"Let There Be Peace On Earth"

In the middle of the twentieth century, two young people wrote a "religious" song, "Let there be peace on earth", at a retreat, at Camp Herman, in the San Francisco Bay Area hills. The rights for use of the song, by Rotary, were granted to Rotary International by the authors.

"And when I attempted suicide and I didn't succeed, I knew for the first time unconditional love—which God is. God is unconditional love. You are totally loved, totally accepted, just the way you are. In that moment I was not allowed to die, and something happened to me which is very difficult to explain. I had an eternal moment of truth, in which I knew I was loved, and knew I was here for a purpose."—

Jill Jackson Miller, author of "Let There be Peace on Earth," describing events in her early life that developed her unique philosophy of Peace. 

 "Let There Be Peace on Earth."

Let There Be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me.
Let There Be Peace on Earth, the peace that was meant to be!
With God as our Father, family all are we.
Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me. Let this be the moment now.
With ev'ry breath I take, let this be my solemn vow;
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally!
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me!

Written by Sy Miller and Jill Jackson Circa 1955 (revised 2012 by Jack M. B. Selway)

Miller movingly speaks of her early life—how she became an orphan as a young girl, and her difficult journey through foster care, that led her into despair and attempted suicide. She describes that it was then that she realized the presence of a higher power in her life and how she eventually came to write the song. It is a song that has rippled and spread around the world, taking on a life of its own, as people began to live the message and share the song.

Jill Jackson Miller, author of "Let There Be Peace on Earth."