Category Archives: Current Events

August 11, 2011 · 3:13 am

Ribbons proclaim hope on September 11

Today I sent a 9-11 “Ribbon of Hope” to Ground Zero to mark the tenth anniversary of September 11. I used the online option.

To commemorate the anniversary, Prepare New York and partner groups are sponsoring the Ribbons of Hope project. People are invited to bring a ribbon to Battery Park in New York City between the hours of noon on Friday, September 9 and dusk on Sunday, September 11. On the ribbon, write a thought or prayer or hope for the healing of the city and for the whole world. In Battery Park, ribbons of all colors, shapes, sizes and textures will be joined to form a large tapestry symbolic of the marvelous mosaic that is New York.

How can I participate?
Individuals, families, groups and organizations can gather ribbons in neighborhood settings, in clubs and congregations and can then designate a messenger to come to lower Manhattan and afix the ribbons to the tapestry. People of all ages can participate. There is no fixed size or shape or width or length. The diversity of ribbons received is a large part of the point. This walk of healing to downtown Manhattan is symbolic in that it reverses the fear-filled path that so many experienced as they fled Ground Zero a decade ago.

I don’t live in New York, how can I participate?
People from across the country and around the world are invited to also collect ribbons in the weeks leading up to 9/11 and send them to Intersections International. They will be included in the tapestry as well. Send ribbons to:

Intersections International
274 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10001

Be sure they arrive at Intersections by September 7. Include your name and contact information, the name of your organization and any interesting story about making your ribbons that you’d like to share with others.

You can also participate by “sending” ribbons online through Groundswell.

Find additional ideas for observing the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001.

See you along the Trail.

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July 27, 2011 · 11:24 pm

10 Million

Reports from UN agencies on the ground in the Horn of Africa estimate that 10,000,000 people are experiencing a severe food crisis.
That’s more people than live in New York City (not including urban area). 
That’s more people than live in Wyoming, Washington D.C., Vermont, North Dakota, Alaska, South Dakota, Delaware, Montana, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine combined. 
Here are some ideas of how to respond: 
10 Ways You Can Help
Give to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
Pray
See you along the Trail.

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June 23, 2011 · 12:36 am

A prayer for Sudan

I usually keep my work and personal blogs separate.
But the situation in Sudan weighs on me. So I offer a prayer – a prayer I wrote for a call to prayer issued by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):
Come Holy Spirit, come to the people of Sudan.
Come Holy Spirit, break the hold of violence.
Come Holy Spirit, draw the people together.
Come Holy Spirit, lead the people in paths of peace.
Come Holy Spirit, guide the people to establish justice.
Come Holy Spirit, come to the people of Sudan. 
By God’s grace, may it be so. Amen.

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May 1, 2011 · 2:07 am

Manifestacion

They are scattered across the city, the Permanent Missions of the member states to the United Nations. I am still learning where they are.

Yesterday when my friend David Bowie and I left the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations we heard the chants of a demonstration. As we made our way up 44th Street toward Grand Central, the sound became louder. At the corner of 2nd Avenue, we saw the people – Syrians.

Men and women, old and young, under flying flags they called for justice and peace for their country.

From their courage and faith, hope leached into my heart as we stood and watched for a few moments. I waved and gave the peace sign as we passed by.

This evening David asked why the group had gathered there. Who did they hope to influence? Groups who come to the UN often do so on 1st Avenue – Ralph Bunche Park is a common location. We wondered if maybe they could not get a permit.

And then I looked up the address for the Permanent Mission of Syria. Sure enough – 820 Second Avenue – between 43rd and 44th – right across the street from where the crowd had gathered to make their witness. The people’s witness touched me; may their witness and the witness of their sisters and brothers in Syria touch their country’s leaders. May peace and justice prevail for Syria and for all peoples.

See you along the Trail.

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January 9, 2011 · 3:22 am

Once again . . .

. . . in the aftermath of the shooting in Arizona . . .

. . . my heart aches; my spirit sags; my mind reels; my gut hurts.

Nothing else seems worth saying tonight. I do not think I am alone.

See you along the Trail.

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January 8, 2011 · 5:09 am

A prayer service with the people of Sudan

The clear highlight of the day was the blessing of participating in a prayer service with the people of Sudan. Here is a reflection originally written for Swords into Plowshares, the blog of the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations.

Remember.

The interfaith group who gathered today in the Tillman Chapel at the Church Center for the United Nations to pray with the people of Sudan in anticipation of the referendum on self-determination in Southern Sudan did that.

Remember.

Times and places when people made hard decisions and peace prevailed were named.

Remember.

The violence and the pain, the death and the suffering, faced by the Sudanese people through the years, was recalled as was their courage and grace, hope and faith.

Remember.

Participants held pictures of people from Sudan as reminders of those for whom prayers were said – those with whom prayers were said – for the people of Sudan are and have been and will continue praying in the days through the referendum and its implementation and beyond.

Remember.

Re-member. Bring the members back together. The members of the human family. In Sudan. Around the world. All the human being tribe.

Remember.

“You are not forgotten. We remember your names.” The song echoed off the chapel walls and guided the participants from the chapel to the Isaiah Wall in the cold and snow.

Remember.

Large snow flakes and the swirling wind made it impossible to light the candles the participants carried even though they could not extinguish the candles of hope and love and faith that are lit in human minds and hearts and spirits.

Remember.

As the service closed, the participants together recited the ancient words of the prophet Isaiah, “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

May it be so. For Sudan. For us all.

See you along the Trail

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