May Peaceful Presence Prayer Contribution from Muslim Participant

At our May 11, 2023 Peaceful Presence, hosted by Congregation Etz Chayim, Hilal Cansizoglu from The Pacifica Institute offered a this prayer she wrote drawing from her own Islamic tradition.

She explained, "In our Islamic tradition, when we want to communicate with God through our individual prayers, we like to call Him with His beautiful names and attributes, so I tried to write down a prayer as a believer in dialogue for peace and justice and call God with some of His beautiful names and attributes in my prayer."

The names of God Hilal includes are:

Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim (You are The Most Compassionate and The Most Merciful)

Al-Awwal and Al-Akhir (You are The First and You are The Last)

An-Nur and Al-Hadi (You are the Light and You are the Guide)

Al-Jami'e (You are the Gatherer, You are The Unifier)

Al-'Adl (You are The Utterly Just)

Peaceful Presence Gatherings on 11th of Every Month

Monthly Multifaith Prayers for Peace and Justice
7-7:30pm on 11th of every month
NEXT GATHERING: Sunday, June 11, 7-7:30pm - hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto. Zoom ONLY.
THEME: "Beyond 'thoughts and prayers': Seeking wisdom and strength to end gun violence"  Zoom link coming soon.

As we move through various COVID safety concerns, Peaceful Presence will sometimes be offered in-person, sometimes by Zoom, and sometimes hybrid (with both options - to join in person or via Zoom). Watch for updates!

Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice coordinates “Peaceful Presence” gatherings, a monthly prayer service on the evening of the 11^th of each month, offering a time of quiet multifaith prayers for peace and strength for the journey.  All are welcome: those of all faith traditions and of no defined faith, those who are suffering at the hands of their own government, those who need a pause in the midst of intensive work on behalf of others, and all who would like to pray with others for the well-being of all.  The prayer time will include elements from several religious traditions.

Upcoming: 
Sunday, June 11, 7-7:30pm - hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto on Zoom.
Tuesday, July 11, 7-7:30pm - hosted by the Mountain View/Palo Alto Musalla (Muslim Community) 849 Independence Ave, Mountain View, with contributions from diverse faith traditions.
Friday, August 11, 7-7:30pm - hosted by St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 600 Colorado Ave., Palo Alto
Monday, September 11 - Multifaith Peace Picnic hosted by American Muslim Voice Foundation

Make Nuclear Disarmament a Priority!

Call for Nuclear Arms Control! TELL CONGRESS & THE PRESIDENT: Nuclear Weapons Must Never Be Used!

As people of faith, we must speak out! Nuclear weapons must never be used!

NEW RESOURCE: Read this 1/17/23 article by Frida Berrigan, "How to Avoid Nuclear Standoffs that Threaten the Entire World."  While Berrigan does not avoid the dire consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, in her history and vision she offers hope.

History: "Small, decentralized, broad-based activities added up to the survival of the species. ... It is not hyperbole to assert that these actions drove Reagan and Gorbachev to the negotiating table."

Vision: "Anyone who cares about the future of life on this planet can be an antinuclear activist. ...
We can fill the streets, starting with dozens and building until we are millions.
We did it once. We can again. We have to."

Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats to use nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine are horrifying. While the threats deserve condemnation, more importantly, they require a steady response of de-escalation that pulls us back from the threat of nuclear warfare.

TELL CONGRESS THAT MORE DIPLOMACY IS THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT HUMAN LIVES AND OUR ENVIRONMENT!

WRITE: Join the Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers) letter campaign TODAY by clicking here! Easy pre-scripted letters to send to your Senators and Congressmember, or you can edit to personalize them before sending.

As the Friends Committee on National Legislation reminds us:

"Dialogue with Russia is not capitulation or appeasement. It is, in fact, the only sane response to the threat of nuclear brinksmanship. Congress has a moral responsibility to de-escalate tensions and prevent the use of nuclear weapons to preserve the environment and all humanity.

Multifaith Letter to Pres Biden re Nuclear Danger

In response to the increasing risk of a nuclear disaster, Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice's Steering Committee has endorsed a letter to President Biden with an urgent call for the resumption of arms control negotiation. The letter was issued on September 22 by some 29 distinguished and diverse faith leaders in the New York and Washington metropolitan areas. We join with them in imploring President Biden to, for the sake of our whole human family, make the resumption of arms control negotiation his highest priority.

The multifaith letter states, in part:

We affirm the view previously expressed by religious authorities that nuclear weapons are inherently immoral because of their horrific and indiscriminate effects on civilians and on the environment.

and concludes:

Mr. President, for the sake of the entire human family, we urge you to press for the resumption of arms control negotiations without further delay.

Click here to download and read the entire letter.

