Author: lakewooducc

Today I received an email asking me to sign on to a letter of support to the Muslim community from the Auburn Senior Fellows via Groundswell. You know this kind of thing – sign a letter, sign a petition, send a message to someone in authority about an issue.  The letter I got today is a statement that affirms the presence of Muslims in America and condemns the rising tide of anti-Muslim sentiment in America. What I like about the letter is that is does more than condemn the actions of others, affirm a different perspective, and ask others to change.   It also asks the signers to promise to take action in support and protection of Muslims. One part of the letter declares:

America is not America without Muslims. As people of faith and moral conscience, we promise to defend our Muslim brothers and sisters from attack, to speak up when they are maligned, and to support them with our voices, our actions, and our bodies.

I like the commitment of this statement. It is easy to add my name to something on line and hope that I am counted. Hope that someone is paying attention to the number of signers. Or tell someone else to change.  But this letter asks me to do something in my day to day life beyond just typing my name in a box on a screen.

We are fortunate in St. Petersburg that there is an active Interfaith Association cultivating positive relationships among people of differing faiths. Because of this group and other community initiatives, I know several Muslim people.  These are people I can call on the phone or email.  People I feel I know well enough to have honest conversations about what is really going on.

Having signed the letter in support of Muslims in America, with the commitment to be personally involved in supporting Muslims, I am planning to ask my Muslim friends directly about how they are being treated day in and day out here in St. Petersburg. I look forward to getting a frank report. Then I will know how I can be helpful right here in our backyard.

This is part of what peace is about. Lofty ideals, yes, but also taking action in our every day lives close to home.

Maybe you can think of a time that you were able to help someone that was being targeted in some way – being bullied, harassed, taken advantage of. What did it feel like to take action on your principles?

Prayer: It’s easy to wish and hope and pray for things. Our faith also compels us to take action. That is harder. It can be inconvenient. It can be risky. We may be afraid of doing the wrong thing and so do nothing. Jesus is a great model for us of someone who lived out his longings each and every day. As we try to follow him, we increase the peace in the world and in ourselves. Amen.

This past Sunday in church one of the prayer requests was for an inmate on death row in Florida. It was a reminder for all of us that our state and our country continue to implement the death penalty even though mistakes are made and innocent people are killed; it does not act as a deterrent; and it is exorbitantly expensive for the tax payers. As Christians, we also believe that the death penalty is immoral and against the dictates of our faith.

LUCC has recently become involved in advocating against the death penalty. At a meeting of people of faith gathered to discuss what we can do about this heinous immorality, an important point was mentioned. To stop the use of the death penalty in Florida we don’t have to turn to Congress in Washington. We don’t have to depend on the Florida legislature. No laws need to be changed. One person has the power to stop the use of the death penalty in Florida. One person. The governor. Rick Scott.

This was an important reminder about the power that just one person can have. Maybe sometimes we don’t take action in a situation because we think we are powerless to have an impact. Good luck trying to get a law passed or changed these days! But we should remember that one person can make a difference. One person matters.

Again we see the importance of this idea relative to the death penalty. Maybe we can’t get the law changed right away, maybe we can’t get everyone off death row, but maybe we can save one life. Or two. Or more. Just by influencing one person – Rick Scott.

I know that when I heard the person at the death penalty meeting say we just had to change the mind of one person, I was encouraged by the impact we could potentially have. Up until then, the idea of making a difference on this issue seemed out of reach. But influencing one person, that seems more within the realm of possibility. We can work for peace. One issue at a time. One policy at a time. One person at a time. One life saved at a time. And we can make a difference. This perspective can help us to resist becoming apathetic or overwhelmed.

Can you think of a time that you feel you influenced one person’s view of something? Can you think of an instance in which you changed your mind about an issue? Peace is that close!

Prayer: We pray that our hearts would not become hardened. It’s so easy to become insulated, numbed, distracted, or apathetic. When we don’t care, we lose our humanity. We deny the image of God within us. May we open our hearts and let ourselves be influenced by the pain of the world. May we be motivated by the suffering around us. May we have the heart to take action and to be transformed as we work for peace in the world. Amen.

