What did you do?
Wednesday, September 24th arrived, and wouldn't you know it, the morning temperature dropped for the first time in weeks to 5 degrees. Not to be daunted, a group of people from Salisbury United Church showed up to meditate together on the sculpture lawn at Broadmoor Lake Park in Sherwood Park, Alberta. Invitations to the wider community had been made through posters, the local newspaper, through the community Diversity Committee, and through paid social media advertising. The public outdoor meditation event, marked by signage, was held in honour of International Peace Day (September 21) and was dedicated as a time of silent sitting with our deep desire for peace to prevail on earth. At the centre of our meditaiton circle was a round coffee table that had been painted with a dove and coloured rays during the worship service the week before at Salisbury United. As we sat in quiet presence together with the prayer, "May peace prevail on earth" in our hearts, we were touched in completely unexpected ways. Somewhere in the nearby trees, a bird began to sing a complex melody. A group of children arrived and began to play in the grass. Underneath the noise of playing children and singing birds, the sound of frogs could be heard croaking in the nearby pond. In the distance traffic passed by intermittently. A lone goose passed directly overhead honking. Someone using a walker came over the lawn and sat quietly with us on a nearby bench and then left. When we opened our eyes we said in various ways, "Did you hear?" Is this not what praying for peace hopes for? Is this not what peace means to us?" "Yes," we said. To hear life moving around you freely and trustingly without fear of the pain of violence. To know that children can laugh and feathered friends can sing and life can simply be, without being abused or harmed. To be blessed to sit with others without overwhelming each other with words and talk and opinionated noise. To be part of such a moment, however briefly, is to be shown that everything in creation desires what we desire: to live fully and freely into well-being and generous grace. It was a good morning to hold the knowledge and meaning of peace and keep it alive with others.
Why did you do it?
The impetus came from our church's meditation circle, which has been meeting for over a dozen years. One member, aware that International Peace Day was in September, suggested that to go out and meditate in a public place for peace would be authentic to who we are as a church. Additionally, for the last two years in worship, we have a time of quiet sitting before the opening prayer. In this time we dwell on peace together as a need and hope for ourselves and the world.
