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Getting Involved: Ecumenical Resources
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Worship
Resources provided by
Christian
Peacemaker Teams
Being
present with tragedies and massacres
She stood straight and firmly:
"My son disappeared 11 months ago;
I'd never wish this on anyone.
But we are already many women."
Living among the tragedies,
the tremors of fear,
the losses that don't disappear.
The cups overflow
With tears.
December 22, 1997.*
February 21, 2005. **
The dates fill our datebooks
And the memories our days.
We commemorate.
We remember.
And to confront it,
We live toward,
And surrounded by,
The ambiance of the day in which,
"Death will be no more, neither tears
Nor weeping, nor pain."***
--Irene Erin Kindy
Barrancabermeja
* date of the massacre in Acteal, Chiapas, Mexico
** date of the massacre in San José de Apartadó, Urubá,
Colombia
*** Revelation 21:4
A prayer for
Peaceworkers
Oh, Lord, we pray:
That we may have clarity in vision even when what we see is uncomfortable.
That our hearts remain open for finding Jesus in the "other."
That our voices may sing, proclaim truth and only speak words of love.
That our feet always remain "eager to bring the gospel of peace."
May we place our hands to the plow
and step forward with our whole beings
never turning our backs to the Prince of Peace we follow.
May it be so.
--Erin Kindy, written for an On Earth Peace gathering, 2002
A prayer from the collection of prayers Bread of Tomorrow by Janet Morley:
Do not retreat into your private world,
That place of safety, sheltered from the storm,
Where you may tend your garden, seek your soul,
And rest with loved ones where the fire burns warm.
To tend a garden is a precious thing,
But dearer still the one where all may roam,
The weeds of poison, poverty and war,
Demand your care, who call the earth your home.
To seek your soul it is a precious thing,
But you will never find it on your own,
Only among the clamor, threat, and pain
Of other people's need will love be known.
To rest with loved ones is a precious thing,
But peace of mind exacts a higher cost,
Your children will not rest and play in quiet,
While they still hear the crying of the lost.
Do not retreat into your private world,
There are more ways than firesides to keep warm.
There is no shelter from the rage of life,
So meet its eye, and dance within the storm.
--Kate Galloway, Scotland, 1989
Call to Worship:
From Isaiah 50:4-9-10
By Gerald Paoli
One: God gives
me the right words to encourage the weary.
All: Each morning I am awakened by my creator eager to learn this teaching;
One: God makes me willing to listen and not resist or run away.
All: I will let them beat my back and pull out my beard.
One: I won't turn aside when they insult me and spit in my face.
All: Because of this God keeps me from being disgraced.
One: I refuse to give up because I know God will never let me down.
All: When we stand together our protector in nearby.
One: When I am accused The LORD God will help me and prove I am innocent.
All: My accusers will wear out like old clothes.
One: Do you respect
God or obey his servant? Do you trust in God's good name? Do you walk in the
dark instead of in God's light, or do you walk in the light of the fires you
have set yourselves.
Go ahead, but if you do, the creator will punish you and make you suffer.
Affirmation
of Peace and Justice
--adapted from a creed from Indonesia
All: I believe
in God, who is love and who has given the earth to all people.
I believe in Jesus Christ, who came to heal us, and to free us from all forms
of oppression.
I believe in the Spirit of God, who works in and through all who are turned
towards the truth.
I believe in the community of faith, which is called to be at the service of
all people.
I believe in God´s promise to finally destroy the power of sin in us all,
and to establish the kingdom of justice and peace for all humankind.
Group A: I do not believe in the right of the strongest, nor the force of arms,
nor the power of oppression.
Group B: I believe in human rights, in the solidarity of all people, in the
power of nonviolence.
Group A: I do not believe in the power of racism, in the power that comes from
wealth and privilege, or in any established order that enslaves.
Group B: I believe that all men and women are equally human, that order based
on violence and injustice is not order.
Group A: I do not believe that war and hunger are inevitable and peace unattainable.
Group B: I believe in the beauty of simplicity, in love with open hands, in
peace on earth.
All: I do not believe that suffering need be in vain, that death is the end,
that the disfigurement of our world is what God intended. But I dare to believe,
always and in spite of everything, in God´s power to transform and transfigure,
fulfilling the promise of a new heaven and a new earth where justice and peace
will flourish.
--adapted from a creed from Indonesia
Prayer of Confession :
God we are proud and arrogant, more like imperial soldiers than humble servants. Forgive us. We think that we can do things with out you and with out each other. Forgive us. We don't want to see the signs or hear the words of our ancestors, or prophets of today that call us into faithful action. Forgive us. But, especially forgive us for not following your clear example in the nonviolent Jesus. Please show us how to stand in solidarity with all in the struggle for life with dignity and justice. Give us the courage to "enter the city" and know the cost and joy of discipleship. Let us be the fulfillment of your prophesy of the peaceful kindom. Amen
Litany for light in the darkness
By the Christian Peacemaker Team in Colombia
We know that light
can iluminate the dark spaces and situations of our lives. We invite you to
be the light in the darkness. We will read places and situations that need our
light, and we invite you to respond with this frase: Let our light shine in
the darkness.
One: Where there is hunger even though there is enough food
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When they talk about democratic security, but threaten peace communities
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When they talk about freedom but kidnap
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When they talk about free trade at the cost of the rural poor
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When they talk about justice but there is no reconciliation
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
When they talk about the risks of weapons of mass destruction but invest billions
of dollars to create more of them
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When they talk about the freedom of the people in Iraq and they put them
in prison
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When they talk about negatiations but there are no reasons to trust them
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When they talk about terrorists without remembering the history
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When they talk about peace withour preparing themselves for her arrival
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When they come for my neighbors and there is noone to speak for them
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When they talk about peace but prepare us for war
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When they talk about social security but do not give a hand to those in
need
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When they talk about the future of our children, but invest in war
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When there is land but people are scared to plant their lives and food
there
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: When peasants harvest food but it does not receive a just price
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Barrancabermeja
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Nieva
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Bogotá
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Cartagena
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Barranquilla
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Cauca
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Chocó
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Cúcuta
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Ibagué
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In armenia
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Putumayo
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Quibdo
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In the Opón
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In San José de Apartadó
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Micoahumado
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Jiguamiandó
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In the Magdalena Medio
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: In Colombia
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: Around the world
All: Let our light shine in the darkness
One: Let our light shine in the darkness because we need the path to justice,
peace and a better future.
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