First Parish Unitarian UniversalistBlessed Are the Peacemakers—Part One
The script of a service at
First Parish Unitarian Universalist - Canton, MA
On the fourth anniversary of the US invasion/liberation of Iraq
March 18, 2007
Welcome
Welcome on such a crisp morning, bright with snow. I was out in the dawn’s early light with our dog, as usual in the conservation land near our house when I came upon a surprise. On an open snow-covered field, someone had trample into the snow a labyrinth, a perfect labyrinth of the Chartres Cathedral design!
What a quiet pleasure to follow its path round and round as the first rays of the sun glimmered on the ice in the tree tops, as with each little breeze bits of ice shook off, tinkling to the crusty snow below. What peace ensued from someone else’s artful act of kindness.
So, I was inspired to set up our First Parish labyrinth, in the Upper Parish Hall on the second floor. Before or after your letter-writing for peace during Coffee Hour today, you might like to walk the labyrinth and experience its peace for yourself today.
Announcements
For the service this morning, I need some volunteer readers and bell-ringers. I’ll tell you what I need, please raise your hand and I’ll bring the instructions to you.
We need Four volunteers to ring the bell during the Benediction. Each will ring the bell eight times for a total of 32 times. Each time it peals will represent 2 of the Massachusetts soldiers killed in Iraq, 100 of the nearly 3200 US soldiers killed in Iraq, 10,000 of the estimated 300,000 Iraquis killed, and 100,000 of the estimated 3.8 million Iraqis who have fled their homes.
This involves climbing the stairs up to the balcony during the closing hymn and pulling the bell rope which takes an average amount of muscle, such as what a twelve year old would have. Please raise your hand.
We need Eleven volunteers to read aloud peace prayers. They are prayers from 11 of the world’s religions, taken from the 1986 Day of Prayer for World Peace during the United Nations International Year of Peace. These readings will be interspersed with our own original prayers for peace, and if there are plenty of the original ones we won’t take the time to read . Please raise your hand.
Opening Words
On this the fourth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, we gather in the company of doves to pray for peace.
Why is the dove a symbol of peace? We may remember the Biblical story of Noah and the Ark, and we remember that Noah’s dove returned with a freshly plucked olive branch in its beak, proof that the flood waters had subsided from the earth and plant life was growing, a sign of hope. But why is it a symbol of peace?
I had to return to the Book of Genesis to find out.
God saw that humans had corrupted the earth with their violence. And so God decided to bring on a great flood to punish His people. Only Noah, his wife, his sons and his sons’ wives, and a male and female of each kind of bird and every kind of animal were to be saved from this flood on the Ark Noah was to build. Indeed, the waters covered all the high mountains, and all other living things perished.
As the story goes, after forty days of flooding, the waters began to recede and Noah sent out a dove to look for dry land. But the dove found no place to set its foot and returned to the Ark. Noah waited another seven days and sent the dove out again. It returned in the evening, with a freshly plucked olive branch in its beak, proof that the waters had subsided from the earth and plant life was growing again.
And, so, a dove with an olive branch is a sign of truce from God, a symbol that God’s war with His people was over, and thus it is an emblem of peace.
Today we send out prayers like doves… to Kosovo, to Afghanistan, to Darfur, to the streets of Boston but especially to Iraq… may they return with signs of peace in their beaks.
Today we ring our 1821 bell, made by Paul Revere’s foundry here in Canton, sending its peals of peace into our community, to commemorate those who have died in this war and to celebrate those who have live that peace may prevail.
But first we will sing of forswearing our foolish ways, for as always, like the people of Noah’s time, we too corrupt the earth with the violence of war. Please rise as you are able in body and spirit to sing Hymn # 120 in the grey hymnal.
We Honor the US Soldiers and Others Killed
Last week, the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, Rev. William G. Sinkford, sent an open letter to Members of the US Congress with an attached “Moral Balance Sheet” detailing what he called the “True Cost of War.” In his letter he wrote, “Rather than a surge of troops, we American taxpayers deserve a surge of truth.”
As with any war, the true costs of this war are both human and financial. War is costly. And, the financial costs are human costs too: the many vital human needs left unfunded because we chose to put our tax dollars toward this war.
However, today, on this fourth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, we are telling the truth about the human cost of this war as we pause to pay our respects to those who have lost their very lives in it and resolve to do what we each can do to further the cause of peace.
An estimated 3.8 million Iraqis have fled their homes as a result of this war, no one knows exactly how many Iraqis have been killed but some estimates go as high as ½ million, 500 US soldiers have undergone major amputations as a result of their service, many have severe head injuries, and more than 3100 have been killed, 65 of them from Massachusetts.
Symbolizing all of these casualties, all of the human cost of this war, we will read the names of the 65 service members from Massachusetts killed in Iraq. During the silence to follow, you are invited to compose your own prayer for peace, that you might offer out loud or silently after the names have been read.
