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Thursday, June 16, 2016
Vigil for Orlando - Holding On Together - Video
Texts Read at the Vigil
(Video below)
1. Rev. Kim Kaiser
Bodhisattva Prayer for Humanity
May I be a guard for those who need protection A guide for those on the path A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood May I be a lamp in the darkness A resting place for the weary A healing medicine for all who are sick A vase of plenty, a tree of miracles And for the boundless multitudes of living beings May I bring sustenance and awakening Enduring like the earth and sky Until all beings are freed from sorrow And all are awakened. - Shantideva, Indian Buddhist sage 700 A.D. Prayer performed each morning by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
2. Rabbi Stephanie Kramer– Shelter of Peace
“Kol d’mei achikha tzoakim elai min ha-adama/Your brother’s blood cries to Me from the ground.” Gen. 4:10
Creator of life, Source of healing,
grant peace in Your great shelter of peace
to those murdered in Orlando, whose lives were cut short
through this act of senseless violence.
May all those killed in Orlando be embraced by You – free from pain,
held in tenderness and love. Hold their families as well; what harder grief could there be
than this?
El Maleh Rachamim, God, full of compassion, have compassion on all of us.
Give us strength, courage and the will to continue our work of Tikkun Olam/Repairing the World.
We long with all our being for an end to baseless hatred,
war and violence. May a time come soon when no one will
suffer or die at the hands of another.
Oseh shalom bimromav hu ya-aseh shalom aleyenu v’al kol
Yisrael, v’al kol yoshveh tevel. V’imru amen.
May the Source of Peace bring peace to us, and to all people everywhere.
Let us say together: amen
3. Aisha Jill Morgan – From the Quran
From the Quran
0 you who believe! Enter into peace, all of you together. 2:208
[For] had God so willed, He would have made all you one faith community-without choice. 16:93
0 humankind! Indeed, We have created all of you from a single male and female. Moreover, We have made you peoples and tribes, so that you may come to know one another. 49:13
No wonder then that the Prophet Muhammad so earnestly used to entreat his Lord in his daily prayer: "O God, you are the original source of Peace; from You is all Peace, and to You returns all Peace. So, make us live with Peace; and let us enter paradise: the House of Peace. Blessed be You, our Lord, to whom belongs all Majesty and Honor!"
4. Emily Van Woerkom – Adapted from the Great Invocation by D.K. through Alice Bailey
From the Point of Light within the Mind of God,
Let Light stream forth into the minds of all people!
Let Light descend throughout the whole Earth!
From the Point of Love within the Heart of God,
Let Love stream forth into the Hearts of all people!
Let Love descend throughout the whole Earth!
From the Centre where the Will of God is known,
Let Purpose Guide the wills of all people!
Let Goodwill and the Will to do Good descend throughout the whole Earth!
Let Light, Love and Power descend throughout the whole Earth!
Let the entire Earth be Blessed with Peace, Harmony,
Progress, Prosperity and Spirituality!
God Bless Mother Earth!
With Thanks and In Full Faith! So be it!
5. Jeff Basham, RScP – From The World Peace Prayer Society
Everyone, whatever our religion may be, whatever our nationality or ethnic background may be, let us join hands and pray for the joyfulness of everything in creation: animals, plants, mountains, the air, the earth, and the seas. Let us pray, until each member of humanity has awakened to the law of their divinity, and we create true peace in this world.
6. Vicky Dodson – Center for Spiritual Living Prayer
God is everywhere present, closer than my breath, closer than my hands and feet. It is the omniscient source of wellness, wholeness and peace. Life Divine, Infinite Presence, Magnificent Creator, however it is named, it is all the same.
I am, we are all made of this God presence. Each one of us is a unique and individual expression of God. Each one of use is whole, complete and perfect. Each one of us has an equal share of peace and love and power for good within us. We are each surrounded by and infused with this essence of peace.
I claim and declare now a movement toward more peace in my life. I open to it and I set an intention this moment to access that part of me that knows peace. I claim that the richness of life flows through me in ways that are peaceful and kind. I declare right now that I renew myself from a place of peace.
With a heart full of gratitude, I give thanks for this time of declaring my intention about more peace in my life. I release my word into the Law where it is done. And I just let it be. And so it is. Amen.
7. Rev. Tara Steele – St. Francis Prayer for Peace
Saint Francis Prayer for Peace
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
Dr. Petra Weldes Statement - complete and correct version here:
In the face of shooting of gays in Orlando and on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the shooting of blacks in Charleston, once again, we are faced with the reality – fear and hate or love and inclusion.
Today, as we grieve, feeling the sorrow of loss and the bewilderment of repeated history, and the anger of “it’s finally enough!” We ask ourselves questions to which we simply don’t know the answers.
We can say it’s not the guns, and we can say it’s not the religions, we can say it’s not the politics, and we can say it’s not race, but we can not say it’s not the climate of hate and fear that continues to be built in our country and around the world. Ancient fear of the other, fear of the different, is embedded in our cultural, religious and political systems in the US, and around the world, continuing to be used today to create hate, violence, and separation.
Yet every day we are coming closer together, more globally connected, seeing that no matter where you live, how you worship, or who you love, the basic needs and wants of every human being are the same. Peace, love, connection, family and work, creative contribution, fair compensation, opportunity, care for the elderly and those less fortunate, and a desire to pray in the manner that most aligns with our inner being. We are not so different after all.
Today I stand for LOVE and INCLUSIVITY, recognizing the divine spark within each and every human being. I refuse to allow fear and hate drive me to hate and fear in return. I stand with those in religion and politics, in journalism and sports, at home and in the work place who refuse to cower from fear or give in to hate. I do not support any extremism in politics, religion, or cultural status quo that overtly or covertly supports, promotes or allows hatred and violence against another human being. In this I stand, and I shall not be moved.
Let us meet hate with inclusivity and fear with love in our rhetoric, our actions, and in our prayers. Today I pray and I affirm that each person who loses their life to hatred and violence, whether gay or straight, man or women, no matter the color of skin or their religion of practice, is a beacon of light, a harbinger of hope, a power and a force for a change in consciousness and a change of heart that will not be denied. Each life lost is a candle added to the light of Truth, that we are all one human family, all under ONE divine authority, living on one beautiful planet that we share, together.
May love prevail in the hearts and minds of preachers, politicians and leaders - as well as those individuals who have lost sight of the LOVE that is another name for GOD. May they be awakened to the consequences of their ideas, and the actions their words inspire. May the recognition that we - loving, truth-seeking, spiritual people - will not be swayed from our course of human rights and decency for all, the life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that our Declaration of Independence demands and that we claim for each and every human being. No matter what the difference, Love is spoken here.
To view the video on YouTube click here.
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So healing. Thank you for your powerful contribution.
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