By Kelli Lackett - The Coloradoan - Fort Collins,CO,USA
Monday, January 1, 2007
Over 150 from diverse religions join together to pray for common goal.
Paz. Pace. Shalom.
Spanish, Italian and Hebrew were just three of 39 languages in which the word "peace" was chanted by the participants of The International Hour for Peace, held at 5 a.m. Sunday at Blessed John XXIII University Center.
Silvea Key punctuated the chants with bells as she led the more than 150 people in chanting as part of the annual inspirational event.
Representatives of religions as diverse as Catholicism, Buddhism, Sufism, Judaism and Baha'i shared prayers of peace and insight from their traditions.
"After so much planning, it's a beautiful thing to bring us all here," Key said.
This is the 21st year that people have gathered in Fort Collins in the early morning on New Year's Eve to pray, meditate and sing to express their hopes for world peace. They joined millions around the world participating in similar gatherings at noon Greenwich Mean Time.
The event, also called World Healing Day, is based on the idea that peace begins in every individual's heart and there is power in a critical mass of people directing their minds toward peace.
"It's kind of like the hundredth monkey," said Fort Collins resident N-Polly, referring to a controversial phenomenon in which a behavior spread rapidly from one group of monkeys to another once a critical number of monkeys had engaged in it.
The International Hour for Peace also provided a chance for leaders of numerous community peace, justice and multifaith groups to share the how and why behind their work.
Those included A Place for Peace, Prayerworks for Peace, Peace Alliance, Not In Our Town Alliance, and the Northern Colorado Multi-faith Coalition.
Local events weighed as heavily on the minds of some of the participants as did the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"What's really bothering me lately is the raid that took place at the plant in Greeley - so many families were broken up, so many children spent Christmas without their parents," said Larry Holgerson. "We try to be a moral nation. We try to be a compassionate nation. ... Sometimes, it's hard to do anything about the war. We need to look at what we are doing right here in our own community."
On Margaret Smith's mind was the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and fighting in Somalia between the Somali interim government backed by Ethiopia and Islamic militia fighters.
Smith addressed the crowd on the importance of finding political solutions to conflicts. It was her last morning as president of the Northern Colorado chapter of the United Nations Association-USA.
"There is not a lot of peace where it needs to be," Smith said.
Despite the grim world events, the gathering was upbeat.
"I've been coming since they started," N-Polly said. "I can't start my new year without it."
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
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Tuesday, January 02, 2007
'Hour for Peace' inspires
Monday, January 1, 2007
Over 150 from diverse religions join together to pray for common goal.
Paz. Pace. Shalom.
Spanish, Italian and Hebrew were just three of 39 languages in which the word "peace" was chanted by the participants of The International Hour for Peace, held at 5 a.m. Sunday at Blessed John XXIII University Center.
Silvea Key punctuated the chants with bells as she led the more than 150 people in chanting as part of the annual inspirational event.
Representatives of religions as diverse as Catholicism, Buddhism, Sufism, Judaism and Baha'i shared prayers of peace and insight from their traditions.
"After so much planning, it's a beautiful thing to bring us all here," Key said.
This is the 21st year that people have gathered in Fort Collins in the early morning on New Year's Eve to pray, meditate and sing to express their hopes for world peace. They joined millions around the world participating in similar gatherings at noon Greenwich Mean Time.
The event, also called World Healing Day, is based on the idea that peace begins in every individual's heart and there is power in a critical mass of people directing their minds toward peace.
"It's kind of like the hundredth monkey," said Fort Collins resident N-Polly, referring to a controversial phenomenon in which a behavior spread rapidly from one group of monkeys to another once a critical number of monkeys had engaged in it.
The International Hour for Peace also provided a chance for leaders of numerous community peace, justice and multifaith groups to share the how and why behind their work.
Those included A Place for Peace, Prayerworks for Peace, Peace Alliance, Not In Our Town Alliance, and the Northern Colorado Multi-faith Coalition.
Local events weighed as heavily on the minds of some of the participants as did the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"What's really bothering me lately is the raid that took place at the plant in Greeley - so many families were broken up, so many children spent Christmas without their parents," said Larry Holgerson. "We try to be a moral nation. We try to be a compassionate nation. ... Sometimes, it's hard to do anything about the war. We need to look at what we are doing right here in our own community."
On Margaret Smith's mind was the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and fighting in Somalia between the Somali interim government backed by Ethiopia and Islamic militia fighters.
Smith addressed the crowd on the importance of finding political solutions to conflicts. It was her last morning as president of the Northern Colorado chapter of the United Nations Association-USA.
"There is not a lot of peace where it needs to be," Smith said.
Despite the grim world events, the gathering was upbeat.
"I've been coming since they started," N-Polly said. "I can't start my new year without it."
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By Kelli Lackett - The Coloradoan - Fort Collins,CO,USAMonday, January 1, 2007
Over 150 from diverse religions join together to pray for common goal.
Paz. Pace. Shalom.
Spanish, Italian and Hebrew were just three of 39 languages in which the word "peace" was chanted by the participants of The International Hour for Peace, held at 5 a.m. Sunday at Blessed John XXIII University Center.
Silvea Key punctuated the chants with bells as she led the more than 150 people in chanting as part of the annual inspirational event.
Representatives of religions as diverse as Catholicism, Buddhism, Sufism, Judaism and Baha'i shared prayers of peace and insight from their traditions.
"After so much planning, it's a beautiful thing to bring us all here," Key said.
This is the 21st year that people have gathered in Fort Collins in the early morning on New Year's Eve to pray, meditate and sing to express their hopes for world peace. They joined millions around the world participating in similar gatherings at noon Greenwich Mean Time.
The event, also called World Healing Day, is based on the idea that peace begins in every individual's heart and there is power in a critical mass of people directing their minds toward peace.
"It's kind of like the hundredth monkey," said Fort Collins resident N-Polly, referring to a controversial phenomenon in which a behavior spread rapidly from one group of monkeys to another once a critical number of monkeys had engaged in it.
The International Hour for Peace also provided a chance for leaders of numerous community peace, justice and multifaith groups to share the how and why behind their work.
Those included A Place for Peace, Prayerworks for Peace, Peace Alliance, Not In Our Town Alliance, and the Northern Colorado Multi-faith Coalition.
Local events weighed as heavily on the minds of some of the participants as did the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"What's really bothering me lately is the raid that took place at the plant in Greeley - so many families were broken up, so many children spent Christmas without their parents," said Larry Holgerson. "We try to be a moral nation. We try to be a compassionate nation. ... Sometimes, it's hard to do anything about the war. We need to look at what we are doing right here in our own community."
On Margaret Smith's mind was the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and fighting in Somalia between the Somali interim government backed by Ethiopia and Islamic militia fighters.
Smith addressed the crowd on the importance of finding political solutions to conflicts. It was her last morning as president of the Northern Colorado chapter of the United Nations Association-USA.
"There is not a lot of peace where it needs to be," Smith said.
Despite the grim world events, the gathering was upbeat.
"I've been coming since they started," N-Polly said. "I can't start my new year without it."
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