Tag Archives: peacemaking

Peaceful Presence: Multifaith Prayers for Peace

The ability to make our country safe, secure, peaceful & harmonious lies in our hands. Let us unite to honor the victims of 9/11, their families and first responders as we strive to transform this tragic day into one of peace & community building.

Peace Picnic sponsored by American Muslim Voice, followed by Prayers for Peace

  • 5:30 – 7:00 PM Peace Picnic – all come.
  • 7:00 – 8:00 PM Peaceful Presence gathering, offering prayers, reflections, music and ritual on the themes of peace, unity, and justice from several religious traditions.

Register hereOn this anniversary of September 11th, join us to celebrate our common humanity and our shared commitment to a world of peace, justice, and inclusion. Those of all faiths and no formal faith are more than welcome.

Download a flyer: Peaceful Presence September 11 Flyer

Co-Hosts

  • All Saints Episcopal Church, Palo Alto
  • American Muslim Voice
  • The Baha’i Community of Palo Alto
  • Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice
  • Congregation Beth Am
  • Congregation Etz Chayim
  • Council on American-Islamic Relations, SF Bay Area
  • First Congregational Church of Palo Alto
  • Human Concerns Committee, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish (Catholic)
  • Keddem Congregation
  • Peninsula Solidarity Network
  • SiVIC (Silicon Valley lnterreligious Council)
  • St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Palo Alto
  • Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Los Gatos

Picnic for Peace

Peace in the Park is reaching out to your community to come out and experience peace in YOUR park. Enjoy a fun, relaxing, mindful day with us free of stress and cost. Children and youth are strongly encouraged to attend. Lets get to know each other!

11-11:50am Arts, Crafts & Games
11:50-12:10pm Feldenkrais Movement
12:10-12:15pm Special Guest Address
12:15-12:45pm Scavenger Hunt by Tap in Talents
12:45-1pm Pause for World Peace Meditation
1-1:30pm Lunch
1:30-2pm Nature Walk

DJ Brandon

To find us in the park, look for couple Peace in the Park flags.
Hosted by Peace in the Park Festival https://www.peaceintheparksf.org/

FREE event. All are welcome.

Building Peace in Difficult Times: Learning from Global Activists

In the past year, communities across the US and Canada have seen an increase in incidents of hate and discrimination. In the US, a divisive election season left many communities fractured and relationships broken. Now, many activists across our region are feeling overwhelmed by the realities of their new social and political climate.

Wisdom of Our Elders: Looking Back to Go Forward

The Multiregion of the United Religions Initiative is offering the first webinar in the Sankofa Webinar Series: “Wisdom of Our Elders: Looking Back to Go Forward.”

Join us for a conversation with our three interfaith elders about lessons learned. URI is a global grassroots interfaith network that cultivates peace and justice by engaging people to bridge religious and cultural differences and work together for the good of their communities and the world. Imagine the wisdom our elders possess, and the life experiences they will share to offer participants an opportunity to be inspired and recommit themselves to their passions for interfaith networking, bridging differences and making a difference in the world!

Sankofa is an African word from the Akan tribe in Ghana.  The literal translation of the word and the symbol is “it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.” The symbol for Sankofa is based on a mythical bird with its feet firmly planted forward with its head turned backwards. There must be movement and new learning as time passes. As this forward march proceeds, the knowledge of the past must never be forgotten.

Our presenting elders will be: Bishop William E. Swing, Founder and President of URI and author of A Bishop’s Quest; Joy Jinks, leader of the SAASE Cooperation Circle, the NOWTIME Radio CC, and author of Dynamic Aging: I Intend to Live Forever. So Far…So Good!; and PK McCary of Think Peace International, Inc. CC and author of the Black Bible Chronicles.

Full information and registration here.

A New Map for Relationships

Creating True Love at Home & Peace on the Planet

Silicon Valley UN Association and US-China People’s Friendship Association, South Bay are proud to welcome Dorothie and Marty Hellman to share the lessons they have learned that allowed them to build a truly loving relationship. They also explain why the lessons they learned in their personal, domestic, and professional relationships are the same ones that the nations of the world need to understand to build a more peaceful, sustainable planet.

Please join us for a fun evening that includes a presentation, a demonstration of role-playing exercises, and a vigorous Q & A session. Please bring a favorite dessert to share at our fabulous international dessert banquet with specialty teas and coffees.

RSVP to wasidtmessmer@comcast.net by February 16

A Conversation about Israeli-Palestinian Peace Prospects

A conversation about Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects, with Maen Rashid Areikat, Ambassador to the Palestinian Delegation to the United States, and Jeremy Ben-Ami, Founder & President of J Street.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most complex and polarizing conflicts in modern history.  Nearly seventy years after the foundation of Israel and fifty years since the beginning of the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank territories, the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians seems to be as far as ever from a resolution.  How can Israeli and Palestinian leaders move toward a sustainable peace?  Can the US and the international community help to bridge gaps and bring the two sides together?

Join us for a conversation with these very special dignitaries, about the prospects for achieving peace and why it matters so much to the US and the world.

