Methodist Church Provides Public with Peace Booklet this Christmas

A thought provoking booklet provided by the Methodist Church will be handed out to people in health clubs, play centres and bars to think about peace this Christmas.

75,000 copies of Peace in Your Pocket will be made available in hundreds of venues nationwide until early January.

The 16-page booklet contains poems, pictures and thoughts exploring the issue of peace, and what it means today. It contains brief meditations for busy people, as well as pointers for those who wish to look further into the topic.

"At Christmas we speak of 'goodwill and peace to all,'" says Anthea Cox of the Methodist Church, "but what does peace really mean today? It used to be that peace was an absence of war, but today terrorism makes it hard for us to feel at peace. And worldwide millions of people are suffering and dying from the effects of war, even when their countries are not at war. So what does peace mean in our lives, our homes, our neighbourhoods and in the world?

"This booklet is for anyone who is asking these questions, particularly people who would not normally go to church but who feel the need to think reflectively about peace."

The booklet contains quotations from Desmond Tutu, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Satish Kumar, among others. It aims to provide readers with a few moments of calm, as well as challenging them to take further action to promote peace.

In addition, the booklet has an accompanying website www.peaceinyourpocket.org.uk and a text messaging service, where people can sign up to receive free occasional peaceful thoughts on their mobiles.