Thimble 105 - Prayer for Advent

...

..

Lord, we know what peace is. Peace is a mother
tenderly holding her child. Peace is a firm
handshake of trust between friends. Peace is
complete emotional security. Peace is living
unencumbered with a full sense of joy. Peace
is expressing Thanksgiving for concrete blessings.

For the peace gained from the love and memory
of spouses and children, we thank you ..

For the peace gained from the love and memory
of parents and grandparents, we thank you ..

For the peace gained from the kindness and
support of friends, we thank you ..

For the peace gained when the music of the
Gods is sung, we thank you ..

Peace is elusive. There are raging storms
in every life. Tragedy, grief, and pain will
visit everyone. Yet, each person's life is
graced by moments and periods of
real happiness. For these episodes of
peace and joy .. past, present, & future,
we offer our deepest gratitude.

Help us to understand that peace must
be waged. We must resist the gun, the
bomb, "realistic politics," unkind words,
personal betrayals, anger, depression,
despair, and rage. Give us the strength
to overcome these demons. Help us
maintain personal power within ourselves,
so we can pass this liberating power to others.

Give hope and courage to all who struggle
with debilitating illness, grief, and loneliness.
Help them to understand .. ALL chains WILL
be BROKEN.

SURSUM CORDA! Lift up your hearts!

QUI POTENS EST! God is great!

Amen

advent peace prayer - john devries

...

Thimble 104 - TDoR

...

TDoR... never heard of it? Neither had I until recently. I was looking for an idea for this week and stumbled on a special Day of Remembrance happening this weekend (20th Nov). It was founded in 1998 for the victims of a particular kind of hate crime.

TDoR
Transgender Day of Remembrance

I'm not sure what's sadder - the fact I never knew there was such a day or the fact there is a need for a day specific to one small group of people who end up being attacked and killed for being different. I went and looked at the memorial page on the TDoR website. There's page after page of memorials; all of them died horrific, brutal deaths.

I used to have a transgender blog friend, "used to" not because she's dead, but because she had to stop blogging after people figured out who she was... and sent her partner death threats.

As a blogger she was one of my favourite weekly reads - insightful and eloquent, caring and deeply spiritual. I miss her blog, but I completely understand the fact she put the safety of those she loved above her own personal needs. That's what a decent human being does...

Decent human beings do not attack and kill others merely because they are different....

Thimble 103 - Remember...

...

Great God, who has told us
"Vengeance is mine,"
save us from ourselves,
save us from the vengeance in our hearts
and the acid in our souls.

Save us from our desire to hurt as we have been hurt,
to punish as we have been punished,
to terrorize as we have been terrorized.

Give us the strength it takes
to listen rather than to judge,
to trust rather than to fear,
to try again and again
to make peace even when peace eludes us.

We ask, O God, for the grace
to be our best selves.
We ask for the vision
to be builders of the human community
rather than its destroyers.
We ask for the humility as a people
to understand the fears and hopes of other peoples.

We ask for the love it takes
to bequeath to the children of the world to come
more than the failures of our own making.
We ask for the heart it takes
to care for all the peoples
of Afghanistan and Iraq, of Palestine and Israel
as well as for ourselves.

Give us the depth of soul, O God,
to constrain our might,
to resist the temptations of power
to refuse to attack the attackable,
to understand
that vengeance begets violence,
and to bring peace--not war--wherever we go.

For You, O God, have been merciful to us.
For You, O God, have been patient with us.
For You, O God, have been gracious to us.

And so may we be merciful
and patient
and gracious
and trusting
with these others whom you also love.

This we ask through Jesus,
the one without vengeance in his heart.

This we ask forever and ever.
Amen

Prayer for World Peace

sr. Joan Chittister - Benedictine Sisters of Erie
..

Thimble 102 - Dona Nobis Pacem

...

My Peaceglobe for Blogblast for Peace 2011. You can read the full post on my regular blog, CrowsFeet, or above in the Pages under "2011".

Never think you’re too small to make a difference...

glitter-graphics.com

'Life's like a movie, write your own ending.
Keep believing, keep pretending.
we’ve done just what we set out to do
Thanks to the lovers, the dreamers…
and you.'

Jim Henson

...

Thimble 101 - Life is Beautiful

......
The wonderful voice of musician and peace promoter, Noa.



Movie clips from "Life Is Beautiful"

Smile, without a reason why
Love, as if you were a child
Smile, no matter what they tell you
Don't listen to a word they say
'Cause life is beautiful that way

Tears, a tidal-wave of tears
Light that slowly disappears
Wait, before you close the curtain
There's still another game to play
And life is beautiful that way

Here, in his eyes forever more
I will always be as close as you remember from before.
Now, that you're out there on your own
Remember, what is real and what we dream is love alone.

Keep the laughter in your eyes
Soon, your long awaited prize
Well forget about our sorrow
And think about a brighter day
'Cause life is beautiful that way.


...
...

Thimble 100 - Day of the Dead

...

In Europe this is All Soul's Day and links back to equally ancient Pagan religions. In Celtic beliefs this time of the year was their New Year - a time where death and rebirth complete a full circle. In Mexico this is the Day of the Dead, when people go to cemeteries to be near their departed loved ones. The day is a blend of Christian and far more ancient Aztec beliefs in honouring your ancestors.

For today's Peace Thimble I'm remembering a very select group of Mexican war dead - those who have died, and continue to die, in the war against drug trafficking.

Poet and activist Javier Sicilia lost his son to the drug violence that has plagued Mexico. In June, he led a caravan 1,500 miles across Mexico, stopping in some of the most ravaged cities to hold rallies for the grief-stricken communities.

Read the full story, "Can a Grieving Poet's Movement for Peace Save Mexico?" by Melissa del Bosque at www.texasobserver.org.

...

Thimble 99 - For the Little Angels

...

...
Today is All Saint's Day - a day created by the Catholic church in which to remember all the early Christian martyrs. In Mexico it's also known as Día de los Inocentes ("Day of the Innocents") or Día de los Angelitos ("Day of the Little Angels"). Toys and gifts are left on the graves of dead children.

A good day to remember the little lost angels of war...





...
...