“Our work for peace must begin within the private world of each one of us. To build for man a world without fear, we must be without fear. To build a world of justice, we must be just.” Dag Hammarskjöld
As we muse on who we want to become as we commemorate the anniversary of the attacks on September 11, it is instructive to consider how others have responded to challenges of living in a world filled with conflict.
Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the death of Dag Hammarskjöld in 1961. Hammarskjöld was the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving during from 1953 to 1961 during the height of the Cold War. He died in a plane crash on his way to the Congo where he was negotiating a cease-fire agreement. To learn more about him see the following tribute in the New York Times Dag Hammarskjöld. He is the only individual to ever be awarded a posthumous Nobel Prize.In addition to his diplomacy, Hammarskjöld was noted for his writings on spirituality. Notable is his book Markings, which was a collection of diary entries across his life. It was published in 1963 after his death. Below is a prayer from Markings, as well as some other memorable quotes.
Hallowed be Thy name, not mine, Thy kingdom come, not mine, Thy will be done, not mine Give us peace with Thee
Peace with men
Peace with ourselves,
And free us from all fear.
“God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder the source of which is beyond all reason.”
“He who has surrendered himself to it knows that the Way ends on the Cross — even when it is leading him through the jubilation of Gennesaret or the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Do not seek death. Death will find you. But seek the road which makes death a fulfillment.”
To love life and men as God loves them —
for the sake of
their infinite possibilities,
to wait like Him,
to judge like Him,
without passing judgment,
to obey the order when it is given
and never look back.