Each of us hears the still small voice within us in our own way, each of us gives name and meaning to that which is sacred in our own way, and we each may understand prayer in a variety of ways too—for some of us it is a petition to God, the Goddess, or the Spirit of Life and of Love; for others prayer is the naming of our deepest longings and highest desires. For all of us, I believe, the power of prayer is that as we pray our prayer taps our inner strength and calls us out of ourselves and into love and service.
And let me add here that we acknowledge that there are many paths toward peace and they well may be reflected in our various prayers this morning: a surge, staying the course, withdrawal-immediate or gradual, or more. But we also acknowledge, even assume, that for all of our paths, the destination is peace, both here and in Iraq.
If you don’t know how to start your prayer, let me suggest the Buddhist way, with the word “May” after which you state your intention. As in the beginning of the Metta meditation: “May all beings be free from danger. May all beings be happy…” and so on.
Let us hear now the names of those Massachusetts men and one woman who gave their lives in Iraq in service to our country:
Sergeant Justin W. Garvey
Private First Class John D. Hart
Specialist Christopher J. Holland
Sergeant Pierre A. Raymond
Corporal Brian Oliveira
Lance Corporal Travis Reid Desiato
Lance Corporal Dimitrios Gavriel
Sergeant Andrew Farrar
First Lieutenant Brian McPhillips
Staff Sergeant Joesph P. Belavia
Lcpl John J. Vangyzen IV
Sergeant Kurt D. Schamberg
Captain John W. Maloney
Specialist Ray M. Fuhrmann II
First Sergeant Alan N. Grifford
Pvt. Michael E. Bouthot
Specialist Daniel R. Gionet
Sgt. Gregory A. Belanger
Private First Class Kerry D. Scott
Sergeant Daniel J. Londono
Corporal David Marques Vicente
Lance Corporal Jeffrey Charles Burgess
Lance Corporal Alexander Scott Arrendodo
First Lieutenant Travis John Fuller
Captain Benjamin Sammis
Chieff Warrant Officer Two Stephen M. Wells
Specialist Matthew Boule
Chief Warrant Officer Kyran E. Kennedy
Captain Christopher J. Sullivan
Lance Corporal Shayne Cabino
Lt. Col. Leon G. James II
Capt. Joel E. Cahill
Lance Corporal Michael Ford
Cpl. Scott Procopio
Lance Cpl. Patrick Gallagher
Corporal Donald E. Fisher II
Specialist Gabriel T. Palacios
Sergeant Benjamin E. Mejia
Sergeant Glenn R. Allison
Gunnery Sergeant Elia Paietta Fontecchio
Lance Corporal Andrew Zabierek
Lance Corporal Nickolas David Schiavoni
Specialist Daniel F. Cunningham
Lance Corporal Gregory E. MacDonald
Specialist Peter G. Enos
Pfc. Norman Darling
Private Cory R. Depew
Staff Sergeant Joseph Camara
Sgt. Charles Caldwell
Pfc. Markus J. Johnson
Spc. David J. Babineau
Cpl. Paul N. King
LC. Geoffrey R. Cayer
Sgt. Mark R. Vecchione
Staff Sergeant Clint J. Storey
Spc. Edgardo Zayas
Lance Corporal Eric P. Valdepenas
Specialist Jared J. Raymond
LCPL Edward Garvin
Lt. Joshua Booth
Specialist Matthew J. Stanley
Sgt. Gregory Wright
Sgt. 1st Class Keith Callahan
Sgt. Alexander H. Fuller
Captain Jennifer Harris
Our Prayers for Peace
Each of us hears the still small voice within us in our own way, each of us gives name and meaning to that which is sacred in our own way, and we each may understand prayer in a variety of ways too—for some it is a petition to God, the Goddess, or the Sprit of Life and of Love; for others prayer is the naming of our deepest and highest desires. For all of us, I believe, the power of prayer is that as we pray our prayer taps our inner strength and calls us out of ourselves and into love and service.
Now we enter into a time of sharing of our prayers for peace, by those who so choose to share their own prayer and by those who have volunteered to read a “Peace Prayer” from the United Nation’s 1986 World Day of Prayer for Peace. We will begin with
And the congregation is invited to say MAY PEACE PREVAIL after each prayer.
Hymn #163- For the Earth Forever Turning (we sing our joyful song of peace)
Benediction
Today we have sent out prayers like doves… to Kosovo, to Afghanistan, to Darfur, to the streets of Boston but especially to Iraq… may they return with signs of peace in their beaks.
And now let us sit and be still as we ring our 1821 bell, sending its peals of peace into our community, to commemorate those who have died in this war and to celebrate those who have live that peace may prevail.
