Our Peace Ministry Happening

Bobbi presented an excellent program on Tuesday, and it was the "bonding experience" that she had promised that it would be.

She began the evening with a song instead of a reading. She played Simon and Garfunkle's "Silent Night / The Seven O'Clock News". After we listened to this very powerful song, Bobbi discussed how important the song is to her, and read the words from the news so that we all could hear what the newscaster in the song read to us. After that, we spent some time in quiet reflection, then we shared our thoughts and feelings about the song.

The most interesting exercise of the evening was called "Living on the Mobius Strip" from Parker Palmer's book "A Hidden Wholeness." In this exercise, we used a strip of paper to represent the our inner and outer nature, and saw how the relationship between the two can change during the phases of our lives.

We spent a lot of time reflecting on how we saw the phase that Parker Palmer describes playing out in our own lives, and shared a lot about the times when we our inner and outer lives were and were not in harmony.

She closed the evening by reading a poem by a fellow parishoner named Gene Oulette called "Choices."

It was a wonderful evening, and a great tribute to the spirit of peace this holiday season.

Drum for Peace Day

Dave Curry from Drums for One and All sent us this announcement. We wanted to pass it on because is combines two of our favorite things: Peacemaking and Drumming.

Spirit in Nature Pathways
Invites everyone to our second annual "Drum for Peace Day"
Saturday, October 13th
At the Cuvilly Arts and Earth Center
10 Jeffreys Neck Road
Ipswich, MA 01938
From 2pm to 6pm

2:00-2:30 Meditation Drumming for Peace (facilitated by Dave Curry)
2:30-3:15 Silent Path Walk
3:15-3:45 Peace dialogue at the Meditation Circle (bring a favorite
peace quote to read)
4:00-4:30 Pot luck (bring your favorite harvest food dish and a beverage)
4:30-6:00 Open Drum Circle (facilitated by Dave Curry)

Bring a drum or percussion instrument if you have one.
Dave Curry will bring a variety of drums for borrowing.
Bring water, chairs, blankets, and spend a day outdoors in the crisp fall air.
And of course bring the children.
Event is Rain or shine. We can go indoors if necessary.

Directions to Cuvilly Arts and Earth Center

Take route 95 north to 128 north to exit 20A (Hamilton route 1A north)
Stay on Rt 1A thru the town of Wenham, then Hamilton to Ipswich (10-15 min drive)
You will go by the Myopia Polo club on the right hand side.
Look for the Ipswich Common on your left, then see a green road sign for Rt 1A/133
At this point go straight before the 1A sign (don't follow 1A any longer).
Continue thru the first stop sign and follow the road around to the right and you will see the Ipswich General Store on your right hand side and just after will be a boat docking
area on your right.
Facing you will be a white picket fence, bear left onto Jeffreys Neck Road
Less than a tenth of a mile on the left is Cuvillys sign .
We'll be in the garden right near the parking lot.
Call Dan Shea if lost or delayed at 781-439-8891

Our International Day of Peace Events

We held our noontime vigil and evening celebrations today with a small but committed group of celebrants.

We are very happy that we held these events, and are satisfied that we contributed towards the cause of peace.

A Story of Peace: The Didgeridoo and the Flute

Didgeridoo and the Flute

By V. Sean River from the story told by Vladimir Cardema

Revised September 1, 2007

In the Golden Gate Park near the tennis courts there is a small tunnel. Not often used, it makes a shaded walkway for those on foot.

With the city of San Francisco bustling all around, the tunnel was a place of solitude for a flute player who went there often to still his mind and enjoy his music in an acoustical chamber.

On a foggy mid-summer morning, Vladimir felt as though he was coming down with the flu. His Native American flute was by his bedside table but he felt uninspired to move. Then a voice deep within him urged him to go to the sacred tunnel.

On this morning, against the protesting aches in his body, he took the hour-long bus ride to the park.

Now as his head throbbed and his body grumbled, he remembered that the Native American flute was a great meditative tool to silence his thoughts and discomforts. So he sat cross-legged, closed his eyes and played.

