Lutheran Peace Fellowship

Youth E-News
“And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” - James 3:18

October 12, 2006
A Publication of Lutheran Peace Fellowship
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Welcome

In this season of harvests, we, as Christians, are called to continue to sow the seeds of peace to the world. As the leaves change and the world continues to turn, we can turn to Jesus’ teachings to understand what true peace is even amidst the conflicts that go on around us. Shalom, loosely translated as peace, means so much more than just the absence of conflict: shalom is wholeness, community, understanding, equality, and a continual process of growth and renewal.

This weekend I attended and helped lead a high school youth retreat at Holden Village called Let Justice Roll, where all in attendance were encouraged to Busta Move - that is, to not only learn what shalom is, but to act on that knowledge in concrete steps to pursue peace. While I thought I had a pretty good idea of shalom going into the retreat (I was, after all, leading workshops on it all weekend), it was throughout the course of the weekend, the questions asked by the participants, and my surroundings at Holden that I began to really understand the wholeness and renewal that must be part of shalom.

During one of our sessions on conflict resolution (How to Be a Bridge in a World Full of Walls), one of the members of the group I was leading said that while he’d like to react with the suggested steps in the exercise, in a real situation he didn’t see it being realistic. We discussed this, and came to the conclusion that, though it may not be realistic at first and we may all fail miserably for a while, the effort and baby steps would eventually help us all to do a better job as peacemakers in situations of conflict. This realization that shalom is a process and that it may take failure and baby steps to reach peace was not completely new to me, but I really had not accepted nor understood it until the honesty of this high school student that this change wasn’t going to happen overnight.

People rarely change overnight, nor does the world change with one action, one war, or one nonviolent protest. Peace, like life, is a process, and the baby steps we take today must sometime be taken slowly, and sometimes it takes falling down and shedding our leaves a few times to find the growth necessary to catch our balance.

–Allyson Fredericksen, LPF Youth Trainer and Coordinator
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for future issues, e-mail me at our new email address at lpfyouth@gmail.com. Also, if you are on myspace, join our myspace group at www.groups.myspace.com/lutheranpeace



Peace and Justice Around the Globe

International Day of Protest to Stop the Militarization of Space (October 13): Currently, protest events are planned in 19 nations and at 109 locations. Many of the actions will also call for peaceful and legal solutions to recent terrorist attacks instead of more violence and a spiraling of civilian deaths and revenge. For more information, visit http://pax.protest.net/Peace/october13th.htm.


News Articles on Peace and Justice

All eyes on Nobel Peace Prize possibles: “The annual Nobel Peace Prize guessing-game has been gathering pace, ahead of an announcement on Friday by the secretive Norwegian committee.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5398780.stm

What the Amish Are Teaching America: “The rest of us can learn a lot from how the Amish community responded to last week's gruesome school shooting in Pennsylvania.” http://www.alternet.org/story/42773/

N. Korean Nuke Tests Say World Must Return to Peace Agenda: North Korea has shocked the world by detonating a nuclear explosion and making good the threat it had held out six days earlier. http://www.indynews.org/



Lutheran Peace Fellowship Events

October 18th, and November 15th: Volunteer Opportunities: Are you interested in helping LPF to reach more people, helping develop workshop materials, and responding to requests for workshop materials? Join us at Central Lutheran Church on any or all of these three dates and help pursue peace with LPF For times and additional information, email us at lpfyouth@gmail.com

November 17 & 18th: Jesus’ Way of Shalom: This workshop introduces participants to Jesus’ way of shalom - of peace with justice and wholeness - through interactive workshops. For more information or to find out about signing up for the event, email us at lpfyouth@gmail.com

Advocacy Alerts

Words, Not War, With Iran: “As violence continues to rage in Iraq, and now in Lebanon and Gaza, a new confrontation is looming with neighboring Iran. Talk has increased of possible military attack against Iran to halt its nuclear program and support for Hezbollah. While we agree Iran should not support terrorism or obtain nuclear weapons, we come together as religious leaders to urge that the U.S. engage in direct negotiations with Iran as an alternative to military action in resolving the crisis.” http://go.sojo.net/campaign/wordsnotwar?CFID=6609947&CFTOKEN=44558401

Stand Up Against Poverty, Stand Up for the Millennium Development Goals: STAND UP is an exciting and innovative challenge to set an official Guinness World Record for the most number of people ever to STAND UP for a cause.
* Bread for the World is calling on people of faith and others to join our partners in the ONE Campaign and similar campaigns around the world -- from both wealthy and low-income countries -- to STAND against poverty.
* To participate, get a group to literally STAND UP against poverty, and count how many people are standing.
* We have just 24 hours to set this record. Every person counts
For more information, visit www.bread.org

ONE Campaign: In today’s world, too often wealthy nations focus on war and acts of terrorism and neglect the fact that poverty, hunger, and disease are running rampant; however, this can change. Join the ONE campaign today and urge the United States government to use our resources to help turn the tide against hunger, poverty, and disease. For action ideas and to learn more, see www.elca.org/advocacy/one and www.bread.org.

