A
Call for a Time of Prayer and Purification
For
a Culture of Peace
April
28 2007 at 12 noon
The March 2007
news reports of Mayan Priests purifying the site where an American President just visited was both disheartening in its
need and inspiring in its hope. How many places in our wounded world are in need of purification from hatred, violence, hunger, destruction of the
environment? As the Indigenous ceremony in Iximche, Guatemala
reminds us that deep purpose and values are never far away; they can be restored. However, we must act to restore
them.
How do we move
from war to peace without waging war on war? How do we identify and cleanse ignorance without damaging the innocent or empowering
the dangerous? In times of great peril, it is up to each of us to create new
forms to invoke our highest purpose.
Please join us at Noon on Saturday,
April 28, 2007 in a global prayer and purification ceremony. We invite people of spirit to use their own faith’s prayer
and purification rituals to call forth the blessings of peace, brotherhood/sisterhood, and sustainable living upon this planet
and to dissolve thoughts of aggression, fear, and greed.
This call for
action honors the traditions of the true roots of America — those of the Indigenous people of this continent and
those of the drafters of the US Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It also supports the efforts of the
member countries of the United Nations, including the United States, to create a Culture of Peace.
This call starts
with us, because as Americans we need to embody the collective wisdom of: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator,
with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
As our prayer
rolls through different time zones around the world, we connect diverse faiths, diverse culture, and diverse ideas. Diverse
oneness is the foundation of power.
Whenever it is
noon where you are, please join in.
It is time to
call ourselves true people of peace, to envisage the possibilities of a Culture of Peace. Can we use the knowledge of
the Secret power of Intention to call forth the Spirit of a truly international culture of peace where diversity is celebrated?
This email is
like a letter in a bottle. If you are called to link and enlarge the Circle, please do so in your traditions, in your
homes, with your family and friends, and in your sacred spaces.
A pall of fear has shadowed
too many for too long. Let us call forth a new Spring and thank the Earth and all our relations.
We are the prayer we have waited for. If not us, who? If not now, when?
May Peace Prevail on Earth. May Peace Begin with me.
"How much better is it for neighbors to help than to hurt one another; how
much
happier must it make them. If [nations] will cease to make war on one
another, if [they] will live in friendship with all mankind, [they] can employ
all [their] time in providing food and clothing for [themselves] and [their
people]. [Their] men will not be destroyed in war, [their] women and children
will
lie down to sleep in their [homes] without fear of being surprised by
their
enemies and killed or carried away. [Their] numbers will be increased
instead
of diminished and [they] will live in plenty and in quiet."
--Thomas Jefferson: Address
to Mandar Nation, 1806.
There never was a good war or
a bad peace Benjamin Franklin
"Hearken, that peace may continue unto future days!
Always
listen to the words of the Great Creator, for he has spoken.
"United
people, let not evil find lodging in your minds.
"For
the Great Creator has spoken and the cause of Peace shall not become old.
"The
cause of peace shall not die if you remember the Great Creator."
The Haudenshonee Constitution http://www.indigenouspeople.net/iroqcon.htm_
"A
sincere prayer is more powerful than an atomic bomb." Harry F. Byrd, Lakota Nation, South Dakota
"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and
pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven."
Matthew 5:43-44
“It is of crucial importance at this time that all the children of Mother Earth learn to come together with one heart,
one mind, one love and one determination, and create the fitting legacy for all
our children and our children’s children.”
"It
was prophesized that the time would come when the voice of indigenous peoples would rise again after five hundred years of
silence and oppression, to light a path to an eternal fire of peace, love, brotherhood and sisterhood amongst all nations."
Grandfather William Commanda,
Keeper of the Wampum Belts, A Circle of All Nations: A Culture of Peace http://www.angelfire.com/ns/circleofallnations/page2.html
From
the United Religions Initiative Charter
We believe that our religious,
spiritual lives, rather than dividing us, guide us to build communities and respect for one another.
Therefore, as interdependent
people rooted in our traditions, we now unite for the benefit of our Earth community.
We unite to build cultures of
peace and justice.
We unite to heal and protect
the Earth.