Vlad was deep in a trance when from far away he heard an unfamiliar sound. At the same time, it was vaguely familiar. The rhythmic drone, still in the distance, moved steadily towards him. Then it began mixing with his flute music. His eyes were still closed as the haunting sounds came closer and closer.

Vlad recognized the sound from the movie ‘The Right Stuff’ in a sequence where astronauts were orbiting thousands of miles above Australia.

They were witnessing millions of tiny firefly lights and hearing strange sounds. They were baffled by it. So they called their base down in Australia. They were told that directly below them a corroboree was happening. The Aboriginals had a giant bonfire going and flames were shooting up into the air creating, from the perspective of the astronauts, the effect of sparkling fireflies. This great fire was accompanied by didgeridoo. That is the first time Vlad heard the distinctive primal sound of the didge.

The movie scene flashed in his mind’s eye. Then he was back in the tunnel.

A stranger playing this strange-sounding instrument walked out of the fog and into the tunnel. The flute player’s eyes opened wide and stared at the silhouette that looked like a tall lanky aboriginal. They both kept playing.

Their flute and didge blended so beautifully that the music carried them. They were in perfect pitch together. The mystery-man sat down right beside Vlad.

He could see the friendly smile in his neighbor’s eyes. That allowed him to relax into the music they were creating. Vlad closed his eyes and drifted into the boundless abyss while continuing to play.

There he saw a vision. He was a dolphin, an embodiment of the flute, swimming in a dark blue
ocean. Right beside him was a giant blue whale, symbolizing the didge. They were swimming side by side, united in the harmony of music.

The music slowly subsided and faded away. Vladimir was smiling blissfully. As he slowly opened his eyes he saw that the stranger was beaming too. It was the perfect beginning of a new friendship.

Vlad was fresh out of the Israeli army, where he had been indoctrinated to hate Iranians. Now he discovered that the didge player was a Persian (from Iran) named Farzin.

In this moment the illusion of duality dissolved and the mortal enemy became his best friend.

Over the next weeks and months, their affinity deepened. Before the way took them in different
directions, the Israeli gave Farzin a flute he’d made and the Persian gave Vlad his first didgeridoo.

He said "Vlad, if you can play this didge it is yours. If not you can gift it to someone else."

In two days Vladimir was circular breathing and playing the didge. He’d found another tool for his meditations, another companion for his life journeys.

The event in the tunnel happened ten years ago. Vlad grew in experience with the didge and in time discovered another aspect of this instrument –its power to focus and amplify the healing intention of the player.

Today he guides people on meditative sound healing journeys with the didgeridoo and flute.
***
Vladimir Cardema gives vibrational healing sessions, conducts classes and concerts with his flute and didgeridoo in northern California.
© 2007 Gary R. Smith

See this story with picutres and videos here.

International Day of Peace Celebration

A celebration of the International Day of Peace will take place at the First Universalist Society in Franklin (FUSF) on Friday, September 21, 2007. The FUSF PEACE Ministry has planned two events to honor this important day, and welcomes anyone from Franklin or the surrounding communities to participate. Both events will be held in the sanctuary and are free of charge.

The sanctuary will be open from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm to provide an opportunity for personal reflection and meditation. Fifteen minutes of silence will be observed from 12:00 noon to 12:15 pm to connect Franklin with others around the world who will be observing silence at noon, local time.

At 7:30 pm members of the PEACE Ministry will honor and celebrate the day through words, prayers, songs, visual displays, and crafts.

The International Day of Peace was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 and was first inaugurated on the third Tuesday of September 1982. In 2002 the UN General Assembly set September 21st as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace. The United Nations General Assembly felt that the day “should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.”

The First Universalist Society in Franklin (FUSF) is located at 262 Chestnut Street in Franklin and is wheelchair accessible. For more information please contact Bobbi Tayne Gerlits at (508) 520-2348.

The PEACE Ministry Focus

(Peacemaking Education and Action through Collaborative Efforts)

The focus of the PEACE Ministry is to raise consciousness and inspire action for the cultivation of peace. Through a variety of programs and activities, we will provide opportunities to explore various pathways to peace. We believe that by sowing the seeds of justice, equity, and compassion, we can begin to promote the spirit of peace.