Henrietta United Church of Christ

The time was 1983, the year the TV movie “The Day After” was broadcast nationwide to one of the largest TV audiences in America. In this movie, America was destroyed by a nuclear attack launched by the Soviet Union. The movie created shock amongst Americans as they watched tens of millions of people killed in their country. It was as if the country had a collective near-death experience.

It was a time when the two most powerful nations on Earth aimed their deadliest weapons at each other in a doomsday scenario of mutually assured destruction. Children were in despair of ever having a future and the smartest political strategists of the world could not imagine a way out. The world was enveloped in a profound psychological darkness.

Out of this despair a small, barely perceptible opening occurred in the American psyche. It was into this opening that I entered with a dream: To carry an archetypal torch, person to person, country to country, leader to leader – extending a band of light around the world. Igniting and uniting the people and political leaders of the planet in a shared vision of living together in harmony. Providing a pause in the fear long enough for our collective imagination and ingenuity to find stable footing. Creating an opening in the global psyche for something new to be born.

It was visionary, but the odds against it seemed immense. Who would help organize an almost impossible dream? Who would be willing to finance such a risky and unprecedented undertaking? What organizations could meet the logistical challenges? What political leaders would put their reputation on the line for such a wildly improbable idea? And if it could somehow defy all these odds, would it really make any difference given the monolithic forces at play?

While I clearly had a lot to learn about the world’s political complexity, I did have an interesting history. I had organized the Olympic Torch Relay for the 1980 Lake Placid Games and was a seasoned management consultant. I may have been naive, but I couldn’t be completely discounted.

My first recruit, I hoped, would be a sure thing. I had met Gail Straub three years earlier right after organizing the Olympic Torch Relay. She had short blonde hair, a radiant smile and a contagious joie de vivre. I had met my soul mate and we instantly fell in love. Within a few months we decided to get married and develop a training program that empowered people to envision and manifest their dreams. By the spring of 1983 when my vision for the world was coming into being, we had been leading our empowerment training program for two years.

Gail’s response to my vision was immediate. She said, “If it could make the kind of difference you describe, I’m willing to go for it.” After an emotional embrace, my next question was, “Do you know anyone who lives in a foreign country?” Her response, “I know someone who used to live in England, perhaps she could help us find people.” So began our odyssey to convince the world to participate in this mythic transformative act. What transpired over the next three years demanded more of us then we could have ever imagined.

One by one we began assembling the team. I honed my recruitment pitch to: “Long hours, no pay and no guarantee of success, but a vision that just might change the world!”

Gail, serving as our International Director, created a 75-page “how to” manual which was distributed to each country’s organizing committee. The manual explained how to organize the torch relay, finance it in their country, publicize it, create public ceremonies and select each community’s three most successful self-help projects. Called “What’s Working in the World”, these self-help projects were to be a celebration of the best of humanity’s ingenuity, and replicate at the community level what was being created at a global level. At each community ceremony, the torch would “shed light” on what was working in the world.

The relay team was a group of runners who served as keepers of the fire and escorts for the torch runners in each country. Our strategy was to divide the world into 16 major geographic regions. The dream, like a beautiful bird song, attracted runners from each of these regions who were willing to add their unique spirit to this epic. They came from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Hungary, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Russia, United Kingdom and United States. They were women and men, Hindus, Moslems, Jews and Christians, recreational runners and Olympians. The world’s rich cultural and religious diversity was being assembled and would be placed together for 86 days.

So how do you transport a multicultural group of people, a live flame and torches through a new country almost every day? How do you successfully guide people with limited experience to organize several hundred community ceremonies and millions of people? How does one go about convincing dozens of heads of state to participate? How do you persuade airlines to go against their regulations and allow a live flame on board? The logistical challenges were unending. It was like mounting an expedition to scale Everest for the first time meets organizing the Olympic Opening Ceremony!

