In another life, says Marsha Kline Pruett, Ph.D., she would have been Oscar Hammerstein. The Maconda Brown O'Connor professor loves Broadway musicals; over the years, she has written songs and poems celebrating family milestones. Now, as a poet and a peacebuilder, she has her own milestone to celebrate: writing the lyrics for a song performed at the United Nations’ General Assembly meetings.
“Seeds of Peace” debuted in September, with Kline Pruett’s husband, Dr. Kyle Pruett, child psychiatrist, noted family expert, and professional tenor, singing the first two verses, which begin, “Welcome to our world, my child/Welcome to our world/With each new life we have a chance to plant the seeds of peace.” Then the Yale All-City Children’s Chorus joined in: “We need to repair the world/Let’s start with you and me/We can repair the world/Together, you and me.” The audience was encouraged to sing the final verse.
Being honored was the Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC), whose 23 members, including Yale Child Study Center, Sesame Workshop and UNICEF, endeavor to apply early childhood development strategies to build world peace. The U.N. identified ECPC as one of four organizations who have made significant progress toward that goal.
Kline Pruett’s own conviction that peace begins at home has driven her career. “My heart’s so deeply in it. I’m saddened and deeply troubled that violence in families and societies is perpetuated and tolerated. I’ve worked with families across the country and in Canada to promote co-parenting and fathers’ involvement in raising children to reduce the rate of abuse and familial conflict.”
In creating the lyrics, she was inspired by a wide range of sources: ubuntu, a word in Zulu and the foundation of an African philosophy of humanism; tikkun olam, the Jewish concept of the individual’s duty to “repair the world”; and Margaret Mead’s oft-quoted idea that “a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.” Over two years, she wrote several versions. “I had too many ideas and was focused too much on my feelings as a parent. Then I realized the song was not about parents but about children.”
Composer Geoffrey Hudson wrote the music and helped shape the message. Having created The Bug Opera, a children’s opera, and the acclaimed eco-oratorio A Passion for the Planet, among other works, Hudson was the perfect collaborator. Kline Pruett noted his “stellar input” not only on the conceptual side, but also as she wrestled with syllable counts, line breaks and rhymes.
Challenging, rewarding, exciting—Kline Pruett has found the experience all that, and more. But most important, she said, waving her hands like birds taking flight, is that “the song goes out into the world. It’s not about me; it’s about building peace.”