Maen Rashid Areikat is originally from Jericho.  He was appointed Ambassador to the Palestinian Delegation to the United States by President Mahmoud Abbas.  He has overseen the Negotiations Affairs Department of the PLO in Ramallah, providing legal, policy, communication and technical support to Palestinian negotiating teams.

Jeremy Ben-Ami’s great-grandparents were among the first settlers in Petah Tikva 130 years ago, and his grandparents were one of the founding families of Tel Aviv.  He is the founder and President of J Street, a pro-Israel, pro-peace American nonprofit that seeks a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Moderator Luther Jackson is an expert in Silicon Valley labor market research and analysis, and is well known as a leader, facilitator and communicator.

Co-sponsored by J Street, Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley, and First Unitarian Church of San Jose.

More information and registration.

Multifaith Peace Picnic

Download a flyer

From Fear to Friendship

The ability to make our country safe, secure, peaceful, and harmonious lies in our hands. Let us unite to honor the victims of 9/11, their families and first responders as we strive to transform this tragic day into one of peace & community building.

This event is free and open to ALL. You will enjoy dinner, a Multifaith Service and children’s performances. We invite you, your friends and family members to be a part of  this peace and community building event.

Let us walk on the path Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. paved for us. Together we can build a beloved, inclusive and peaceful world.

Sponsored by American Muslim Voice, the Office of Supervisor Dave Cortese, and many community organizations.

Tickets available at Eventbrite.

Nonviolence in Today’s Violent World

How to solve issues of racial, economic, political and religious injustice with non-violence.

Download a flyer: 2016 nonviolence forum

A SiVIC Interfaith Forum featuring Dr. Subba Rao, Chairman, National Youth Project India; Professor Michael Nagler, Founder and President of The Metta Center for Nonviolence, Berkeley; and Maha Elgenaidi, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Islamic Networks Group. Their conversation will be moderated by Dr. Prasad Kaipa, researcher and consultant and followed by an interactive discussion with the audience.

Light refreshments will be served.

Please RSVP : sulolulla@gmail.com, 408 530 2733 , 669 292 1457

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Maha ElGenaidi: Maha Elgenaidi is the founder of ING. She is the author of training handbooks on outreach for American Muslims as well as training seminars for public institutions on developing cultural competency with the American Muslim community. A senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum and recently named by the San Jose Business Journal as one of Silicon Valley’s Women of Influence, Maha has been recognized with numerous civil rights awards, including the “Civil Rights Leadership Award” from the California Association of Human Relations Organizations and the “Citizen of the Year” award from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. She earned a master’s degree in Religious Studies from Stanford University, and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics from the American University in Cairo.

Michael Nagler is Professor emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at UC, Berkeley, where he co-founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program in which he taught an immensely popular nonviolence course. Among other awards, he received the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for “Promoting Gandhian Values Outside India” in 2007. He is the author of The Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide to Practical Action  (2014) as well as The Search for a Nonviolent Future, which received a 2002 American Book Award and has been translated into Korean, Arabic, Italian and other languages; Our Spiritual Crisis: Recovering Human Wisdom in a Time of Violence (2005); The Upanishads (with Sri Eknath Easwaran, 1987), and other books as well as many articles on peace and spirituality.

Dr. Subba Rao: Mahatma Gandhi still lives through the lives of many dedicated soldiers of peace, such as one of the most popular and dynamic youth leader, Dr. S.N. Subba Rao, a fellow of Gandhi Peace Foundation and founder of National Youth Project. He inspires and lifts up the spirit of youth in the world for building a new society based on Love, Peace, Harmony and Social Justice. Every one affectionately calls him ‘Bhai Ji,’ meaning ‘Elder Brother’ and he reciprocates their love with equal abandon. That is why a personal bond is quickly formed between him and anyone who meets him. In 1970, he founded Mahatma Gandhi Sewa Ashram in Chambal valley at Joura, district Morena (Madhya Pradesh). The Ashram is organizing khadi and Gramodhyog camps, Youth leadership camps, employment generation camps and programs related to empowerment of rural people.

Interfaith Candlelight Prayer Vigil for Peace

In light of the recent violence in Baton Rouge, Turkey, France, Baghdad, Dallas and various other places, we invite you to an interfaith prayer service for peace.

Join us so that we can pray together for the victims of violence and the strength to combat it by being peacemakers.

We will pray for the courage to take action on behalf of those suffering injustice and to comfort those suffering from violence.

We will pray together to remind ourselves of God’s presence within all of us so that we can focus on what gives us hope, and what moves us to act on our concern for peace and justice in our world.

We will gather to remember our common dignity, our unique heritage as children of God, and our interconnectedness as brothers and sisters in the one human family.

 

Peace Prayer Vigil for Orlando

In response to the tragic loss of lives that occurred in Orlando, FL this past weekend, the Center for Spiritual Living, will be hosting two opportunities to come together in love, prayer, peace and compassion.

  • Tuesday, June 14 – 6:00-6:45 pm – Silent Vigil
    Please join Senior Minister Dr. David Bruner for a time of silent reflection.
  • Wednesday, June 15th – 6:30-7:30 pm – Peace Prayer Vigil
    Please join Associate Minister Susan Overland for a Peace Prayer Vigil. Music provided by Michelle Jordan.
    #aworldthatworksforeveryone