While these challenges were being confronted, a most daunting one still laid ahead: attracting the several million dollars of financing needed to make all this happen. I needed to provide assurances to the sponsors about our team’s ability to pull off an event of immense global magnitude that had never been done before. While I had secured seed capital to pay some staff, with six months left to go there was still no major sponsorship. As the seed funding and Gail’s and my financial resources were dwindling, a growing realization was occurring to me. We were persuading people all over the world to invest their time and hope, in some cases at the cost of economic hardship, and I might not be able to raise the money to actually do it. If I couldn’t raise the money, I would be an outcast almost everywhere in the world. Our Japanese organizer Atsuo Shiga, described the situation: “How far can one run on an empty stomach?”

Soon the media caught wind of the audacity and significance of this initiative. Stories began appearing in the New York Times and on the major TV networks for what was now being called the First Earth Run. One team member, Hal Uplinger, who had helped produce the mega rock concert fund raiser for famine relief in Africa, Live Aid, used his contacts at ABC Television to bring them on as the media sponsor. They committed to providing coverage of the torch’s 12 week passage around-the-world every Wednesday morning on Good Morning America.

Then the political leadership support began falling into place, including US President Ronald Reagan, Soviet Union’s President Mikhail Gorbachev, and China’s President Li Xiannan. As the momentum built, requests started coming from many heads of state asking that the flame go through their country. One of the most meaningful requests came from King Birendra of Nepal. He wished the torch of peace to light an eternal flame he would erect at the pilgrimage birthplace of the Buddha in Lumbini. He said he wanted the millions of Buddhist pilgrims who come to Lumbini to be inspired by this act of peace building. The mythic power of the dream was generating a magic that was captivating all who heard it.

A member of the core team, Brooke Newell, a Vice President of the large multi-national Chase Manhattan Bank, had begun soliciting her company as sponsors from the inception of this idea. As the senior leadership heard of the growing support and momentum that was building, they became interested in sponsorship. They had come to the conclusion as described in a memo that, “this is one of the truly extraordinary activities of our time and is an unparalleled opportunity for our company.” Soon we were negotiating in earnest for a multi-million dollar sponsorship. The only issues were how much they would pay and how they would promote it. Needless to say, this news gave everyone on the organizing team a collective sigh of relief.

Then one day about three months before the event, Brooke requested a meeting with me. We met frequently about the negotiations with Chase, but this day Brooke had an ominous look about her. She got right to it. After a hard-headed analysis at the highest levels of the organization, Chase decided to pull back from sponsorship. They determined this was too risky an undertaking. So many things could go wrong. They ticked them off one after the other. Without consistently professional crowd control the runners, spectators and team were at risk of bodily harm or even death. It was such a high-profile event that it could easily be hijacked by a fringe organization for their political purposes. The level of organization was uneven and in any number of countries the event could fall on its face with minimal participation. If it was used as a propaganda event by communist dictators it would reflect poorly on the company. The overall assessment was it was just way too risky a venture for them. They were unwilling to go forward.

I called my core team of about 25 together in our United Nations offices. They assembled in the only location where everyone could fit – a corridor between our tightly packed offices. Calmly, but with my heart in my throat, I told them: “Chase Manhattan Bank has decided to pull out as a sponsor. We have no other prospects at the moment, as Chase had wished to be the sole sponsor. It would be extremely hard to find a multi-million dollar sponsorship on this short notice. Everyone’s faith and dedication has brought us to this point and now we are all being asked where we stand. I have decided to go forward and I ask each of you to think hard about what you want to do. I will understand if you aren’t willing or able to hang in any longer. After all, most of you have not been paid, and those who have, receive a survival level salary. Our workload is relentless – 10 to 12 hour days. For every logistical and political challenge we solve, two new ones appear. In spite of this major setback, I will do whatever it takes to find another source of funding.”

The team did not hesitate. They unanimously decided to go forward. They determined they would keep running on an empty stomach.

I decided my best chance was to speak to UNICEF’s Executive Director, Jim Grant and ask for his financial support. From several communications, I knew Jim had become a real partner. He told me he was in awe of the response this was getting from usually reticent political leaders all over the world. He said, that although he was getting some resistance from his country directors, the positive association of people and political leaders around the world toward UNICEF would make their work much easier in the future. He also hoped it would assist their fund raising efforts both through the event and in the future by the increased visibility. But his bottom line was this was the right thing to do for the world and that was why he was putting his organization behind it.

