This week's report is followed by a letter from vigil report reader Peter Blood-Patterson. The following report is by Marcelle Martin of Newtown Square Friends Meeting:
On Sunday, April 9, nine of us gathered at Independence Mall for our prayer vigil for peace in the world. Among us were eight Friends and one transdenominational Protestant. Several people joined the vigil who hadn't been with us since last spring or summer; it was a joy to see them.
That morning most of us had been surprised by the snow, several inches deep. By the time of the vigil, however, the sun was out and most of the snow had melted. Early on, a Park Ranger came out to investigate the sign which contains the word "Peace" written in more than a dozen languages. She and the other Rangers inside the Liberty Bell pavilion wanted to know what languages were included. Tourists were out in large numbers and many stopped to talk or take our flyer. A group of Brazilians, including two fathers with their young sons, looked at our flyer, lingering on the stone wall nearby. An Asian man slowed down to read each of our signs carefully before hurrying to catch up with his group. Then he returned and walked past our line again. I smiled at him, and he gave me a thumbs up. Two men stopped and read our flyer carefully. One made a comment about the quote from Micah 6:8 at the end of the flyer, "...and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Some translations say "to love mercy.") He told me that an ancient rabbinical commentary on that passage says that to love kindness means not just to enjoy it when it happens, but to seek to do it all the time, in every possible situation. He thanked us before leaving.
As I prayed during that hour, it seemed that I was recapitulating the prayers of the year. First I asked God to bring peace to the world, as I did fervently, during the bombing of Yugoslavia. I looked at the passers-by, appreciating how they came from many different parts of the planet, and asked for peace to be felt in each person's heart, and among people and nations. I included my fellow vigil participants in this prayer, remembering Jorge — who was maintaining the vigil in Quito, Ecuador that day — and others who had stood or prayed with us over the past year. My prayer included people everywhere who were suffering from hunger, poverty, violence, injustice, or neglect.
At some point, it no longer seemed appropriate to "beseech" God for peace. I was reminded that God's peace is always being showered upon the world and into each human heart. The peace that "passeth understanding" is intimately close, always waiting inside for us to turn to receive it. So my prayer to God was, "Thank you for your peace. Thank you for showering your peace and love on all the world."
Then I returned to beseeching God: "Help us to make your peace manifest." Words from the prayer of St. Francis became my prayer: "Make me a channel of your peace."
The response I sensed was this: "Open to my peace."
These vigils have been teaching me the wordless prayer of simple receptivity to God's peace, a prayer of opening my heart and everything inside me to be permeable to God's Light. Stand, breathe, be open to those passing by, be open to the world, be open to God's peace. Then it seemed that simply standing at the vigil was a prayer. We were giving witness to the need to turn to God in order to help restore the Peaceable Kingdom. We were opening ourselves to be transformed by God's peace and to have the conflicts within us and among us to be transformed, too. We were opening to learn a way of life that does not inflict misery on others, directly or indirectly. In the face of the transformation required, we need to be humble.
At the end of the hour, we gathered in a circle together. After some silent prayer, we shared reflections. Linda Laskowski told us that she had been particularly struck by understanding the power of peace. Although nations use weapons of war and military force as a way to have power, peaceful ways of resolving conflict have even more power. She hoped to keep reminding herself of that. Jonathan Sank said that when one woman told him she didn't believe in prayer, he said to her: "wish for peace then." Eileen Flanagan offered to contribute the Arabic word for peace to the sign containing many languages. Tony Prete said that standing surrounded by historic and contemporary government buildings and business offices, he was reminded of Jeremiah standing outside the Temple, warning the people that proclamations of "This is the Temple of the Lord" — the very core of their faith — had become "deceitful words" because they were no longer backed up by right actions. He feels that in our vigils we stand in that prophetic tradition, reminding people that God's power does not reside in the edifices or symbols where people place their trust or worship power today.
