Report #82 will be sent later. This report, for three vigils held in November 2000, is from Marcelle Martin:
Throughout the week before the election, I felt a deep and persisting sense of foreboding; a sense that the fate of the Earth was truly in the balance. I was not happy with either of the major party candidates' support of the military. But I also felt that one would us lead toward a much worse future for the planet, with consequences more disastrous than we wanted to imagine. At the same time, I knew that the essential matter was not the ideas of the candidates but the willingness or unwillingness of the people to face the reality of our situation and the effects of our destructive way of life. One night shortly before the election, in a vivid dream, I wept for the planet and implored God to help us, praying to avoid planetary ecological disaster.
During the vigil, holding the election in my heart as I prayed for peace in the world, a phrase came into my mind over and over: "The Earth in the Balance." I felt sad that even Al Gore seemed to have abandoned the passion and spirituality he had expressed in his book by that title. As I prayed, standing under an open sky with the bustle of city life all around me, I was aware how easy it is to not be aware of the dire damage we have done and continue to do to the planet. Toward the end of the vigil, a black cloud of smoke rose on the horizon, to the north of us. How many people in the city were aware of that cloud of smoke? I exchanged a glance of concern with one of my fellow vigilers, both of us wondering what was burning, and where.
The following Sunday, very shortly after three of us took our signs and stood in our places in front of the Liberty Bell, a TV cameraman set up his tripod and camera right in front of us, a reporter beside him. The two of them read our signs, then packed their equipment and walked away. They were looking for some other kind of "news" than our message. They found what they were looking for further down the block, where a man stood on the sidewalk surrounded by Gore/Lieberman posters and a large sign saying: "Al Gore got MORE VOTES than George Bush did." After the TV crew interviewed him, filmed him, and left, the man energetically conversed with passersby. During a moment when there was nobody else around, he came over to us. He informed me, as though he were an expert on the matter, that Quakers never read the Bible or talk about Jesus. This obviously disturbed him.
"John Fox and the early Quakers were the most passionate Jesus people around, but now Quakers never mention Jesus anymore!" he complained as he walked off.
Not long afterward, a group of two men and a woman approached us, one of them holding a video camera. Their faces showed great interest in the vigil, and each one of them went to talk with one of us, to question us about what we were doing and why. The woman, Rosie, came to talk to me. She told me they were Swarthmore College students making a documantary about the various uses of the space around the Liberty Bell. They carefully read both sides of our flyer about the vigil, evidently very pleased about what we were doing. They were preparing to videotape the vigil when two more vigilers arrived. Eleven-year-old Renata swiftly picked out her favorite sign, "We Can Stop War Now," and soberly joined our line before the camera panned to the place where she was standing.
"Your silence is very powerful," the young man with the camera said afterward. He didn't want to disturb our prayer, but I agreed to stand aside from the group and be interviewed for their documentary. As a Swarthmore graduate myself, I felt glad to be able to speak, through the film, to a new generation of Swarthmore students, telling them about our prayer and witness for peace. They asked if we would welcome having students come and join us and I said we would, indeed. They left us with words of thanks, and a "God bless you" from Rosie.
Later in the vigil I spoke with a woman who asked two questions about Quakers: what are your views on people in the military, and which translation of the Bible do Quakers use? She seemed satisfied to hear that we read many different translations, but explained that she was in the military and that a strong militray defense of our country is necessary in order to prevent another country with a totalitarian dictator from bombing us and eliminating our right to freedom of speech. As she explained her belief, I felt that she was repeating ideas that had been repeated to her over and over again. I wondered what I could say that she might be able to hear.
"What the Quakers are working toward," I explained, "is the day when no country has a military." A big smile came over her face. It seemed to be a totally new idea to her.
"Wouldn't that be ideal!" she exclaimed.
As we packed our signs at the end of the vigil, the Gore supporter shouted: "I just wish Quakers would speak a little more about Jesus!"
When we arrived for the vigil on November 19th, a cold afternoon, there was no line of SEPTA buses in front of us. The area seemed quieter, more open, more peaceful. The Gore supporter was back again, his Gore/Lieberman posters leaning along a nearby wall. This time he carried two signs. The lower one read: "Voting Irregularities Mean Gore Won." Higher in the air, with a small US flag attached, was another sign, reading, "All Bow to King George." He paced back and forth in the parking lane of the street throughout the hour of our vigil, waving his sign at passing cars and engaging passersby in conversation. "If the vote isn't fair, it isn't a democracy!" he shouted repeatedly. He sternly urged several groups of Florida tourists to put pressure for a recount. One solitary young woman told him: "We lost! Get over it!" Another woman, walking in a cluster of old people, shouted triumphantly: "Bush won! Down with abortion and homosexuality! God reigns!"
Many passersby, walking by hastily, must have assumed that our vigil was a backdrop for the Gore supporter. But just after the start of the vigil, a young couple walked directly toward us. The woman's face was open and her eyes were wide. She smiled at us, and it seemed to me that she had expected to find us there. I imagined that they were Swarthmore College students coming to join us. I walked toward them, smiling as though to welcome friends. They stopped at the table and I gave them each a flyer about the vigil. They didn't, after all, seem to have known about the vigil in advance, and they were happy to hear why we were there.
"We're praying for peace in the world," I said.
"I hope you're praying for him, too," the woman told me, gesturing to the Gore supporter in the street. I smiled.
"Is he with you?" she asked.
"No," I answered, but the moment I said that, I felt it wasn't really true. I suddenly sensed that in some deep way he was with us, and we were with him, just as every person on the street, and every person in the world, was with us, and we with them.
"Will you pray for me?" she asked next. There was urgency in her voice. We looked into each other's eyes.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Angela."
"What would you like me to pray about for you?"
She thought about this, looking directly into my eyes for a long time in silence, tears coming. "Pray that I will be able to know God's will and have the courage to do it," she said.
"I'll also pray that you will feel God's love supporting you on your journey," I responded, continuing to meet her steady gaze as I prayed silently for her. I felt that in our souls we recognized each other somehow and that God had intended to bring us together.
"Are you here all day?" Angela asked. When I told her that we held the vigil only between four and five o'clock, she exclaimed, "Then we came just at the right time!" I told them they were welcome to join us. They had apparently planned to do some sightseeing (Angela was from Omaha, Nebraska, and Dan had just moved to Philadelphia), but Angela wanted to stay with us.
"Can I sit?" she asked. She joined our line, sitting down on cold bricks. Her friend, Dan, sat down beside her. Later he left and did some sightseeing, returning just before the end of the hour. Angela stayed and prayed with us. I looked at her a couple times during the vigil, seeing her earnest face gazing toward the sky, and I wondered if participating in the vigil might be helping her to hear God's will.
I felt filled with peace during the rest of the hour. As the sun began to set, it cast a beautiful light across the sky before us. For many long minutes, a redish glow on the intricately textured clouds seemed to be in the outline of a huge, open palm, a hand covered with many soft lines that made it look tender in spite of its vastness. I saw first four, then five large fingers. It became for me an image of the palm of God's hand, filling the sky, blessing the world. I felt assured of God's presence, holding everything and all of us together.
At the end of the hour, when we formed our closing circle and included Angela and Dan, the Gore supporter rushed from the street to join us, too.
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.
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Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM