It Would Serve Us Well To Remember…….Peace, Love and Tolerance!

Vivekananda was encouraged by J.H. Wright, a professor of Greek at Harvard University, to speak on Hinduism in the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. When he expressed reservations saying he had no credentials, the professor replied, "To ask you, Swami, for your credentials is like asking the sun about its right to shine." He wrote about Vivekananda to the chairman of the committee on selection of delegates, "Here is a man more learned than all our learned professors put together."

When I asked God for Strength
He gave me difficulties to face
When I asked God for Happiness
He showed me unhappy people
When I asked God for Wealth
He showed me hard work
When I asked God for peace
He taught me Tolerance and Love…………

His first lecture, which began with the opening line "Sisters and Brothers of America," made the audience clap for two minutes in appreciation, for prior to this seminal speech, they were always addressed as "Ladies and Gentlemen." It was this speech that catapulted him to fame by his wide audiences in Chicago and then later everywhere else in America, including far-flung places such as Memphis, Boston, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and St. Louis.