Petition, Prayer and Meditation for Peace

This petition was first read at the St. Louis Peace Vigil at St. Mark's Episcipol Church on April 8, 2007. I cried and the whole audience cried.

Please read the whole thing before you choose not to listen.

Please carry this message to every nation, race, creed and gender all over the earth.

"To all governments, religions, nations and people of the globe, this is a prayer, petition, and meditation for the people and by the people for PEACE demonstrated in a peaceful manner.

We have put our leaders in positions to make sound decisions based on moral and ethical values to promote peace, love, and justice not just in our own nation, but in all nations around the globe. We can no longer sit by and watch these decisions collide with our own sound moral observations.

This "War on Terrorism" has turned into just that a WAR. Not only are we affecting the service men and women of our own nation and our allies and their families, but we are killing and injuring innocent men, women, and children. They have nowhere else to live and are only trying to live a peaceful life where their forefathers and mothers were raised. We have taken that chance away from them.

It is time NOW, instead of "pulling out," to turn this into a peaceful humanitarian effort and rebuild the country that was destroyed. Yes some servicemen and women will still die, but I think they would rather die in the name of peace and rebuilding. Ask them yourself. They are my brothers and sisters.

Take all the billions you are spending on troop redeployments and offensive strategies and rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan and help the starving people. Do not look at their skin, their religion, or their oil. Look into their eyes. We all have the same eyes. Then the whole world can trust us again and we can eliminate the need for these atomic weapons. They have been given to children.

I witnessed this destruction first-hand in Baghdad, Iraq from May 2003- October 2003. I may have left the war, but the war has never left me. I am only ONE of millions of servicemembers, that will be affected for lifetimes to come.

The billions of dollars we waste on a war that we all know was started because of our own material fears and well-being can be used for the good of ALL PEOPLE. Then we can concentrate on things that are important to us: Global Warming, Social Security, Healthcare, Education, and the Welfare System, etc.

Let's make this decision now, together for the good of all humankind. We are running out of time.

We have a lot of work to do and this is only the first step. We are not seperate. We are all one.

Forgive us, we did not know where this war would have taken us, nowhere, NOW HERE.

Sometimes, you have to experience what you are not- WAR, to experience what we are- PEACE."

My love and respect to all people of all dialects and creeds, nations, and religions. Will you listen PEACEFULLY?

Angela M. Peacock, SGT, USA, RET