I had occasion this week to reflect on a graphic someone posted on Facebook that found particular resonance with me, a resonance, indeed, that has grown and grown. It can be hard to know what is true and false in things posted there (or, indeed, anywhere), so I thought I would look into it.
More below.
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Here is that graphic.
And, wonder of wonders, it turns out that the story attributed to Astrid Lindgren was indeed true. It was told in a speech she gave when she was awarded the Peace Prize of German book trade on October 22, 1978, in Frankfurt, as the first author of children’s books that group recognized.
Astrid Lindgren is perhaps best know for her beloved book, Pippi Longstocking, but she wrote many more before her death in 2002. Since I am not a parent, I cannot claim long familiarity with her work, but that is changing as I go deeper into my own childhood. And it’s about time, too.
Since the speech was in Germany, I searched German resources to try to find it. And there it was, in its entirety! (The speech was given in German, and the website is German. I’m not translating the entire speech tonight, but on this page, a woman named Laurie Thompson has done it.) It was in that speech that Lindgren told the story cited in the graphic I saw on Facebook.
More surprisingly, the page also links to a YouTube video of her telling that story at that event! The video is also in German, but it is available here, if you would like to see her giving it. I was delighted to find it, though it brought me to tears, and does still, tonight. (Embedding is disabled for that video, sorry. She begins telling the story at about 1:57 in the video.)
I find it magical to see and hear that incredible woman speaking so powerfully on the subject of peace before an appreciative audience.
She prefaced her remarks by saying that she was speaking on peace, something that did not exist. In ways I agree and in ways I do not. I would say rather that peace exists, not merely as an ideal or a goal for a dream future. It absolutely existed in Lindgren’s heart. You can see that in the video or even in any picture of her that you ever see. It existed in the heart of the young mother who was given the powerful insight by her young son. I think it can be seen in the sharing of this story, whether that be on Facebook or among friends or in a diary on Daily Kos.
I have no way of knowing who the young boy was, where he lived, where he grew up, or indeed any details of his life. But my hope is that peace lived in him, as well, and that he spread it much further than with his mother on that day.
And, finally, I love the tool Astrid Lindgren gave to our audience, and even the audience we represent here in 2016. This is taken from the end of the speech, as translated by Laurie Thompson, that did not appear in the FB graphic. (To repeat that link.)
However, if we bring up our children without violence and on a loose rein, will we produce a new kind of human being who will live in a state of eternal peace? Only authors of books for children could be simple enough to believe such a thing! I know full well that would be a Utopia. And of course, there are so many more things in our poor, ailing world that must also be changed if we are going to achieve peace. But at this point in time, even though no war is currently raging, there is so incredibly much cruelty and violence and oppression going on in the world; and our children are most certainly not blind to it. They see and hear and read about it every day, and will no doubt end up by believing that violence is the natural state of affairs. Is not the least we can do to show by example in our own homes that there is another way of living our lives? Perhaps it would be a good idea for us all to have a little stone on a shelf in our kitchens as a permanent reminder for ourselves and our children: never violence! (Italics mine.)
Despite everything, that might eventually become a small contribution to world peace.
Here’s to Astrid Lindgren, on this evening. And to the practice of placing a small stone in sight on a kitchen shelf to help us along the path: NEVER VIOLENCE.
On to tonight’s comments!
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From ZenTrainer:
In my diary was this really beautiful, thoughtful, comment by Tumult.
From brillig:
Read Dan Bacher’s DAP diary. Then make sure you see navajo’s comment.
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