Persephone Arbour

I have chosen excerpts from another piece by David Spangler. He writes about the significance of President Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10th this year and the responsibility placed on us as individuals this holiday season. Persephone

“Normally, the Nobel Prize is a testament to the past. In the fields of science for which Alfred Nobel established his prize, the award is always made for achievements accomplished. There is no Nobel Prize for chemistry or physics awarded to a scientist in the hopes that he or she will make breakthroughs in those fields. It is given for things that have happened in the past. . . this year it has been given as a pledge to the future. “Only very rarely has a person captured the world’s attention to the same extent as Obama and given its people hope for a better future,” wrote the Nobel Committee in its announcement.

. . . Interestingly this acceptance, and the call to action it represents is being made as we enter what for millions of people is one of the holiest times of the year. Whether we celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, the Winter Solstice, or New Year’s, this is a time of hope, of new beginnings, of renewed vision, and, in the famous words of the Christmas Angel, of “peace on earth, goodwill towards men.”

The holiday nature of this season means that our attention is drawn outwards to inspiring narratives: Angels descend and speak to us, a savior is born, the longest night gives birth to the return of the sun. But the most important narrative, which perhaps will be one that President Obama speaks to but which is certainly implicit in his call to action, is the one that takes place in our own hearts. It’s the peace we create, the goodwill we offer, the forgiveness we extend, the Light we generate that make a difference in the world. For the world is not one huge, single narrative. It’s millions of little individual ones, each shaping the world in incremental ways that cumulatively determine our future.

. . . When Obama gives his talk and presumably makes his call to action, there are two reasons people may not pay attention. This is a time when people are suspicious, cynical and weary of apocalyptic warnings even as our planetary challenges continue to mount and grow more complex. For instance, according to recent polls, the number of Americans who believe global warming is occurring and is a dangerous problem has dropped in the past year even as evidence that it is so has increased.

People are tired of fearing the future. Furthermore, we have all heard “calls to action” before. . . Twenty-one hundred years of Christmases and festivals of Light and the messages they bring have failed to give us a world of love and wholeness. Twenty-one hundred “Happy New Years” have not demonstrably made our world a happier place for all who live upon it. It is understandable why people may be skeptical that our time can be any different.

This is why this Nobel Peace Prize award has significance. Not because it is going to Obama or any other American President, but because it says we can still make a difference. We have the power to change ourselves and thus to change the world. There is still hope.

Can the world open to this hope in spite of bickering, weariness, suspicion, and fear? Can we open to it in ourselves?

This is why Obama’s call can’t be just to nations or heads of state. It must be to people. It is we who must respond to the hope that the Nobel Committee has invested in this particular award, for it is an award for the future, our future, and that is what we are shaping together. When it comes to peace, it is we who must take the prize.”

©2009 by David Spangler link to website