December 7. To some people, especially those who were alive in 1941, December 7 means Pearl Harbor Day. It is the date that the Japanese attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Two thousand four hundred and three Americans were killed in the surprise attack and 1,178 others were wounded. There was devastating damage done to the US Pacific fleet. In response, the US entered World War 2.

In the aftermath of World War 2, the people of Japan made great strides toward becoming a more peaceful culture. There are many memorials to peace in Japan. At the Fuji Sanctuary near Mt. Fuji, there is an annual gathering of people of many faiths from around the world who come to pray for peace. This is just one example of a Japanese initiative for peace in the world.

Each year on a Sunday close to Dec. 7 at LUCC we use a peace reading from Japan. This is a small way to recognize that while Japan did attack the US, there are significant efforts at pursing peace taking place in Japan. No country or culture is all good or all bad. In an effort to be peacemakers, we affirm those who are working for peace around the world.

I know there are people in other countries who think the US is all about violence and war. Given the many years the US has been at war, the mass shootings that take place here, and the fact that there are more guns than people in the US, it’s understandable how this impression has emerged. This is a very sad stereotype of the US particularly because it contains a measure of truth. I hope that people around the world realize that there are many in the US who are working for peace.

This year at LUCC on Sunday Dec. 6, we read the Mt. Fuji Declaration that was affirmed at the Mt. Fuji Symphony of Peace Prayers Ceremony this past May. The text follows:

As individuals responsible for the future of life on Earth, we hereby declare…

We affirm the divine spark in the heart and mind of every human being and intend to live by its light in every sphere of our existence.

We commit ourselves to fulfilling our shared mission of creating lasting peace on Earth through our ways of living and acting.

We intend to live and act so as to enhance the quality of life and the well-being of all forms of life on the planet, recognizing that all living things in all their diversity are interconnected and are one.

We will continually strive to free the human spirit for deep creativity, and to nurture the transformation necessary to forge a new paradigm in all spheres of human activity, including economics, science, medicine, politics, business, education, religion, the arts, communications and the media.

We shall make it our mission to design, communicate and implement a more spiritual and harmonious civilization—a civilization that enables humankind to realize its inherent potential and advance to the next stage of its material, spiritual, and cultural evolution.

This is a wonderful comprehensive statement for peace. I wonder how we could increase the peace in the US and the world if we chose to begin each day by reciting this pledge to peaceful living?

Think of a time when you felt attacked in some way. How can the experience help you to learn to be more peaceful?

Prayer: Our faith teaches us that all people are created in the Divine image. Thus we know that all people have the capacity to be peaceful. We know that in all cultures and nations and places there are people who are seeking peace. May we endeavor to cultivate peace in ourselves and to encourage peace in others. Amen.

Over the weekend, we had the opportunity to hear Handel’s “Messiah” performed by the Florida Orchestra, the Master Chorale Ensemble, the University of South Florida Chamber Singers, and four guest soloists. There were 36 musicians, 75 singers, and the conductor on stage.   All of them were working together as a seamless whole. The performance was stunning. Several times I had to wipe the tears from my eyes just from the sheer beauty of it.

For the audience to be given such a masterful performance to enjoy, each one of the players, singers, and soloists as well as the conductor, had to perform in a superior way. Each one involved in the concert had to offer his/her best performance for the collective result to be so extraordinary. If one of the soloists had been weak, it would have detracted from the efforts of the others. If some of the singers in the chorus had not been crisp, it would have diminished the result from the whole group. The stunning event required everyone involved giving their all.

As we think about peace this Advent season, there is a lesson in this concert. Peace takes all of us working together. We all have a part to play in creating peace in the world. There are different ways that each of us can contribute to peace. And we are all needed to play our role and do our part. It is important that we do our utmost and give our best to the goal of peace. Then the result will be stunning!

Think of a time when you worked with others to accomplish something significant. How do you feel that you can contribute to the effort to create peace in the world?

Prayer: We are social creatures meant to live and work in community. We need each other to thrive. May we each do our part to help others and to take care of ourselves. May we all work together to create peace. Amen.