CPTnet
May 15, 2004
CHICAGO/TORONTO: Flowers for Pentecost Healing and Remembering
A call from Christian Peacemaker Teams to Christians around the world.
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
We believe that Christians are expected to be instruments of reconciliation.
We invite Christians who wish to honor life in the midst of a world of
torture, shame and faith to compose a special bouquet of flowers for worship
on Pentecost Sunday, May 30, 2004. The bouquet will be presented as part of
a liturgy, offertory procession or an announcement with the following spoken
and written words in course of worship. (Flowers from various people's
yards might be offered as part of the presentation.)
"We present these flowers in memory of those who have been killed and those
who have killed. We present these flowers in memory of those who have been
unfairly detained or tortured and those who have tortured. We present these
flowers as signs for hope and healing for those who have been shamed and
those who are ashamed. And we pray for a spiritual outpouring of new life
on all humankind."
Following the Sunday worship service, we invite members of your congregation
to place this bouquet in a public place like a shopping center, a Federal
Building, an educational institution, or a military recruitment center with
a written statement, signed by your congregation, similar to the above
liturgy. Participants could complete the ceremony with the release of a
dove. This ceremony in a public place may be of interest to local media and
someone in your group may wish to send press releases to the media outlets
in your area.
We invite Christians and supporters of a transformed world to wear a flower
at work sites and public events and be prepared to explain why they are
doing so. Participants may wish to have explanations written in the spirit
of the above liturgy printed on fliers or cards to hand out to those who ask
why they are wearing the flowers.
We invite Christians to meditate or walk each day with the following simple
prayer while the wind - spirit of Pentecost touches your body. "Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven." John 14: 15-31, John 16: 4-15, Acts 1: 8,
2: 1-48
Basic background on Iraq may be found at the following sites. We invite you
to join to join the CPT Adopt A Detainee Program
http://cpt.org/iraq/iraq.php. Those seeking information on what Christians
are thinking in the wider church may be interested in a recent letter of the
National Council of Churches USA
(http://www.ncccusa.org/news/04iraqpastoralletter.html) Additional
background is available at
http://www.ncccusa.org/news/04iraqpastoralletter.html and
http://afsc.org/iraq/guide/iraqfacts.pdf .
Note: When your group presents flowers in a public place, you may encounter
anger or other emotional responses. We advise you to prepare for such
engagements with angry people and to have a prepared leaflet explaining what
the flowers mean in case a crowd gathers.
_______________
To stop receiving messages from CPTNET on MennoLink, send a message with
only the word, "suspend," in the body to server@MennoLink.org.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches
(Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and
membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations.
Supporting violence-reduction efforts around the world is its mandate.
Contact CPT, POB 6508 Chicago, IL 60680; Telephone: 773-277-0253 Fax:
773-277-0291; e-mail: guest.903627@MennoLink.org.
To receive news or discussion of CPT issues by e-mail, fill out the form
found on our WEB page at http://www.cpt.org/subscribe.php
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jun 01 2004 - 09:29:09 EDT