BY ELAINE KLAASSEN
Even if you dismiss out of hand the idea that world peace is possible, you should still listen to what Capt. Paul K. Chappell has to say about it. His hopeful, knowledgeable, lucid and captivating voice gives the pursuit of peace a firm footing. His message is deeply spiritual and deeply practical.
Chappell’s unique perspective on war and peace is based on a unique combination of influences. As a descendant of slaves, his father told him the only hope for him in America was the military. Chappell graduated from West Point in 2002 and after his deployment to Baghdad left the military in 2009. Since then he’s been writing books about peace. His latest, “The Art of Waging Peace,” stresses the necessary tools for peacemaking: discipline and strategy, compassion and inner peace.
The book is rich with military and martial arts images; Greek and Roman mythology; military and political history; quotes from Eisenhower, MacArthur, Sun Tzu, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, as well as Chappell’s profound personal story of struggling to find peace in the wake of severe trauma.
The greatest power of this book are all the examples of effective, active peacemaking strategies in the past that have brought about justice, equality and economic security without war—and all the historical examples of war’s inefficiency.
The Veterans for Peace have invited Chappell to the Twin Cities in November. He’s presenting an all-day workshop on Nov. 15 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society. On Sunday he will be at Plymouth Congregational Church from 9 to 10 a.m. On Monday, Nov. 17, 6 p.m., he is the keynote speaker at a very large MAP (Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers) celebration at the Landmark Center in St. Paul. On Tuesday, 11:30 a.m., he will speak at the Veterans Ministry/Coming Home Collaborative at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church. More info at Larry Johnson, 612-747-3904 or [email protected].
TUNE IN FRI.NOV,. 14 (9am) to KFAI RADIO for a conversation with PAUL CHAPPELL. KFAI 90.3fm Mpls 106.7 fm St.Paul Listen ONLINE to (NOV.14 edition for 2 weeks after broadcast)on CATALYST show at http://www.kfai.org
Added to the list of authors from history who have not only advocated peace but shown how it can be achieved is The School of Sun Tzu which helped end the Warring States period and usher in the first empire of China. The story of this amazing work is available on Amazon.
Thanks for this introduction to this amazing human being! I heard about the meetings after the fact, but plan to read his book.
If Southside Pride is on the internet, I’d like to be added to the list. If not, I’d like to subscribe to have it mailed to me. Thank you!
The EVENTS w/PAUL CHAPELL are NOV. 14 to NOV. 18. in Minneapolis & St.Paul