I arranged a meeting with Jim the next day to explain what had happened. By the time I arrived, Jim had already heard that Chase had pulled out. When I asked him to consider funding the whole thing, he was ready with an answer. He said, “We will make it happen!” I could not hold back my tears of relief and joy. Jim told his organization to find the money in the budget and UNICEF became the global underwriter and sole sponsor. A better sponsor for a global humanitarian mission of this magnitude could not have been found. This moment marked a phenomenon that had become a hallmark: each time we were faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge, help came. All concluded, this dream had grace!

With funding finally secured, the effort and response from around the world leapt to another level of intensity and scrutiny. I was summoned to meet with senior government leadership in both Moscow and Beijing. They asked me probing questions. They wanted to understand how something like this had happened, who was behind it, and what their motivations were. They wanted to know why I was really doing this. They wanted to know why they should encourage the people of their country to get involved. I was able to convince them that my sentiments and the purpose of this global initiative were genuine. I told them my story and they seemed to believe me. Both countries committed to provide runners for the international team. The political leadership in the Soviet Union allowed 60 cities throughout the country to participate with huge events in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) and Moscow. In China, they allowed events in Beijing and Shanghai and encouraged some two million runners to join the torch along the Great Wall. In both countries, the heads of state honored the flame’s arrival.

Other amazing things were happening. President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, along with head of the guerilla group the Contras, his arch enemy, would declare a cease fire for the day and have their children carry the torch together through the capital city of Managua. Jewish and Arab children were going to carry the torch into the Knesset, the Israeli parliament building, in Jerusalem. In Northern Ireland, Catholic and Protestant runners were going to pass the torch from one to another. The President of Iceland wished the torch to be brought to Reykjavik to light a world peace cauldron outside the building where Gorbachev and Reagan were to have their historic first summit meeting. It was as though the geopolitical chessboard was given a second dimension to play on and many new moves were being invented.

The lighting and launch of the torch on its journey around the world was to take place at the United Nations in New York. The torch was to be lit from a fire created at a sunrise ceremony on the grounds of the United Nations by two Native American elders, Chief Shenandoah of the Iroquois Nation and Grandmother Caroline of the Hopi Nation. Among the native cultures, the Iroquois are the “keepers of the sacred fire.” It is they who are charged among all the native tribes to provide the fire necessary to manifest dreams. The Hopi are the “keepers of the dream.” They serve as stewards of the most profound belief on the planet: that human beings can live in harmony with each other and the Earth.

They are also keepers of the Hopi Prophecies reverently handed down from one generation to the next for over a thousand years. The most important of these prophecies states that when humanity is on the brink of self destruction the Hopi must deliver a message at the great hall of mica. If this message is received, the world would begin the “Great Turning” toward a thousand years of peace. If it was not received the world would continue its direction and enter into a thousand years of darkness and war. The prophecy stated that they would have four attempts to deliver this message.

The Hopi elders determined that the time described in the prophecy had come, and the great hall of mica was the glass United Nations building on Manhattan’s east side. For the sake of the world, they diligently sought an audience with the leadership of the United Nations. They had been turned down three times already, so this was their final chance. The native cultures were closely tracking what they felt was a momentous opportunity for humanity.

It was a beautiful sunrise in Manhattan. It had been raining so the air was pure and the sky was clear. The sun was gleaming off the tall rectangular glass United Nations building and surrounding skyscrapers. Political dignitaries, rock stars and the UN Secretary General were preparing to participate. It was September 16, 1986, the opening day of the UN General Assembly – the international day of peace in the international year of peace.

The evening before, a ceremonial site had been prepared on the grounds of the UN by Chief Shenandoah. There was a little chill in the air that September morning as Chief Shenandoah of the Iroquois Nation, in the ancient ways rubbed two sticks together until a spark was ignited into kindling. The kindling was placed on combustible material until a small flame grew into a blazing fire. Many political dignitaries and media were on hand to hear Grandmother Caroline offer the prophecy the Hopi had been stewarding for a millennia.

