When I was a little girl, my grandparents moved in with our family. It seemed a perfectly normal thing to do, as the child of immigrants, but it was an odd set up for the other kids in my neighborhood.

They only saw their grandparents once in a while, but mine were a second set of adults, nurturing us along the way.

My grandfather has long since passed, but he was a remarkable man. He spoke many languages, was a master fabric dyer, could make anything grow in the garden, and always wanted to learn new things.

I remember when we started to take piano lessons as kids, my grandfather set about learning to play the piano. He simply watched us practice, and followed along in our lesson books. Eventually he got more advanced than us, and he got a few books of piano music that were more to his taste.

At that point, the soundtrack of our family life started to include his absolutely favorite hymn. Let There Be Peace on Earth. I had heard it in church before, but he played this song over and over, belting out the words at the top of his lungs.

We never got sick of it. To this day, if I hear that song, it brings tears to my eyes, in overwhelming gratitude for the man that my grandfather was. I am always thankful, for this blessed “ear-worm” he incessantly stuck into my brain that has become a part of my heart. I wouldn’t doubt that he was divinely compelled to do so, to help me prepare for my future path that is unfolding at this time.

I remember discussing this song, and the words of blessed St. Francis of Assisi with many people along my path, as it was never far away from my consciousness. Over the years, the meaning of this song has evolved, as my experience and perceptions have shifted.

I used to think it meant that I was the one to spread the word of peace out in the world. It was to be my job to work for peace, to share peace, to teach peace to all beings as a part of my service to All That Is.

As I have grown, I realized that the most important part of this song and prayer are, “let it begin with me.” Does this mean, I must be peaceful to all beings and only live by peaceful qualities, no matter how I feel inside? Or does it mean that I must make peace with myself and interact with myself in peace, before peace can exist outside of the universe that is me?

I truly believe it is the second meaning, that is the most potent to change this reality and allow us all to step into a most peace filled, joyful and miraculous world. Making peace with ourselves, is the first step to loving ourselves. When we can truly love ourselves we can then truly love others. Anything that exists without that peace making, and without that true self love is simply practice.

So, I believe that being kind and loving to myself is a step towards world peace. I believe that fostering inner peace through self care and support, is an integral step in the right direction.

Self-acceptance, self-love, self-support, kind self-talk all create inner peace. There is nothing to argue with self over at that point. From this inner peaceful heart, the streams of love and peaceful energy emanate that are true. They are no longer practice for the real thing. They are the real thing.

I believe with all my heart and soul that this is the work. Making peace with ourselves, through self-love and then applying everything we learned in our own personal universe, out into the wider world and universe.

When we have walked this path and truly honored everything that has stood in the way of self-love and acceptance, we can then recognize others who have the same roadblocks. We can truly have compassion for their path, and we can send love and peace to their higher beings for support on their path.

We can also recognize when others lash out, that it is not about us, but about their own path to learning. We can empathize and realize what is needed is more love to support their journey. When we are at peace with ourselves and in love with ourselves, we don’t take things as personally.

Being hurt by what others say or do around us, is one of the biggest hooks that still remain which keeps us tied to separation. It is applied not only to individual beings, but collectively to countries as well. Countries are only a conglomerate of individual souls, that want others to listen to them, like them, or agree with them. Until individual beings can release these societal hooks, how can the collective do so?

When we open our eyes, from the position of a peaceful heart, we can flow the love and energy where ever it is needed to support everyone. We have no need to support our own platforms or make people believe or agree with what we think or say. We are at peace. We accept it all, as an expression of the divine here on earth, and we love.

I am working for world peace, and I am starting with myself. I ask you all, dear brothers and sisters of the light, to join me, within your own hearts, and begin as well.

Join us in creating Peace on Earth by Feb. 14, 2015.