We unite to build safe places
for conflict resolution, healing and reconciliation.
We
unite to support freedom of religion and spiritual expression, and the rights of all individuals and people as set forth in
international law.
We
unite in responsible cooperative action to bring the wisdom and values of our religions, spiritual expression and indigenous
traditions to bear on the economic, environmental, political and social challenges
facing our Earth community.
We unite to provide a global
opportunity for participation by all people, especially by those whose voices
are not often heard.
We unite to celebrate the joy
of blessings and the light of wisdom in both movement and stillness.
We unite to use our combined
resources only for nonviolent, compassionate action, to awaken to our deepest truths, and to manifest love and justice among
all life in our Earth community.
Purpose
The
purpose of the United Religions Initiative is to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated
violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings. www.uri.org
Aware that the task of the United
Nations to save future generations
from the scourge of war requires transformation towards a culture of
peace, which
consists of values, attitudes and behaviours that reflect
and inspire social interaction and sharing based on the principles
of
freedom, justice and democracy, all human rights, tolerance and
solidarity, that reject violence and endeavour to
prevent conflicts by
tackling their root causes to solve problems through dialogue and
negotiation and that guarantee
the full exercise of all rights and the
means to participate fully in the development process of their society,
United Nations General Assembly
A/RES/52/13 15 January 1998
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Signatories(Partial List)
Grandfather William Commanda, Keeper
of the Wampum Belts, Annishinabe Nation
Sharon Franquemont, sfranque@aol.com
The Circle www.oneprayer.org
Reverend Betsy Stang, bebird@aol.com
Executive Director, The Wittenberg
Center for Alternative Resources
www.wittenbergcenter.org
David Berry davidberry@aol.com
Reverend Canon Charles Gibbs,
Executive Director, United Religions
Initiative
Grace Smith Yellow Hammer, Dineh
spokeswoman
Harriett Crosby, Friends
of the Earth
Diana Whitney, Corporation
for Positive Change
Mitch Walking Elk, Cheyenne
& Arapaho Nations
Romola Trebilcock, Canada, A Circle of All Nations: A Culture of Peace http://www.angelfire.com/ns/circleofallnations
Deborah Moldow, URI-UN
Reverend James C Davis, Director
The Wittenberg Center for Alternative
Resources
Mary Sarah Agliotta,
DPI-NGO The
Wittenberg Center for Alternative Resources
Regional Coordinator, Gather the Women-NY/NJ
Bernice Cousins bcousins@panix.com
GTW-NY/ NJ ; Actualism NY Star Center
DPI-NGO
The Wittenberg Center for Alternative Resources
Beverley Britton
Lifeline Network for Peace
Margi Ness
URI North America Co-Coordinator
Rev. Kay Lindahl, The Listening Center
Annie
B. Bond
Executive Producer of Green Living Content, Care2.com - A Network of over 6.8 million Progressive Members,
Author of Better Basics for the Home
Alta Reynolds, South Africa
Redwood Mary, Circle the Earth- Grassroots Taking Action for a Sustainable Future
Yoland Trevino, URI Global Council
Chair, indigenous Mayan
Monica Willard, United Religions Initiative
United Nations NGO Representative
Christine
Whitney Sanchez, CWS - Collaborative Wisdom & Strategy
Judi Woods, GTW Making It On Purpose, a pilot
project for the Nation
Deb
Ballam, Columbus, Ohio
Teresa Descilo, Miami, FL
Marsha Pilgeram, Utah URI
Lorrie K Eaton, DC, handsonautism@yahoo.com
Virginia Sanchez, Mexico
Margaret Jones, Member, New Vision United Methodist Church Social Action
&
Interfaith Committee
and Co-contact, URI SF Peninsula CC
Nancy Rivard, Airline Ambassadors www.airlineamb.org
Rabbi David Shneyer, AmKolel
Joan Kenley, Radio Talk Show
Host, Conversations That Matter
Bill Sanda, Photographer
Jim PathFinder Ewing (Nvnehi Awatisgi), Annette Waya Ewing, Tsalagi,
Healing The Earth/Ourselves (www.blueskywaters.com)
