Story Corps is in Denver this week. Last week I had the privilege of helping kick off the wonderful traveling van that records the stories of ordinary Americans. I told along with other many wonderful Rocky Mountain storytellers. Inspired by the stories that have been playing on Colorado Public Radio, this time I didn't rehearse or practice my story in the spirit of just telling the story. We don't need to be polished in our storytelling when we let out the power of our own personal stories. The stories themselves take care of everything. We need only be the vehicle for the words.The story I told was called Sambal Badjak. It is the story of my father, growing up in the Dutch East Indies before World War II broke out, and how his father died in a forced labor Mitzubishi tin mine outside of Tokyo as a POW. It tells the story about how he survived terrible torture in concentration camps as a child, and how certain red peppers, which make up the Indonesian chutney Sambal Badjak, helped him survive. I told this story and said that these stories were told to me around the dinner table when I was young. I realized Sambal Badjak represented to me what must survive. War stories must always survive. My father's story must always survive. Telling stories of our ancestors and history must survive. So that we can remember just how obscene war is. How much of a death cult it is and how much it destroys children and countless lives. I tell my father's story to tell everyone that we must never forget, so that we can say never again.I urge you to read my father's complete story online in the Lotus. You too can be a voice for peace in the world. Peace is Life. War is Death.https://www.storytimeyoga.com/lotus/personal_storytelling/father.htm Help stop this and all heinous wars. Tell your story. Tell personal stories to your children. Stories have this amazing power to heal, connect and promote world peace.Namaste,Sydney