Interfaith Call for Peace with Michael Lerner

Interfaith Call for Peace, Prayer and Fasting
In response to a national call from Jewish, Islamic, Protestant, Roman Catholic and other faith leaders for an interfaith fast for peace on October 8, local religious leaders will hold a multifaith service on Sunday, October 7, at 6pm in the sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto, urging people of all spiritual paths to reclaim their tradition's call for peace and justice, and to pray, fast and work for an end to the war in Iraq and the ever spreading violence at home. A musical group with violin, oboe and cello will offer music for a time of prayer, and speakers will include Nichola Torbett, Director of National Programs for the Network of Spiritual Progressives, and Rabbi Sheldon Lewis, Honorably Retired.

Public Covenant for Peace - featuring Rabbi Michael Lerner
In the spirit of the Muslim observance of Ramadan, many people of faith will fast from sunrise to sunset on Monday, October 8th. Everyone (whether or not you fast) is invited to a public gathering at Lytton Plaza (corner of University and Emerson in Palo Alto) on Monday beginning at 6:00pm for a Covenant for Peace and concluding with breaking of the fast at 6:45pm. Rabbi Michael Lerner of the Tikkun Community will offer the keynote address, and Muslim sisters and brothers will lead us in breaking our fast.

Intentionally setting the date on what is observed as Columbus Day, the national call reads in part, "We call on all Americans to join in fasting from dawn to dusk on Monday, October 8, to call for an end to the Iraq War. On this day, people of faith in local communities across our nation will act as catalysts to transform the meaning of the day from one of conquest to community and from violence to reverence. Just as Isaiah called the People Israel to hear the Yom Kippur fast as God’s call to feed the hungry, just as Jesus fasted in the wilderness, just as Christians through Lenten fasting and Muslims through Ramadan fasting have focused on spiritual transformation, just as Mohandas Gandhi, Cesar Chavez and others drew on fasting to change the course of history, so we call on all our communities of faith to draw now on fasting as a path toward inner spiritual transformation and outward social transformation." National endorsers include leaders from the National Council of Churches, Pax Christi USA, the Islamic Society of North America, The Shalom Center, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, Christian Peace Witness, and the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.

This two-part local event is sponsored by Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice, American Muslim Voice, Council of Churches of Santa Clara County, Tikkun Community, Network of Spiritual Progressives, and the First Methodist Church of Palo Alto.