Dear Friends,
On Sunday, November 14, ten of us gathered in front of the Liberty Bell for our weekly prayer vigil for peace, including Yolanda Covarrubias' eleven year old daughter, Daniela, from Haverford Meeting. Marcelle's father, Charlie Martin, visiting from Connecticut, walked down from Casa Amistad to the vigil site.
It was a beautiful, sunny day. Jorge's daughter Renata greatly supported our outreach by quickly handing out literature to passers-by. She received many smiles, and she gamely accepted the few rejections.
A tour guide stopped and showed us some images of colonial Philadelphia that she carries with her and told us that she always talks about William Penn and the early Quakers when she gives her tours. She was pleased to take more literature about Quakerism.
As we were dispersing after the vigil, a man approached me (Marcelle) and my father. He said he had seen our group standing silently and hadn't wanted to disturb us, but now that we were finished, he'd like to ask us some questions. We answered his questions and gave him some literature to read.
"I like to know about different people's beliefs," he said, with pleasure. We left with a warm feeling from the encounter.
As my father and I stood at the bus stop at 3rd and Market Street, a woman sitting in a car, waiting for a green light, looked at us and smiled. My father then took one of the vigil signs out of the canvas bag he was carrying and held it up for her to read. She looked a bit startled, then laughed.
"Why put the signs away already?" my father asked me. Following his example, I took out my sign again, too. We waited a long time for the bus, holding our signs up to be seen by people in the passing cars. On the bus, a few people smiled shyly. A boy peered around from behind me, trying to read my sign. I held it so he could read it. A big smile spread over his face.
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