On April 16th, ten Friends gathered on a warm — some would say hot — afternoon to maintain our weekly prayer vigil for peace in the world. Early in the vigil a man stopped and looked at our signs attentively. One of us offered him some literature; he was very thankful and remarked that the sign showing the word "peace" in many languages did not contain the word in Arabic. This lack had been pointed out at a recent vigil. When he was invited to write the word in Arabic, he called over his daughter, who had a "good handwriting." Together they wrote it in Arabic, with the English transliteration: SALAAM. Renata traced over the letters they wrote, and highlighted them with yellow. She had been holding her favorite sign, "WE CAN STOP WAR NOW," but subsequently held up the new sign she'd made with the Arabic words.
A caravan of school buses rode by slowly in front of us. Young people put their heads out the windows and shouted at us, but we didn't catch their words.
Two Friends who had frequently participated in the vigil during the weeks of the NATO bombing last year joined us toward the end of the hour, unaware that the vigil has been starting at 4 PM for the past half year. We were glad to have their company again.
As we gathered in a circle at the end of the hour, Steve Gulick reported that at his meeting that morning, the parents of Jenny Sheeks, now a college senior, reported that Jenny was participating in the demonstration in Washington that day. Steve asked us to hold both Jenny and her parents, Pat McBee and Brad Sheeks, in the Light.
[Pat reports that Jenny went to Washington with a group of well disciplined, nonviolent student activists to protest the policies of the World Bank, taking action in solidarity with poor people of the world who are suffering because of the policies of the developed world. Jenny was arrested on Monday, along with many others, for crossing a line marked by police. Their interactions with the D.C. police were mutually courteous, but reportedly some of the young people experienced violence once they were in the custody of Federal Marshalls and out of view of the media. Jenny was released the next morning, but 200 were still in jail by Thursday. She stayed in Washington to be there for those still in jail, and, according to her mother, received the blessing of finding a community of other young people who shared deep religious convictions.]
We received many responses to Peter Blood-Patterson's letter last week, by email and in person, from people who also felt that they were part of a praying community connected by the prayer vigils and reports. We feel blessed to be part of such a community.
Phil Anthony of Chestnut Hill Meeting commented on the discussion about Micah 6:8, which contains the admonition to love kindness (sometimes translated mercy). Phil writes:
Especially in view of Tony Prete's comments, I'm minded that the word in the Hebrew text is hesed — which has a lot of shades of meaning, but all of them are rooted in covenant obedience and mutual love. There's a lot missing, I think, when we don't remember that God's peace occurs precisely and only in the context of God's covenant with us ... and, as Tony said, if we don't do our part in the covenant, God can't/won't do God's part either. Right attention followed by right intention? It gives point to the rabbinic commentary: God's grace is freely given to be received, but humans have a part to play if we're going to receive it.
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