A Call for a Time of Prayer and Purification

For a Culture of Peace

April 28 2007 at 12 noon

The March 2007 news reports of Mayan Priests purifying the site where an American
President just visited was both disheartening in its need and inspiring in its hope.
How many places in our wounded world are in need of purification from hatred,
violence, hunger, destruction of the environment? As the Indigenous ceremony
in Iximche, Guatemala reminds us that deep purpose and values are never far away;
they can be restored. However, we must act to restore them.

How do we move from war to peace without waging war on war? How do we identify
and cleanse ignorance without damaging the innocent or empowering the dangerous?
In times of great peril, it is up to each of us to create new forms to invoke our highest
purpose.

Please join us at Noon on Saturday, April 28, 2007 in a global prayer and purification
ceremony. We invite people of spirit to use their own faith’s prayer and purification
rituals to call forth the blessings of peace, brotherhood/sisterhood, and sustainable
living upon this planet and to dissolve thoughts of aggression, fear, and greed.

This call for action honors the traditions of the true roots of America — those of the
Indigenous people of this continent and those of the drafters of the US Declaration
of Independence and the Constitution. It also supports the efforts of the member
countries of the United Nations, including the United States, to create a Culture of Peace.

This call starts with us, because as Americans we need to embody the collective
wisdom of: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

As our prayer rolls through different time zones around the world, we connect diverse faiths,
diverse culture, and diverse ideas. Diverse oneness is the foundation of power.

Whenever it is noon where you are, please join in.

It is time to call ourselves true people of peace, to envisage the possibilities of a
Culture of Peace. Can we use the knowledge of the Secret power of Intention to
call forth the Spirit of a truly international culture of peace where diversity is celebrated?

This email is like a letter in a bottle. If you are called to link and enlarge the Circle,
please do so in your traditions, in your homes, with your family and friends, and
in your sacred spaces.

A pall of fear has shadowed too many for too long. Let us call forth a new Spring
and thank the Earth and all our relations.

We are the prayer we have waited for. If not us, who? If not now, when?

May Peace Prevail on Earth. May Peace Begin with me."How much better is it for neighbors to help than to hurt
one another; howmuch happier must it make them. If [nations] will cease to make war on one another, if [they]
will live
in friendship with all mankind, [they] can employall [their] time in providing food and
clothing for [themselves] and [theirpeople]. [Their] men will not be destroyed in war,
[their] women and childrenwill lie down to sleep in their [homes] without fear of being surprised by
their enemies and killed or carried away. [Their] numbers will be increasedinstead of diminished and
[they] will live in plenty and in quiet."

--Thomas Jefferson: Address to Mandar Nation, 1806.

There never was a good war or a bad peace Benjamin Franklin

"Hearken, that peace may continue unto future days!

Always listen to the words of the Great Creator, for he has spoken.

"United people, let not evil find lodging in your minds.

"For the Great Creator has spoken and the cause of Peace shall not become old.

"The cause of peace shall not die if you remember the Great Creator."

The Haudenshonee Constitution http://www.indigenouspeople.net/iroqcon.htm_

"A sincere prayer is more powerful than an atomic bomb." Harry F. Byrd, Lakota Natio
n, South Dakota

"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you that ye may be
the children of your Father which is in heaven."

Matthew 5:43-44

“It is of crucial importance at this time that all the children of Mother Earth learn
to come together with one heart, one mind, one love and one determination, and
create the fitting legacy for all our children and our children’s children.”

"It was prophesied that the time would come when the voice of indigenous peoples
would rise again after five hundred years of silence and oppression, to light a path
to an eternal fire of peace, love, brotherhood and sisterhood amongst all nations."

Grandfather William Commanda, Keeper of the Wampum Belts, A Circle of All Nations:
A Culture of Peace http://www.angelfire.com/ns/circleofallnations/page2.html

From the United Religions Initiative Charter

We believe that our religious, spiritual lives, rather than dividing us, guide us to build communities and respect for one another.