A paraphrasing of what she said was: “Humanity is at a crossroads. To continue on this planet, we are being called to achieve a higher level of community, where we can experience that which unites us. The fire symbolizes the light within that connects us all. As this light goes around the world it will awaken in humanity a deep yearning to live in harmony with each other and the Earth. This will leave a lasting imprint in our memory and make possible the Great Turning that was prophesied. Learn to interpret the signs, they will be there.”

Her profound message of hope inspired everyone in attendance. Over the next 86 days, it would be communicated in one form or another to the 25 million people and 45 heads of state in 62 countries who would directly participate in the passage of the fire. And to the hundreds of millions more participating through the media.

The 86-day journey of the fire around the world was an extraordinary moment on the planet. Wherever the flame arrived, conflict stopped and adversaries cooperated. The anticipated fear of crowds being out of control did not materialize. While they were enthusiastic, they were respectful and in awe of the fire they were seeing. There were no injuries and no one was even burned. On more than one occasion, it was raining when the flame arrived, but when the ceremony began, the rain ceased and the sun would shine. Airline pilots welcomed the flame onto their planes as a distinguished quest. Inspired art, music, dance and poetry were created that touched the spirit and united. The flame arrived on time for every scheduled ceremony. Each community proudly shared success stories of how their citizens had cooperated for the common good and achieved something great. For 86 days, wherever the flame went there was peace and cooperation. These “signs” were noticed by all.

When the flame arrived back at the United Nations in New York, a special session was held in the United Nations General Assembly Hall. Delegates from around the world shared story after story of how the people of their country had been moved and elevated by the power of the fire. They described in many different ways how they had been inspired and provided hope that we can create the world we want. That our dreams and aspirations for our world can be realized. That everyone around the world wants the same thing and when given the opportunity, fully embrace it.

What had inspired the world to act in this way? And did it change in any demonstrable way? An important place to look is where it started: the titanic death grip between the United States and Soviet Union of mutually assured destruction as their best chance for survival. A story will illustrate the mysterious effects of the fire on a few of the mortals playing out the great drama of the time.

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher, had been reluctant to participate, thinking this was all a waste of time. But when the groundswell of political support had grown to include Presidents’ Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union, Ronald Reagan of the United States, and Li Xiannan of China, she finally accepted the invitation to participate. Children from each of the major ethnic groups in London were invited to 10 Downing Street for a short candle lighting ceremony.

The flame was carried in by a runner and each child was offered a candle to light from the torch. One by one, as they lit their candle, each child became transfixed. They could barely move. It was as if the fire had taken on the collective presence and sentiments of all those people who had transported and witnessed it. The entire room was transformed. What had been planned as a simple 10-minute ceremony evolved into a two-hour tour. She told them of the many tales and important decisions that had transpired in those chambers. How it was so important that we had opportunities like this and they should use this flame to inspire others in their communities. The powerful presence of the fire had touched the “iron lady”, allowing her momentarily to shed her armor.

A few weeks later, she was to be the first Western political leader to meet with Gorbachev. Her assignment was to determine if he could be trusted and the world could be brought back from the precipice. Knowing that the flame was coming to Moscow, she shared her candle lighting experience with one of the meeting organizers. When she arrived for her historic meeting, she was invited to participate with Gorbachev in a similar candle lighting ceremony in the Kremlin with Soviet children representing the country’s many ethnic groups. The flame once again created a similar transformation allowing these two cold warriors to relate to one another from another vantage point. The distrust softened in both of them, allowing for intelligence to transcend political posturing. Her communication to the world after their meeting was, “We can do business with him.”

Another example of the alchemical power of the fire and dream occurred when it penetrated what was then called the “iron curtain.” When the flame arrived in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, it released an intense emotion amongst the hundreds of thousands of participants. It was palpable. It was like they were smelling for the first time in their life a fragrance in the air. What had been an airtight container was now being permeated with the freshness of new ideas. They were breathing in what free will could achieve. They were breathing in common cause with the world community.¹