MLK Community Sing
Monday, Jan 20, 11:30am
with Deborah Levoy
Mitchell Park Multi-Purpose Bowl Area
600 East Meadow Drive, Palo Alto

Grief and Hope: Bereaved Israeli and Palestinian Families for Peace
Tuesday, Oct 24, 7:30pm
Congregation Etz Chayim, 4161 Alma St., Palo Alto
In-person Only

PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED - CLICK HERE

Bereaved mothers, Laila Al-Sheikh and Robi Damelin, from The Parents Circle-Families Forum will share their stories of loss and their extraordinary choice for reconciliation rather than revenge. Learn how they are working on the ground not only for peace but for the future of Israel's democracy and Palestinian freedom.

The Parents Circle – Families Forum (PCFF) is a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization of over 600 families, all of whom have lost an immediate family member to the ongoing conflict. Their highest goal is to work toward the day when no new family must join the circle of the bereaved.

It has always been central to the Parents Circle’s work that grief can lead us to hope, as well as to determination to find a way to stop the killing and the dying.

Now more than ever, it is more important to stay committed to our values, and to affirm hope and possibility even in the midst of powerful grief.

PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED - CLICK HERE

Vigil with Bereaved
Israelis and Palestinians
Sunday, Oct 15
8am (PDT) Online

The American Friends of Combatants for Peace (CfP) shared via email some profound word and experiences of the bi-national (Israeli and Palestinian) Zoom support group this week:

Jamil, CfP’s Palestinian General Coordinator, began the conversation. He looked around the Zoom room at his Israeli friends and shared that it was hard to find the words to express his sorrow, shock, and grief about what Hamas had done.

“I can’t believe this. I am seeing these images, and I don’t want to believe they are real. I cannot hold back my tears. You are my friends, my family.” Other Palestinian activists echoed words of care to Israeli members:

“I am with you. I’m going to stay with you.” 

“I wish I could see you and hold you.”

At the start of the conversation, it was hard not to speak from “sides” about the pain, needs, and remorse for the violence coming from each society. After some time, Yonatan, CfP’s Israeli Executive Director, reflected, “We are talking as if we belong to the extreme parts of our communities, but we belong to each other. We chose each other. We are not our societies; we are humans.”

Youth Community Service
National Day of Service
In Honor of 9/11
Service Days Sunday 9/10 & Monday 9/11
Registration is Open!

Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice is delighted to partner again this year with YCS (Youth Community Service) on their 9/11 National Day of Service. Service site projects and at home activities for all ages and abilities. Click here to register. Most opportunities are on Sunday, 9/10. However, the Monday, 9/11 service opportunity is our own Multifaith Peace Picnic and Prayers!

Join with people around the world on August 6 for this
NUCLEAR PRAYER DAY

On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Since then, the potential for nuclear catastrophe has grown to an unimaginable scale. United Religions Initiative (URI), the Parliament of the World's Religions and other organizations are hosting a world-wide NUCLEAR PRAYER DAY, inviting you, your congregation, and all religions and walks of life to pray on this day. 

There is one live-stream event featuring Bishop William E. Swing and others with prayers, reflections and actions steps for a world free of nuclear weapons. Two Zoom events are planned with space for discussion, reflection and community. Local gatherings are being hosted around the globe. Click here to visit the URI site with more information.

Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons (a part of URI) has composed a multifaith prayer that you can use - individually, in small groups, and as a communities of worship.

“The Beginning and the End are in your hands, O Creator of the Universe.
And in our hands you have placed the fate of this planet.

We, who are tested by having both creative and destructive power in our free will, turn to you in sober fear and in intoxicating hope.

We ask for your guidance and to share in your imagination in our deliberations about the use of nuclear force.

Help us to lift the fog of atomic darkness that hovers so pervasively over our Earth, Your Earth, so that soon all eyes may see life magnified by your pure light.

Bless all of us who wait today for your Presence and who dedicate ourselves to achieve your intended peace and rightful equilibrium on Earth.

In the Name of all that is holy and all that is hoped. Amen.”

When a former Secretary of State, a former Secretary of Defense, several United States Ambassadors, a famous physicist, and a few friends pray each month for the elimination of nuclear weapons, it raises lots of questions. What do they know that everyone needs to know? Why are they praying? What is their prayer?  Click here to watch a short video in response to these questions, and to hear the words of this most urgent prayer! 

The film "Oppenheimer" will premier at local theaters beginning Wednesday, July 19. MVPJ joins Physicians for Social Responsibility, Ploughshares Fund, Back from the Brink and other organizations in encouraging this "teachable moment" for us all to grapple with the reality of nuclear weapons.

Director Christopher Nolan and an all-star cast will shine their Hollywood spotlight on “the father of the atomic bomb,” in this, Nolan’s latest film. During World War II, J. Robert Oppenheimer directed the super-secret Manhattan Project that created the three atomic bombs that ushered in the Nuclear Era. 

Watch the trailer on youtube here. Click here to find the theater schedules. Read more about it on this webpage for the Physicians for Social Responsibility. And here is a fascinating interview with Christopher Nolan, the director, in this month's issue of Wired.

Join the $20K Matching Campaign for the Amah Mutsun Land Trust Land Acquisition Fund by June 19th

MVPJ is pleased to invite participation in the $20K matching campaign of our local ally and partner SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice of Sacred Heart Community Service) to contribute to the Land Trust Land Acquisition Fund of our local indigenous Amah Mutsun Tribal Band to enable them to buy back land they consider to be sacred when it goes up for sale.

To participate in the match campaign up to $20,000, individuals may pledge or contribute before June 19 through this link.  This link takes you to an online form provided by SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice of Sacred Heart). Click in the OneTime box to direct your gift to take advantage of the SURJ match for the Amah Mutsun Land Trust fund. (If you would prefer to donate by check, please direct the check to Sacred Heart Community Service (care of Jen Myhre, SURJ) at 1381 S. First St., San Jose, CA 95110, with a note that the gift is for the Amah Mutsun Land Trust Land Acquisition Fund.)

Many of us are looking for ways to act on our frequent words of land acknowledgement. This is one way that MVPJ invites you to consider doing just that.

To learn more about the Amah Mutsun Land Trust Land Acquisition Fund, click here.