The quality of this period, as always, is -- and will be -- determined by the quality of our collective dream. The more fear and hatred there is, the more death and destruction will result. The more love and cooperation is extended, the more positive an outcome will occur. Things of darkness cannot exist in the light and the amount of light brought to bear is up to us.

It falls upon each of us to do whatever we can to increase the light on the planet. There are several groups sponsoring global peace meditations and we all need to support them. As I've said before, these are the kind of efforts that ended the cold war and lifted the specter of impending nuclear holocaust. The same efforts now need to be applied to our environmental problems and other serious challenges.

Global meditations will work on big picture issues but there is more to do. We need to bring more light into the world in our day-to-day affairs. We are presented with opportunities every day to be kinder, more generous and to bring light to people and situations: a hello to a neighbor, a wave of thanks to another driver, smiles for the checker and bagger at the supermarket. We will never know for sure, but perhaps one act of kindness to the attackers in Littleton could have prevented that carnage. The hate that can make such an attack possible can only be undone by love. By taking every opportunity that presents itself to add light to someone's darkness and by making lighter every circumstance that you find yourself in, you increase the light of the world.

At any given time there are about 50 wars being fought, mostly in obscure places that most of us have probably never heard of, scattered around our planet. What occurs now in the former Yugoslavia is only one that we are aware of. Edwin Starr, on his 1970 album, War & Peace was right: war is good for absolutely nothing.

The only battle worth fighting is to overcome darkness with light.