Blunt Wit

I was sooooo hungry I could have eaten Irish babies. So I stopped into “The Whistle Stop Cafe,” a little deli not far from my home at the time. All the sandwiches were named after trains. My favorite happened to be the ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo’ (and not just because I’m from Tennessee) which consisted of homemade chicken salad with lots of dill and huge chunks of meat. I stayed away from the ‘Midnight Express’ cause I’m not that into Turkey. And I don’t know how or why they slipped the ‘Titanic’ onto the menu other than to prey on the odd unsuspecting Leonardo DiCaprio fan.

After grabbing my sandwich and picking up a loose paper I sat down and came to an article on the editorial page written by the Dalai Lama.

It was originally written in the Washington Post but reprinted in this local newspaper. There were two paragraphs that blew me away so I thought to share them with you here today:

“Many people today agree that we need to reduce violence in our society. If we are truly serious about this, we must deal with the roots of violence, particularly those that exist within each of us. We need to embrace “inner disarmament,” reducing our own emotions of suspicion, hatred and hostility towards our brothers and sisters.

And …

Large human movements spring from individual human initiatives. If you feel that you cannot have much of an effect, the next person may also become discouraged, and a great opportunity will have been lost. On the other hand, each of us can inspire others simply by working to develop our own altruistic motivations – and engaging the world with a compassion-tempered heart and mind.”

His message, while simple, was profound. Change begins at home. Peace starts at a very personal level. I wondered, though, if the folks in war ravaged lands like Iraq or Sudan could possibly adopt his credo. And then I thought those folks probably represent less than one percent of the human population on earth. The point is, I guess – for those of us in the other ninety-nine percent – to develop our good-hearted motivations while engaging the world at large.

So on the spot I vowed to change the toilet paper roll without cursing the heathen who left it empty and in first place. Also, I figure writing this blog post should build me some karma points since there is a small chance at least ONE of you reading this will take it to heart, get off your butt and really do something!

Then my entrepreneurial instincts kicked in and I thought wouldn’t it be cool to open deli with a ‘world peace’ motif. The house specialty vegan sandwich would, of course, be named the ‘Dali Lama’. We’d have a hot pastrami on rye called ‘Global Warming.’ My favorite would be the ‘Mahatma Gandhi,’ a curried treat only to be eaten sitting down. And of course there would be the ‘Martin Luther King Jr.’ for those dreamy types who love miracle whip.

On second thought maybe I’ll just propose my own sandwich to the owners of the Whistle Stop: ‘The Peace Train.’

What ingredients should go into ‘The Peace Train’ sandwich?
What small do-able thing can you commit to doing to make this world more peaceful?
If you could add a sandwich to the menu what would it be (name and key ingredients)?