We concluded our celebration of a year of holding the vigil by sharing a delicious cake make by Yolanda Covarrubias. It was decorated with a dove of peace.
It seems fitting to share the following letter with you as we celebrate our first year of holding the vigil and sending these reports.
Dear Friends,
I have never been down to Independence Hall for the weekly peace vigils. I was a big vigiler in the past, starting with a Quaker vigil at the Pentagon in 1960. AFSC made a movie about that vigil called "The Language of Faces." I was in a lot of vigils during the Vietnam War. I made it to a few vigils during the gulf war. (A pickup drove by and someone yelled out: "They oughta ship all you guys to Baghdad so we can drop a nuclear bomb on your heads!")
I've wanted to go down, but it's a ways to drive and weekends are very full. I have been receiving the same weekly reports that all of you have been receiving for about a year. I have been deeply moved by reading them. Each time they come, I take a few minutes to pray for peace here at my computer. Or I may move over to the couch by the window and look out over the pond and woods behind our farmhouse.
I wanted to write this because I wanted to tell you how connected I feel to all of you. Not just those of you who have actually been down to these particular vigils but to all of you, wherever you are, who are reading these reports. I feel that we are an invisible community of prayer — joined together praying for an end to all the terrible insanity of war.
All of you may not take a few minutes to pray when you get these messages on your PC (although I'll bet quite a few of you do: it's hard not to when you read the quiet, moving reflections of those who gather to stand before others in Philadelphia, to pray and speak through standing still). But prayer is not just saying words to God inside our own heads. It is an action of the heart. I think we end up praying when we read these reports, whether we intend to or not.
I recently attended a weekend at the Burlington Quaker conference center sponsored by Pendle Hill on "Building a Culture of Peace." Before I went to it, I wondered how many people coming were receiving these messages — were part of this invisible prayer community I'm a part of. I thought about trying to send a message out to all of you saying — "Do you know about this conference? Are you coming? Will I meet some of you (my invisible & unknown brothers and sisters) there? If you aren't coming, will you pray for us that weekend?" I tried clicking on "reply to all" when I got my weekly vigil report but quickly realized that the messages get sent out in smaller batches. The addresses that popped up were obviously only a small percentage of the total list. And anyway it felt a little bit awkward to actually greet some of you in the flesh at Burlington: Maybe it was better to stay invisible from each other?
But I need to write this to you. I want to say that whoever you are, wherever you may be, thank you for choosing to receive these messages. And to read them. And to be part of this family of those who long for peace. And in some sense that I don't quite understand: I love you. You are very precious to me. Just as the victims of war — in Bosnia, and Rwanda, and East Timor, and Kashmir, and Ulster, and Colombia, and Kosovo — even though they are even more unknown to me than you are, are very precious to me — so that I weep when I think about the terrible suffering they have to face every day. I don't write as many letters to Congressfolk or the newspaper as I want to. I don't give as much money as I'd like to to peace groups. I'm not even a member of any of those groups right now. (The main thing we do at this point for peace is lead singalong concerts which we try to infuse with peacemaking and other Quaker testimonies.)
And to pray — with the friends down at Independence Hall. And with the rest of you. Let's keep this up: who knows what could happen...
In hope,
Peter Blood-Patterson
Glen Mills, PA, USA
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE
Independence Mall Vigil for PeacePlease join us at our weekly prayer vigils for peace in the world, held in front of the Liberty Bell on Market St. between 5th and 6th, every Sunday from 4 to 5 PM. For more information, contact cityquake@aol.com.
In our reports, participants share their experiences of the prayer vigils and explore beliefs related to their participation. Reports reflect the experience of each author and do not necessarily represent the beliefs or practice of all vigil participants. We welcome your responses, which are forwarded to the individual authors (when possible). We sometimes include part of a response in a future report, unless you ask us not to.
It is meaningful to us that you share in the vigils by reading these reports and in other ways, such as joining us in prayer.
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM