Making Peace - International Peace Day Opportunities

  BLESSED ARE THE MAKERS OF PEACE,

               THEY ARE KNOWN TO BE GOD'S CHILDREN 

The General Assembly of the United Nations has declared September 21 as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples. The 2012 theme:

Sustainable Peace…..From Sustainable Development…..For a Sustainable Future

IN GRAND RAPIDS:

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Peace Festival on Wealthy St., SE as part of the Eastown Fair.  Interactive experiences for families centered on the Seven Peace Principles.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

2:00 – 3:00 pm.  Interfaith Peace Service, Dominican Chapel Marywood.  This year, women of many faiths will speak on how their faith traditions instill values of peace in the community and home. 

Refreshments after the service in Dominican Center at Marywood.

         Saturday, September 22, 2012

Hands Across the Cities: Grand Rapids and Mizak, Haiti will be held at 11 Fuller Ave, SE. from 10 am-2pm. Grand Rapids artisans and justice workers will share practical ways to create peace through art and friendship.

 IN HOLLAND, MI

September 16 (Sunday) at 5:00 pm

         Smallenburg Park 16^th St and Fairbank/ Stadium Park

         bring a lawn chair, table service and dish to pass

     -Potluck Picnic and Presentations at Holland’s Peace Pole.

     -Bring a favorite poem/song/reading/or other presentation related to peace.

     -Beverages (water and lemonade) provided.

     -Cancelled if rains

September 27 (Thursday)   Beal Memorial Lecture

        7:00-9:00 PM at First United Methodist Church,

        Dr. Steven Bouma-Prediger, professor of religion at Hope College, 

        will be presenting the Beal Memorial

"Peacemaking in a Violent World: A Christian Perspective"

Jesus is called the Prince of Peace and yet many who claim to follow Jesus advocate war.  The early church embraced pacifism yet the church of the Middle Ages authorized crusades. What does it mean for a Christian to be a peacemaker?

Q & A and a fellowship time will follow. 27 local churches and organizations are joining as sponsors for this community event. Please bring your friends.

In MUSKEGON COUNTY:

   

    -  Women (and Men) in Black Vigil for Peace – every Friday 5:30 pm – 6 pm at the Montague Weathervane

   

   -  Pax Christi Peace Vigil every Saturday noon – 1 pm at the corner of Henry and Norton Avenues.

IN NEWAYGO 

Newaygo County People for Peace sponsor:

“Celebrate Peace Concert” Friday, Sept. 21 at the Black Box, Dogwood Center, 7:30 pm.  Remember the sell out peace concert NCPP sponsored in 2010?    Celebrate the International Day of Peace and the opening day of “30 Days of Peace 2012”.  Tickets are $12.50

“30 Days of Peace 2012” will be held Sept. 21 to Oct. 21 this fall.  

Summer's End - 2012

Nights are cooler.  Mornings are requiring long sleeves until the sun can warm the air and peek over the tree tops.  The sunlight's angle comes in slant.  Produce at the Farmer's Market has peeked, our feathered friends are changing their gowns and heading south, and beautiful Lake Michigan's temperature is dropping.  Where did the summer go? And so day light gives way to longer nights and summer gives way to autumn, seed time to harvest, and we recognize the daily shifts and move with them.  Its nature.  Its natural. We don't question or argue it.

                                                                                 Moonset photo by Mark Bush

So why are we so resistant to change in other dimensions of life?  Why does the unfolding and shifting within our own lives throw us out of sorts?  As much as we talk about change, encounter change, and remember the various ways we and our lives change all the time, still we resist it.  I wonder if we could receive earth's transformation as a gentle model for our own; letting go of what was in the hope of what will be.  I wonder if we could recognize that we are part of something much larger than we can imagine and yet know that our part in the unfolding is precious. I wonder if we could receive transition with a sense of adventure.  I wonder if we might anticipate and expect our own transformations in heart and mind as we allow ourselves to be formed by Life and all its fullness.  I wonder if we could see it all as sacred dance, every day and find hope alive in it.  I wonder how we might all find our way more gracefully trusting that God is the Holy Turner in whose change we are made whole.  (See and hear Canticle of the Turning on youtube.com or from GIA Publications, Inc.)