Therefore, as interdependent people rooted in our traditions, we now unite for the benefit of our Earth community.

We unite to build cultures of peace and justice.

We unite to heal and protect the Earth.

We unite to build safe places for conflict resolution, healing and reconciliation.

We unite to support freedom of religion and spiritual expression, and the rights of all
individuals and people as set forth in international law.

We unite in responsible cooperative action to bring the wisdom and values of our
religions, spiritual expression and indigenous traditions to bear on the economic,
environmental, political and social challenges facing our Earth community.

We unite to provide a global opportunity for participation by all people, especially by
those whose voices are not often heard.

We unite to celebrate the joy of blessings and the light of wisdom in both movement
and stillness.

We unite to use our combined resources only for nonviolent, compassionate action, to
awaken to our deepest truths, and to manifest love and justice among all life in our
Earth community.

Purpose

The purpose of the United Religions Initiative is to promote enduring, daily interfaith
cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace,
justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings. www.uri.org

"Aware that the task of the United Nations to save future generations
from the scourge of war requires transformation towards a culture of
peace, which consists of values, attitudes and behaviours that reflect
and inspire social interaction and sharing based on the principles of
freedom, justice and democracy, all human rights, tolerance and
solidarity, that reject violence and endeavour to prevent conflicts by
tackling their root causes to solve problems through dialogue and
negotiation and that guarantee the full exercise of all rights and the
means to participate fully in the development process of their society,

United Nations General Assembly A/RES/52/13 15 January 1998

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Signatories(Partial List)

Grandfather William Commanda, Keeper of the Wampum Belts, Annishinabe Nation
Sharon Franquemont, sfranque@aol.com
The Circle www.oneprayer.org
Reverend Betsy Stang, bebird@aol.com
Executive Director, The Wittenberg Center for Alternative Resources
www.wittenbergcenter.org
David Berry davidberry@aol.com
Reverend Canon Charles Gibbs,
Executive Director, United Religions Initiative
Grace Smith Yellow Hammer, Dineh spokeswoman
Harriett Crosby, Friends of the Earth
Diana Whitney, Corporation for Positive Change
Mitch Walking Elk, Cheyenne & Arapaho Nations
Romola Trebilcock, Canada, A Circle of All Nations: A Culture of Peace
http://www.angelfire.com/ns/circleofallnations
Deborah Moldow
Reverend James C Davis, Director
The Wittenberg Center for Alternative Resources
Mary Sarah Agliotta,
DPI-NGO The Wittenberg Center for Alternative Resources
Regional Coordinator, Gather the Women-NY/NJ
Bernice Cousins bcousins@panix.com
GTW-NY/ NJ ; Actualism NY Star Center
DPI-NGO The Wittenberg Center for Alternative Resources
Beverley Britton
Lifeline Network for Peace
Margi Ness
URI North America Co-Coordinator
Rev. Kay Lindahl, The Listening Center
Annie B. Bond
Executive Producer of Green Living Content, Care2.com - A Network of over
6.8 million Progressive Members, Author of Better Basics for the Home
Alta Reynolds, South Africa
Redwood Mary, Circle the Earth- Grassroots Taking Action for a Sustainable Futur
Yoland Trevino, URI Global Council Chair, indigenous Mayan
Monica Willard, United Religions Initiative
United Nations NGO Representative
Christine Whitney Sanchez, CWS - Collaborative Wisdom & Strategy
Judi Woods, GTW Making It On Purpose, a pilot project for the Nation
Deb Ballam, Columbus, Ohio
Teresa Descilo, Miami, FL
Marsha Pilgeram, Utah URI
Lorrie K Eaton, DC, handsonautism@yahoo.com
Virginia Sanchez, Mexico
Jim PathFinder Ewing (Nvnehi Awatisgi), Annette Waya Ewing, Tsalagi,
Healing The Earth/Ourselves (www.blueskywaters.com)

Sign and return to:
Betsy Stang
bebird@aol.com