The International Peace Garden

 

Last week I visited the International Peace Garden, a 2,000+ acre park that was established in 1932 on the 49th Parallel (the border between the United States and Canada) near Dunseith, North Dakota. Some of the most significant features of the park are two 120 foot tall "Twin" Peace Towers, a sculptural arrangement ("in the ironic shadows" of the Peace Towers...) of several girders from the NYC 9-11 Twin Tower Attacks, the International Music Camp, over 250,000 annual and perennial flowers, and a Peace Chapel...the park exudes beauty, serenity, and peace and causes one to consider the symbolism and stark contradiction of a "world full of hate."

    The Peace Chapel (the only building on the grounds that straddles the international border) stands at the western end of the mall...it contains dozens of "peace quotes" etched in the limestone walls.

U Thant

One of the most poignant quotes that I read was from U Thant, a Burmese diplomat who was the Secretary General of the United Nations from 1961-1971...

with violence in the streets of American cities...venomous hatred toward immigrants...apathy toward starvation, orphans, genocide...war in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, etc...internal family strife... 

 Maybe we should learn to better appreciate and live with each other in the short time we have to walk on this earth!