Postcards for the Weekend – Peace

Maria’s postcard challenge for this weekend is “from a country you would want to live in if you have the chance/choice”.

The thing is, though, that I can’t remember ever seriously wishing to live anywhere else than in Sweden; and the only other country I may perhaps have imagined myself living in would have been England. And as I already postcard-blogged both those countries just recently, I wanted to come up with something else…

So for that purpose, I undertook another random search of a box of postcards from my past that I’ve been rummaging around in lately, but still don’t know how best to organize (or re-organize).

Now this one happened to catch my eye, and when I took it up for closer study, it made me think (with recent world events and terror attacks and general political instability in mind):

Yes, that’s where I want to live… On Earth, in Peace…

The card was sent to me in 1986 from a friend visiting Kiruna, the northernmost town in Sweden – situated 145 kilometres north of the Arctic circle, in the province of Lapland. The card depicts a collage made by pupils in a school in Kiruna. The photos and newspaper cuttings in the middle are all about children, war and peace. And on the back of the card this verse or quote (probably written by one of the school pupils as well – in Swedish):

“Put away all weapons – bring out peace.
Why doesn’t everyone help to make peace on earth?
[The world] must not come to an end.”
Dennis

I also found a few more cards from the 1980’s on the same theme:

From a Swedish friend on holiday in Spain in November 1982; but posted in Sweden (with Swedish stamp) by her sister, who had been visiting and took the card back with her to post.
© “Los Angeles Art Projects GMBH”; and printed in Germany.
So a very “international” card!

 

This one, with photo of a wall tapestry (made in 1979), I received as a welcome from friends/neighbours in Borås when I first moved here to live in January 1986. The card used to sit on the noticeboard in my hall as long as I lived in that flat (22 years).

The text on the tapestry is a quote from Martin Luther:
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces,
I would still plant my apple tree today.”

My last contribution for today:
A Prayer for Peace, sent to me in 1989 from a Swedish friend;
nowadays (since many years) living in Norway.

Prayer for Peace

Lead me from Death to Life,
from Lies to Truth.

Lead me from Powerlessness to Hope,
from Fear to Trust.

Lead me from Hatred to Love,
from War to Peace.

Let Peace fill our Hearts,
our World, our Universe.