Interfaith Statement to Meeting for Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

Joint Interfaith Statement Welcoming the First Meeting of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (June 22 2022)

"As faith communities from a diversity of traditions and located all over the world, we join together with one voice to mark this first Meeting of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohbition of Nuclear Weapons.  We welcome this historic occasion and celebrate this milestone that moves us closer to a world without nuclear weapons."

Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice is honored to be an endorser of this statement along with religious communities of many traditions and from around the world. Click here to download statement and full list of endorsers.

The Statement was read aloud at the opening of the Meeting.

ACT to End Gun Violence

SPEAK - PRAY - ACT to End Gun Violence
Action Opportunities

• Click here to download a PDF handout of Actions to End Gun Violence.

• Text BOLD to 64433 to tell your Senators to take action or share on social using this link.
  
  
• Call, Email, Tweet, Message and Write Postcards to your Senators and other Senators holding them accountable to do their job! Urge them to work for bipartisan common sense gun laws that will protect us all such as enhanced background checks, extreme risk protection orders (or "red flag laws"), banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines, and equal access to justice for victims of gun violence. Click here for Brady website with helpful specifics. See suggested names of Senators, weblinks and contact information below.
  
  
• Use this Friends Committee on National Legislation website to send easy and quick emails to your Senators to support high-level, bipartisan negotiations for extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs).
  
  
• Support communities that have been victims of violence through contributions to local, on the ground organizations they trust. As a multifaith group ourselves (Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice) we suggest considering Voice Buffalo, an affiliate of Faith in Action, as it seeks to serve their community after the mass shooting in their local supermarket. Voicebuffalo.org @VoiceBuffalo
  
  
• Donate to national and trustworthy gun violence prevention organizations.

I LOVE Ukraine: An Interfaith Grassroots Campaign of Protest & Support

I LOVE Ukraine:
An Interfaith Grassroots Campaign of Protest and Support

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN! SEND A MESSAGE TODAY!

With the horrific and brutal assault on Ukraine unfolding, I love Ukraine is an initiative for good people of all ages everywhere to stand up and to speak out against this unspeakable inhumanity. Governments have spoken. Now it is time for individuals to add their voices.

We invite you to send an expression of protest to the Russian government and a message of support for Ukrainian children and citizens by email, regular mail, and social media.

We hope that Expressions of Protest will flood the Russian Embassy with messages of protest. Join us in this global effort to demand an end to the brutal Russian assault. Sample messages and instructions are below.

We hope that Expressions of Support will fill the inboxes and mailboxes of the Ukrainian Embassy and Consulates with messages of love. Sample messages and instructions are below.

With the guidance of teachers and parents, children are especially encouraged to write their messages and to draw pictures for Ukrainian children who have been forced to flee or remain in harm’s way.

Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice is proud to join in this campaign with the Board of Rabbis for Northern California, other faith partners and people of goodwill around the world!

See details and suggestions below. 

Breaking the Silence: Remembering the Words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Breaking the Silence: An Intergenerational for Unity and Action
Monday, April 4, 2022

On April 4, 1967, Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at the Riverside Church in New York City, spoke out powerfully against the Vietnam War, and much else the plagues our country. His words, "A time comes when silence in betrayal, and that time has come for us," is the foundation for the mission of Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice.

King's historic speech still calls to us today to urgent action to eradicate racism, militarism and poverty.

CLICK HERE for a youtube recording of a LOCAL READING OF KING'S SPEECH featuring peninsula and south bay faith and community leaders. Readers associated with MVPJ include Rev. Dean Koyama, Rabbi Sheldon Lewis, Rev. Dr. Debra Murray, Rabbi Amy Eilberg, Rev. Dr. Diana Gibson, and two members of Palo Alto Friends Meeting, Andrea Harman and Robin Severns. Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice joined with the Women's International League for Peace & Freedom (San Jose and Peninsula Chapters), PACT, SiVIC, Peninsula Peace & Justice Center, San Jose Peace & Justice Center and others to produce this local reading of King's speech as part of the California Poor People's Campaign in preparation for the Poor People's Campaign visit to Los Angeles later this Spring.

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift
is approaching spiritual death.”

Support Ukraine: Contribution Suggestions

Below are some suggestions for faith-based programs supporting Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees, as well as some organizations recommended by our faith-based partners.

DONATIONS:
Valarie Kaur, an American interfaith leader from the Sikh Tradition and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project offers this curated list of organizations to support to help the people of Ukraine. 

This statement from the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee includes helpful links to organizations that respond directly to the crisis. 

CHILDREN: Voices for Children (from their website) has been helping Ukrainian children affected by the war since 2015. Currently providing assistance to affected children and families from all over the country, providing emergency psychological assistance, and assisting in the evacuation process.Our objective is that every child who has suffered from the war in Ukraine must get psychological help in time

REFUGEE SUPPORT:

• Church World Service
• Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS)
• Direct Relief
• Mercy Corps