Out of the Ashes — A Sanctuary of Peace
August 31st, 2002 by sfuqua
InterfaithNews.Net cofounder Joel Beversluis calls for an interfaith peace sanctuary at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Proposal for a Collaborative Project
Joel Beversluis
August 30,2002
When the media replay footage from 9/11, what do we see? What feelings
are we reinforcing — or numbing?
And when educators present that hard lesson in the schools, what will
our children see and feel and draw? Educators report that they're
still making pictures of exploding planes and towers. Especially for
children, images have power for good or ill. We understand, don't we,
that we must try to replace those repetitious and fearsome pictures with
healing images?
So, let's instead raise up new images, symbols of hope that can
reinvigorate the ideals of peace and understanding.
For instance, let's imagine together a place of inter-religious
healing, a place where peace-making is blessed, a sanctuary rising out of
the ashes. Imagine it rendered in sand or clay or paint, in colors, sounds or
stories.
Take a moment: What would an interfaith sanctuary of peace look like?
A temple, a church, a mosque, a garden, a fountain, a wall, a bridge?
Besides restoring emotional health, creative and life-giving images
can provide opportunities for reflection, dialogue and learning. They may
also help shape the memorial at
Ground Zero.
Like the Center for World Thanksgiving in downtown Dallas, this
Sanctuary could be an oasis of inter-religious and inter-cultural
understanding and appreciation.
What words and sounds give it life? Can you hear a mass? a concert? a
call to prayer?
Like the Interfaith Chapel at the Presidio — formerly a military base
chapel — Ground Zero, a symbol of powers in conflict, can become a place
where peace is revered, inspired by the holiest wisdom we can find.
What wisdom is that? An interfaith Sanctuary can identify it in the
world's religions and spiritual traditions, which serve as
repositories of the wisdom of humanity, inspired, many believe, by the
Divine.
Sanctuary can also be a memorial to those of so many faiths who died
that September day. And a memorial as well to so many more who have faced
the terror of wars since then. Like Auschwitz or Hiroshima, this Sanctuary
can also be a place for prayer and commitment: Never Again! This shrine can
honor people of all faiths and philosophies who live and work together in
many places for the common good. Who are they and what are they doing?
A sacred place such as this can inspire all those — young and old,
rich and poor, religious and secular — who can grasp the dream and the
seek the details of a more peaceful world.
Can we transform the fears and pride that lead to war? How can we make
peace with the Earth?
Add your creative juices to this process! Where's your
passion? You and your networks can help the healing. And you can join a
groundswell of support for a Sanctuary of Peace. With your help, voices
and visions will rise up in classrooms, religious and spiritual communities,
interfaith organizations, civic groups, and in the media.
With your help, "movers and shakers," financiers and
politicians, religious and spiritual leaders, interfaith organizations in
New York, and people of good will everywhere can be dreaming-into-being
new ways of living together — symbolized by our visions of a Sanctuary of
Peace.
Out of the ashes and compost and water beneath the city streets,
let's plant and raise up some new life!
Readers are invited to develop or encourage Sanctuary projects in
schools, congregations, and organizations.
You may also want to pass this proposal or your Sanctuary vision on to
others in your network, to Mayor Bloomberg of New York, President George
Bush, influential philanthropists, elected representatives, educators and
religious leaders.
Thank you.
