Reflection
Each
month we will post a reflection on this page.
July
2010
On
the occasion of our Fifth Anniversary
by
Patricia Griffin
This
month the
Franciscan
Peace
Center
commemorates its fifth anniversary;
‘tis a time to reflect, give thanks, celebrate and look ahead.
The
journey started in October 2004. The people gathered at table for
soup, salad and conversation, then moved into prayer and song. We
pondered on Francis of Assisi’s call and vision to rebuild the
church. What might be our call?
The
answers took on many faces through the process of developing a mission
statement and identifying whom we would serve. After several months of
midwifery, the peace center was born on
July 11, 2005
. Soon after, the surprises started
rolling in.
They
began with a glance at the calendar. October would mark our kick-off
event since the feast of Saint Francis falls on October 4. But a
second glance revealed much more.
In
the year 2005 of the Western calendar, a rare confluence of sacred
moments in many different faith traditions came to pass: Ramadan, Rosh
Hashanah, Navaraatra Dashara, Christian Worldwide Communion Day, and
the birthday of Mohandas Gandhi.
At
just the moment of history when religious conflicts had reemerged
bearing lethal dangers for each other and our planet, God had given
our spiritual and religious traditions a gift of time.
The
Tent of Abraham, Hagar and Sarah1 named this miraculous
period of time “God’s October Surprise: A Call to Share Sacred
Seasons”.
And
that was our first surprise. The writing was on the wall. Our kick-off
event would be a multi-faith Walk for World Peace and Solidarity.
It
was the beginning of a pattern that has led us throughout these first
years. The pattern is one of waiting, listening, and watching things
come together. People surface with a special interest and we respond;
other groups invite us to co-sponsor their events and we accept;
documentaries come our way that we share with the community.
We
remain in a state of waiting and listening for new births. The way
ahead is the beginning.
~Patricia
Griffin serves as Community Liaison for the
Franciscan
Peace
Center
.
1
http://www.theshalomcenter.org/node/1139
Reflection
Archives
Monthly
Reflection Guidelines
Our
goal is to provide thoughtful reflections that encourage readers to
more fully embrace the values written in
Franciscan
Peace
Center
’s Mission Statement: i.e., dignity,
compassion, reconciliation, equality, simplicity,
kinship with all creation, and a nonviolent way of life
that will bring about a peaceful global community.
Suggested
guidelines for submitted reflections:
1)
Interfaith/universal
– like viewing a world without borders
2)
Reflective
of the season or month for which you are writing
3)
Passionately
inclusive, beginning with our universal concerns for other living
things, leaving out nothing or no one
4)
Firmly
rooted in peace and justice for all
5)
Containing
no more than 200 words (the shorter the better)
6)
Submitted
by the third week of the month prior to publication
“The
act of praying or meditating is so universal that one wonders
if
the need to reach out beyond ourselves in thought and word
is
simply part f the human condition.”
~L.
Annie Foerster in Praying Out Loud: Interfaith Prayers for Public
Occasions
(Skinner
House Books,
Boston
, ©2003)
FranciscanVision@aol.com
859-230-1986
