Peace

What's on your Christmas/holiday wish this year? This past year has given us much to think about. On a personal level, we all experienced our individual triumphs and sorrows. History, however, will record this year as one where people across the world tried to recover from one massive disaster after another, such as the Asian tsunami that struck in the final days of last year, hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the earthquakes that struck in Iran and Pakistan. The magnitude of these events and the loss of life, not to mention damage to property, are simply unbelievable.

Gary Moskowitz BURBANK -- The Burbank Noon Lions will host its 14th annual Peace Poster Contest this fall for local youth. The theme of this year's poster contest is "Lighting the Path to World Peace," and the contest is designed to encourage local youth to share, through art, ideas on what peace means to them. Entries will be judged by portrayal of theme, artistic merit and originality. One grand prize winner will receive $2,500, and 23 merit award winners will receive $500 each.

A s Israel remembers its victories over Arab armies 40 years ago this month in the Six-Day War, peace is fragile and at times doesn't seem to exist in the region. And recent fighting between Hamas and Fatah, in Israel's Gaza Strip — land Israel gained in the war — has reportedly put a dent in some hopes that Palestinians and Israelis can ever live side-by-side, given Hamas' call for the destruction of Israel. What are your thoughts on the prospects for peace in this region?

Jacqui Brown Hand-cut white silk doves were sewn on to several 10-foot crimson colored silk banners at Stevenson Elementary by fourth- and fifth-graders, a project they hope will heal hearts and create peace a long way from home. The students on Wednesday also inscribed the name and age of each child who died in Beslan, Russia, during a terrorist siege on Sept. 1 that left 172 children dead. "Remember the Children of Beslan" is the project for Patricia Montandon, founder of the "Children as the Peacemakers."

God bestows upon His children peace and joy. What are the meanings of these two gifts? If we look at the definition for peace in Philippians 4:9, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” The word for peace here in Greek is “shalom.” This signifies “wholeness.” I Thessalonians puts it another way: “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.

Tyler Nyczaj, 17, of Burbank will be a senior at John Burroughs High School in the fall. "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" is about Sinbad (voiced by Brad Pitt), who is framed and sentenced to die for stealing the Book of Peace, which protects and keeps peace among the Twelve Nations. His friend, Proteus (Joseph Fiennes), takes his place so Sinbad can get the book back from the evil Goddess of Chaos, Eris (Michelle Pfeiffer). Proteus' girlfriend, Marina (Catherine Zeta-Jones)

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6). This popular proverb calls people to trust in God amid each and every one of life's circumstances. As I write this column, I am in New York at a conference for a rare disease called Hermansky Pudlak syndrome (a platelet dysfunction that can effect people with albinism). While I look around me at all the children and adults effected by this syndrome, my mind has countless thoughts and my heart experiences profuse emotions.

INSIDE/OUT I was working in the shipping office of a plastic bag factory near the El Toro Marine Base when Gulf War I began. A co-worker of mine, Scott Hallen, ran into my office and shouted, "Bush is walking in the Rose Garden!" Scott was the company's resident hard-core Republican. He had a loud, booming voice, a permanent sheen on his forehead and an almost disturbing familiarity with the minutiae of American warfare. I immediately took what he said to mean that the orders had been given, or at least a countdown had ended, and that the bombs were already falling.

It might be easy to dismiss the failed effort of Bob Hope Airport officials for nighttime restrictions as a waste of money and resources, but then, it was a battle of necessity. Regardless of the chances a curfew had with the Federal Aviation Administration, it was the job of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to try, and try it did, like no other airport has. The closely watched application was denied, but it wasn’t all for naught. We now know that avenue has been exhausted, and that other paths to noise relief must be pursued.

President Obama last week was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his ?extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.? The decision to award Obama the Nobel Peace Prize has been met with mixed reaction, from support to skepticism. What do you think? Do you believe Obama deserved to be awarded the prize? ? Isn?t it curious that the whole world has gone to their inner-playground-child place over this issue? (?That?

What is holiness? An easy answer is that it means to be set apart unto God. Those who profess faith are to be set apart from sin, and set aside for God’s intended will and use of our lives. We understand as Christians that we can strive to be holy, but only God fully attains that position. Setting ourselves aside for God’s intended use may sound a bit daunting or even scary as we perhaps think of letting go of things we enjoy doing. But as one who has lived a life in the entertainment business and then turned to fully serve God, I know that there is a peace that can only be found in intimate relationship with God — walking toward holiness and living in deep faith.

The Lions Clubs International 21st annual International Peace Poster Contest was recently held and the local level competition and awards presentation, sponsored by the Burbank Noon Lions Club, was held Nov. 12 at the Burbank Central Library. This year’s theme is “Peace Begins With Me,” and it takes an important role in helping our young teens understand their contribution in bringing about peace around the world and in our country. The Peace Poster contest was established by Lions Clubs International to promote the awareness of world peace internationally among youth.

BURBANK — Fifty years ago, the color of a person’s skin was capable of raising some eyebrows in the city. A local car wash came under fire in 1958 for hiring two black employees and was pressured to fire them, said John Brady, the Burbank Human Relations Council president. But a group of people urged and persuaded the car wash owner not to fire the employees. That group joined to form the Human Relations Council, which celebrated its 50th anniversary Sunday at the Pickwick Banquet Center.

BURBANK — A girl watched the sunset over an ocean of white space on 13-year-old Alexandra Acton’s peace-themed painting. There was a small sliver of blue to represent water, but the empty area on her “peace poster” helped reflect that peace is just an idea, the eighth-grader at Jordan Middle School said. “It’s really saying that peace is something that we think we can achieve and it’s really easy, but it’s not,” Alexandra said, explaining that peace is a process that begins with each individual.

During a game of four square at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School on Wednesday, second-graders Luis Reyes, 7, and Cassidy McNeill, 8, reached an impasse over a point. “It was in,” Luis said. “It’s out,” Cassidy fired back. But before the conflict escalated any further, the two broke into a game of rock, paper, scissors and Luis — losing his paper to Cassidy’s scissors on the first throw — skipped away without further debate to join the other students in line waiting to play.