Million Voices for Darfur: “Nearly three years into the crisis, the western Sudanese region of Darfur is acknowledged to be a humanitarian and human rights tragedy of the first order. The humanitarian, security and political situation continue to deteriorate: atrocities continue, people are still dying in large numbers of malnutrition and disease, and a new famine is feared. According to reports by the World Food Program, the United Nations and the Coalition for International Justice, 3.5 million people are now hungry, 2.5 million have been displaced due to violence, and 400,000 people have died in Darfur thus far.” Sign on to urge President Bush to stop ignoring this genocide and to help bring an end to the violence in Darfur. http://www.savedarfur.org /splash.php

Community News

Seattle - Kairos: A Time to Speak, A Time to Act (November 1): for more information on Kairos visit www.kairosaction.org

Chicago - LSTC Hosts Chicago Premiere of “Jews of Luthertown Wittenberg in the Third Reich” (October 23-November 29)

Luther’s own writings on Jews assisted Hitler’s National-Socialists of Germany to gain control of German churches in 1933. “Jews of Luthertown Wittenberg in the Third Reich” bears witness in artifacts and photographs, to the life and systematic destruction of Jews living in Wittenberg from 1933-1945. The free exhibit, in its Chicago premiere in the Grand Hallway at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) from October 23 – November 29, 2006, hopes to increase understanding and healing. The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago is at 1100 East 55th Street, Chicago.

Exhibit-related events include:

Exhibit Opening Reception hosted by the German Consulate of Chicago on Wednesday, October 25 from 7:30 – 9:30 p.m., LSTC, Grand Hallway. Remarks by the Exhibit Co-Sponsors, “Remembering Lives: The Jews of Luthertown Wittenberg in the Third Reich,” will be presented at 8:00 p.m.

Jewish-Christian Seminar, “Jews and Christians: Germany and Chicago” - Lecture by the Rev. Albrecht Steinhäuser (Director of Communication, Church of Saxony) with remarks by Rabbi Elliot Gertel (Congregation Rodfei Zedek, Chicago) and the Rev. Dr. Terrence Baeder (Zion Lutheran Church, Tinley Park, Ill.), on Tuesday, October 31, 2006, at 7:30 p.m., in the LSTC, Common Room. The exhibit is open before and after the event.

Thursday, November 9, 2006, LSTC and McCormick Theological Seminary hold a Kristallnacht Remembrance and Commitment Service at 11:00 a.m. in LSTC’s Augustana Chapel, followed by a panel discussion, “What Can the Barmen Declaration Teach Us Today?” with Ms. Victoria Barnett (U.S. Holocaust Museum), Dr. Robert Cathey (McCormick Theological Seminary), Dr. Kurt Hendel (LSTC), Dr. Vitor Westhelle (LSTC) at 12:00 noon in the LSTC Common Room.

At 7:30 p.m. on November 9, 2006, Ms. Victoria Barnett (U.S. Holocaust Museum), will deliver the lecture, “Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Legacy in a Post-Holocaust World” in LSTC’s Common Room. The exhibit will be open before and after the event. All events are free and open to the public.

For more information about the exhibit, contact Rob Saler, Assistant Exhibit Coordinator, at 773-909-4984 or rsaler@lstc.edu.


Contest

We’ve extended our contest deadline to allow for some more entries (the ones we got were great, but I’d like to give a few more people the chance to be creative and get their ideas out there as well). We’re looking for ideas for a creative title for the e-newsletter, preferably tied in some way to James 3:18 “And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” Please send submissions in by October 31st to lpfyouth@gmail.com. The winner will receive an LPF resource of their choice.


Spiritual Reflection

As the leaves begin to change color here in Seattle, the natural world around me becomes more and more evident. The following reflection on how to “Nurture Nonviolence Through Nature” reminds us that we are not alone in the world, but that we are to be forever united with the natural world.

“Nurture Nonviolence Through Nature” - from A Call to Peace: 52 Meditations on the Family Pledge of Nonviolence by Jim McGinnis

“All of this [the earth] is sacred and so do not forget Every dawn as it comes is a holy event, and every day is holy. (From a Oglala Sioux ritual)

“...that they may all be one” (John 17:21)

Gandhi once described nonviolence as “the power that minfests itself in us when we become aware of the oneness of life.” Through his many “experiments with truth” (also the title of his autobiography), Gandhi deepened and broadened his loving heart to such a degree that he radiated love even to his opponents. They knew he cared for them at the same time he resisted their policies and practices. It is not surprising to learn that Gandhi spent time each day in prayerful union with creation and the Creator.

Not only does nature have the power to gentle us down, it draws us into communion with all life. Communion with the whole of creation leads to communion with the human species. There are special places and times for such communion. Perhaps the two most popular and available times are sunrise and sunset. Some describe these as God’s two great performances every day, and they make sure that God does not “play to an empty house.” Perhaps you’ve seen it: the dark predawn sky that gradually takes on colors - pinks, reds, yellows. You sense the sun inching its way up the horizon until it explodes in an ecstacy of light. We can savor this moment as Francis did, singing out to Brother Sun and feeling the warmth of God’s love in the radiance of the sun.

Then again at sunset, after the cares and challenges of the day have been embraced, we are again carried into this spectacle of light as colors climb upward and the sun sinks into the horizon. Our hearts expand in this moment of swelling color. Our hearts want to break into song - “then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, how great thou art, how great thou art.”

In that moment we touch a unity with all creation: “We are one in the Spirit, we are on in the Lord...and we pray that all unity may one day be restored. That unity is being restored in us, that very moment. Jesus’ prayer “that they may all be one” is being realized in our very selves in that moment. God’s great plan for the world - “the reunification of all things in Christ” (see Ephesians 1:10) - is being realized in tat moment of communion.

Prayer: Awesome Creator God, how great thou art Lead us to you through every moment and movement of life. Help us to savor your creation as the revelation and celebration of your love. Make us, your humble creatures, also revelations and celebrations of your love. Make us, as you made your servants Gandhi and Francis, a means of your peace.

Reflection: What places and moments of communion can you make a part of your daily routine? How can you nurture this sense of quiet communion within your family or other small groups?