of peace project and invited leaders at Menno Simons Christian School to work together to get students thinking about creating conditions for peace. Thereafter, children at all grade levels started writing letters to “pen pals” in Kenya as one of their peace projects.** Wonderfully creative!
At the same time, a woman in Israel was giving workshops to parents about One Thousand Acts of Peace to help promote a peace settlement with Palestine . . . a man in Spain was forwarding the website to all his contacts in the EU . . . a friend in London was doing likewise . . . another
friend had bought property to develop a Retreat Center and called it Actos de Paz . . . an artist had created jewelry inspired by One Thousand Acts of Peace . . . and on and on. It was absolutely astounding!
Even after the website was hacked, the idea of three Acts of Peace a day, adding up to over One Thousand Acts of Peace a year, had been spreading just as we hoped it would – like wildfire!
So now that my book, Julian’s Gospel, is published and I’ve completed two months of book talks and giving retreats, I decided to completely redesign the One Thousand Acts of Peace website for a new influx of visitors seeking creative ways to bring more peace into their lives, their families, and the world. In addition to reading the Home Page, I hope you will check out the Suggestions for Acts of Peace, seek answers to any questions you may have on the FAQ page, make or renew your Peace Commitment, consider practicing the Peace Meditation on a daily basis, visit the KID’S TAP page, and discover the Business of Peace. And please, Contact Us with your comments and suggestions so that we may place them on our Forum. All of us peacemakers look forward to reading your responses and your comments.
We also hope that you will be inspired this Holiday Season to let your family members, friends, fellow students, and business contacts know about this new One Thousand Acts of Peace website. Please send the link – www.onethousandactsofpeace.org – to everyone on your email list and post it on your Facebook Page, at LinkedIn, and Twitter it as often as you like as your Gift of Peace to the world. And write on our One Thousand Acts of Peace Facebook Page as well!
What better gift could we all wish for in this coming New Year than “Peace on earth, good will toward all”? I give you this fresh incarnation of One Thousand Acts of Peace as my own gift of gratitude for all those who have been and are practicing peace – three times a day.
Blessings and Happy Holidays to all!
Veronica
*See: http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Peace-A-Thousand-Acts-of-Peace-6204565/
**See: http://www.mennoworld.org/2010/2/22/every-day-three-acts-peace/
Thousand Acts of Peace website, with the support of my family and friends around the world. It took off and went through several different versions, with the help of a Canadian programmer who volunteered his time and expertise. Visitors to the site loved the idea of practicing three Acts of Peace a day, adding up to over One Thousand Acts of Peace a year.
Peacemakers around the globe translated the website into Spanish, German, Italian, and Chinese (with many more translations to come, I hope). Bloggers wrote about three Acts of Peace a day, while various churches and meditation groups, retreat centers and schools posted links to One Thousand Acts of Peace on their websites. Teachers introduced One Thousand Acts of Peace (KIDS’ TAP) into their classrooms and children were practicing and journaling three acts of peace on a daily basis from New Jersey to California.
While all this was going on, I was researching and writing a book – Julian’s Gospel: Illuminating the Life & Revelations of Julian of Norwich. This all-consuming project took me five years from inception to publication this October, 2013, by Orbis Books. All that time, One Thousand
Acts of Peace filled my mind and heart.
Then one day, I checked the website and was shocked to see that it had been hacked! It was completely gone from the Internet. And the programmer had not backed it up. I was heartbroken.
Yet, unknown to me, the Acts of Peace miracle had already happened. To my great surprise, I discovered that TES, the largest teacher organization in the world, based in London, had picked up ideas from our KIDS’ TAP page and developed complete lesson plans for promoting One Thousand Acts of Peace in classrooms around the globe. A graphic artist named Rafiki had created a delightful video cartoon illustrating the impact of three Acts of Peace a day, passing from one child to the next and the next.*
Meanwhile, our One Thousand Acts of Peace website was also seen by Kary Enns of Mennonite Central Committee, Alberta. She and her colleagues developed a 1,000 acts of peace project and invited leaders at Menno Simons Christian School to work together to get students thinking about creating conditions for peace. Thereafter, children at all grade levels started writing letters to “pen pals” in Kenya as one of their peace projects.** Wonderfully creative!
At the same time, a woman in Israel was giving workshops to parents about One Thousand Acts of Peace to help promote a peace settlement with Palestine . . . a man in Spain was forwarding the website to all his contacts in the EU . . . a friend in London was doing likewise . . . another
friend had bought property to develop a Retreat Center and called it Actos de Paz . . . an artist had created jewelry inspired by One Thousand Acts of Peace . . . and on and on. It was absolutely astounding!
Even after the website was hacked, the idea of three Acts of Peace a day, adding up to over One Thousand Acts of Peace a year, had been spreading just as we hoped it would – like wildfire!
So now that my book, Julian’s Gospel, is published and I’ve completed two months of book talks and giving retreats, I decided to completely redesign the One Thousand Acts of Peace website for a new influx of visitors seeking creative ways to bring more peace into their lives, their families, and the world. In addition to reading the Home Page, I hope you will check out the Suggestions for Acts of Peace, seek answers to any questions you may have on the FAQ page, make or renew your Peace Commitment, consider practicing the Peace Meditation on a daily basis, visit the KID’S TAP page, and discover the Business of Peace. And please, Contact Us with your comments and suggestions so that we may place them on our Forum. All of us peacemakers look forward to reading your responses and your comments.
We also hope that you will be inspired this Holiday Season to let your family members, friends, fellow students, and business contacts know about this new One Thousand Acts of Peace website. Please send the link – www.onethousandactsofpeace.org – to everyone on your email list and post it on your Facebook Page, at LinkedIn, and Twitter it as often as you like as your Gift of Peace to the world. And write on our One Thousand Acts of Peace Facebook Page as well!
What better gift could we all wish for in this coming New Year than “Peace on earth, good will toward all”? I give you this fresh incarnation of One Thousand Acts of Peace as my own gift of gratitude for all those who have been and are practicing peace – three times a day.
Blessings and Happy Holidays to all!
Veronica
*See: http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Peace-A-Thousand-Acts-of-Peace-6204565/
**See: http://www.mennoworld.org/2010/2/22/every-day-three-acts-peace/
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