About 70 Justice and Peace activists, many from the host dioceses of Shrewsbury and Wrexham, attended the NJPN open meeting in Chester on Saturday 14 September.  Keynote speaker Vijay Mehta shared his vision for world peace, outlined in his book The Economics of Killing: How the West fuels wars and poverty in the developing world, and introduced the peace programme 4D which stands for Disarmament, Demilitarisation, Development and Democracy.  Using a short film made by Uniting for Peace (www.unitingforpeace.com) which charted war since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and featured peacemakers such as Gandhi and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. it explored ways of advancing non-violent initiatives.  One such idea is Peace One Day, celebrated every year on 21 September.  Founded by film-maker Jeremy Gilley just twelve years ago it has achieved a UN backed resolution for an international Day of Peace with the ultimate aim of making every day a day of peace and non-violence.  Jeremy’s commitment and enthusiasm, evident in the film clip, is outstanding

The overwhelming theme of the Chester meeting, in spite of all the problems in our world today, was one of hope.  We all came away heartened and revitalised.