Sunday, June 11, was a hot and humid day. Ten Friends maintained the prayer vigil for peace in the world on Independence Mall, including several who had not been with us for a while. One Friend, Romayne Gayton from London, was with us for the last time. She has been at Pendle Hill this past year and has frequently joined the vigil. She hopes to maintain a link between her peace group in England and our vigil group.
Lots of people passed by the vigil, many expressing solidarity. I sense that some of our new signs may be expressing a clearer message. The sign I was holding read: "Pray for Peace. Love Your Neighbor & Your Enemy." The person next to me was holding a sign that read: "Pray for Peace, Work for Peace, Be Peace." Another of the new signs reads: "Turn to God. Love Mercy. Do Justice. Mind the Poor. Mind the Earth." All these are steps toward the peace God wishes us to know.
As I pray during the vigils, I take in the people walking by or passing in vehicles, and look at the artifacts of our culture that surround us there: tall buildings, lots of pavement, big buses, many cars, street lights, fences, a construction site in which the earth has been gouged for the sake of a new buidling. I try to imagine how the surroundings and the people would be different if we were living in perfect alignment with God's loving design for us.
What if each person was able to love to truly love their neighbor as themselves, to give openly to others whatever help or material aid they needed? What would our lives and our world look like if we listened to God's plan for us? Would there be less concrete, more green space, fewer vehicles, more trees, more tender smiles from passersby?
Occasionally horse-drawn carriages pass in front of us, carrying tourists who want to hear about Philadelphia history while experiencing something from a former way of life. This reminds me that some day our way of life, which seems normal to us, will seem quaint and perhaps sadly short on some of the most important things: peace, universal love, appreciation for the natural world, harmony, genuine security — the security that is based in knowing God's love and experiencing it through others.
Whenever I try to imagine how the world might be different if we were fully open to God's desire for us, I have to come back to the changes that would take place in myself, in my own heart. If I were fully loving, how would I be a different? I try to imagine my heart overflowing with so much love that I cared as much for the needs of others as for my own.
At the end of the hour, we gathered in our closing circle. Friend Pat McBee told us that she had come to share a concern about the conditions in Arizona, where illegal immigrants are being turned away at the borders, in one case turned back into a river, where some of them drowned. She asked us to pray for Friends there who are trying to discern how to respond, and we took some time in our circle to pray specifically for this. One of our vigil report readers has also sent us information about this situation; some of her words are included at the end of this report.
Jeanne Ayesha Lauenborg and several peace dancers joined us after the vigil for almost two hours of the Dances of Universal Peace in front of the Liberty Bell. Doing the dances in this location is the fulfillment of a vision that Ayesha had years ago. She played her guitar — with some accompaniement on drum by Jorge, then Renata — as we danced to simple songs or chants of peace from different spiritual traditions around the world, in several languages. At one point, an Indian family was intrigued and came close to watch. Ayesha chose a Hindu chant for the next dance. The older man in the family stayed very close to our group as we sang and moved to "Om mane padme om." A dance we did to a native American song about eagles circling the Earth caused many passersby to stop and watch, especially each time we reached the part of the dance when we spun out from the circle to dance individually as birds in the air, our arms long, graceful wings. This dance reminded me of the hawks who often have circled over us in such a way during our vigils.
The beautiful words and tune of one song have stayed with me especially:
Those who love,
Loving, pour forth radiance.
They shall be named
Sons and daughters of God.In my lifetime, love in every heart.
In my lifetime, peace.
Peace on Earth.This was a beautiful way to pray for peace in the world and in our hearts.
On Sunday, June 18th after the vigil we'll stay to discuss our presence during the Republican Convention and other issues related to our witness for peace.
Friend C. J. Shane writes:
I am from Arkansas. Currently, I am spending the summer in Bisbee, Arizona, only 8 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. Months ago, the Immigration and Naturalization Service started a new program that intensified patrols on the Texas and California borders to stop illegal immigrants. The effect was to intensify the attempts of the undocumented to cross in Arizona. Thousands are now attempting to cross the line in Cochise County, Arizona, which includes cities like Bisbee, Douglas, and Sierra Vista.
The Sonoran Desert is beautiful. It is also hot as hell, above 100 degrees each day, and there is no water unless you know where to look for it. The Border Patrol is spending a lot of time providing emergency medical aid to the immigrants. Between May 1 and today, June 8, 127 have been rescued by the Border Patrol, given medical assistance, then deported. Since May 1, thirteen have died from heat exhaustion and lack of water.
Yolanda Gonzalez, 19, of Oaxaca, Mexico, carried her 18-month-old baby daughter for four days in the desert where she'd been abandoned by her coyote (coyotes are individuals who guide immigrants across the border for a fee). Yolanda stopped drinking and gave all the water to her baby. Yolanda died in the desert. Her child was rescued, sunburned and dehydrated, but alive, and returned to family in Mexico.
Local residents are sick of picking up the trash left by immigrants as they cross the desert and tired of trying to find lost cattle that escaped through ranch gates left open and barbed wire fences that were cut. Some local ranchers — vigilantes — have taken to going after the immigrants on horseback and holding them at gunpoint until the Border Patrol shows up. Some immigrants have been beaten up (and one killed in Texas in the spring by a Border Patrol agent). Violence begets violence. A Mexican activist called for a $10,000 bounty on the head of all U.S. Border Patrol agents.
Friends and others in Tucson held a vigil a week ago calling for an end to vigilantism. Many are advocating a "guest worker" program that will allow immigrants to come in legally, work here, then return home. The immigrants are not taking jobs from American citizens and they are doing work that needs to be done.
Friends, please hold these undocumented immigrants in the Light as they pass through Cochise County, Arizona, and help them find their way through the desert to water, to shelter, and to safety.
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