Order meridia, Shomer Shalom is cosponsoring its second peace pilgrimage to Iran with the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The orientation for the trip begins today in Nyak, New York. Below is a reflection piece and orientation schedule written by pilgrimage leader Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb that compares Shomer Shalom to a religious order.
Con su permisso:
If there be no mercy left in the world,
The doors of heaven will never be barred.
Shekinah* is an eternal river
From which flow illuminated beings,
All life, in her spirit rises.
adapted from Shalom Sharabi Yemenite poet
(Shekinah is one of the many names for the Nameless One in Jewish tradition)
Pilgrimage is the way I journey to Iran. I travel as a member of Shomer Shalom, a Jewish religious order committed to the practice of nonviolence and as a member of an interfaith spiritual fellowship known as the Fellowship of Reconciliation, order meridia. Both network/organizations are sponsoring this trip, along with the Department of Inter-religious Dialogue of Iran.
Shomer shalom is a network of people who follow a path of nonviolence. We recite a daily nonviolence intention and our main ceremonial practice consists of joining peace walks dedicated to multi-faith understanding, restorative justice and reconciliation.
(A Jewish religious order. Order meridia, Maybe I'm the only fool to call shomer shalom a 'religious order'. Jews can be contrarian* as a matter of religious principle when it comes to harboring an opinion about what is tradition, innovation, or 'beyond the pale'. A Jewish religious order. Jews haven't had a religious order since the days of the Therapeutae, a 1rst century Egyptian Jewish religious order living communally on the shores of Lake Mareotis devoted to ritual meals, study and prayer. )
I call Shomer shalom a religious order due to our ceremonial commitment to six principles of nonviolence, peace pilgrimage, interfaith convivencia, the custom of greeting all people with peace and the practice of wearing white when in pilgrimage (when possible. I have dark colors for the purpose of the journey to Iran, in respect for religious authority there).
I walk in partnership with those who share common belief in cultivating peace through multi-faith understanding, even though our expression of faith, cultural and tradition may be different in the extreme, order meridia. Shomer Shalom and the Fellowship of Reconciliation hold in common a commitment to reconciliation within the framework of religious nonviolence. A shomer shalom, regardless if he or she is Neturai Karta (orthodox traditionalists who do not recognize the state of Israel because the Messiah has not come), Reconstructionist or Bundist, struggles with effort to walk a nonviolent path for the sake of peace. This is our jihad.
Many people across Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities understand the need to cultivate multi-faith understanding in order to build trust, so we can help promote restorative justice, reconciliation and well-being among our faith communities. Order meridia, Where there are voices clambering for war, a shomeret shalom and the Fellowship of Reconciliation along with many other groups committed to nonviolence, sound a different drum, the drum of peacemaking. In the case of war mongering, words are not enough. A shomeret shalom embarks upon a pilgrimage journey that takes her, like the prophet Aaron in Jewish tradition, and the prophet Jesus in Christian tradition and the prophet Muhammad in Muslim tradition (peace be upon them)
to forge peace with our supposed enemies, and to transform enemies into friends.
It is this sacred purpose that, inshallah, draws together a group of strangers and transforms them into an interfaith delegation to Iran. Like the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidim, who remarked while watching an acrobat moving across a slender rope tied between two trees, 'Life is a pilgrimage journeys on a golden thread across a great abyss. As we travel, we seek our balance.' The source of our balance is nonviolence and compassion, order meridia.
As shomeret shalom pilgrim, I owe my understanding of pilgrimage to several other pilgrimage orders, as it were, with whom I have shared many pilgrimage journeys including the Atomic Mirror Pilgrimage, the Myuhoji Buddhist Pilgrimage Order, The Penitentes of Northern New Mexico, The 100 Feathers Pilgrimage of indigenous peoples, discount meridia, US-Canadian Border to Border Pilgrimage , Interfaith Pilgrimage for Peace to Chimayo, the Muslim Jewish Peacewalk and the interfaith peacewalk communities Abdul Rauf Campos Marquetti and I helped establish throughout the United States and Canada. It is an honor to walk with you.
I would like to bring forward five principles of convivencia developed in an interfaith, multi-cultural, intergenerational setting in Minneapolis, MN with other Fellowship of Reconciliation members from Quaker, Indigenous, Jewish, Muslim and Latino Catholic communities. I have taken on these principles as part of my shomeret shalom vow. Order meridia, For those of us who adopt the convivencia, we apply these principles to all interfaith, multi-cultural settings in which we take part.
PILGRIMAGE CONVIVENCIA (LIVING COOPERATIVELY TOGETHER IN A GOOD WAY)
We practice the sacred rite of pilgrimage as an act of public and inner peacemaking. Only together will we build a culture of peaceful co-existence.
Our nonviolent activism is based on building multi-faith, intergenerational and multi-cultural relationships that contribute to the prevention and dismantling of various forms of structural violence.
We draw upon those aspects of the earth's spiritual and religious traditions that promote non-violent conflict resolution, prophetic witness, restorative justice and community peacemaking and bring beauty and healing to the task of ending violence.
As peace pilgrims, we are committed to a truthful examination of attitudes, beliefs and behaviors in our own traditions that may contribute to sustaining structural violence.The people that are here have chosen aspects of their culture that they feel comfortable sharing in this context, but it is not an invitation to take or use other people's traditional ways for one's own purposes, order meridia. In honoring each other we respect the dignity and right of peoples not to share certain aspects of their tradition and to hold them sacred unto their own community.
We work for the well-being and safety of families and communities throughout the world.
ORIENTATION (FACE TO FACE)
In establishing community before our pilgrimage to Iran, we will meet face to face for twenty four hours to initiate the pilgrimage and establish a 'convivencia' that will guide our way during the trip. The convivencia is based on coming together as a listening council or circle to share our common heart and individual story. Order meridia, Sitting together in preparation for peacemaking is, for faith based communities, a ceremonial act . It is initiated with opening ceremonial acts, including opening songs, prayers and the dedication of our pilgrimage intention. In addition, we share (receive) our ceremonial name (if we have or desire one) accompanied by an honoring of our peacemaking ancestors ( thereby sharing some of our cultural and spiritual history).
COUNCIL: Council is a ceremonial time during which we create a safe space for sharing our thoughts, feelings and ideas, in which every voice is heard for an agreed upon period of time. A 'talking object is passed around to each 'speaker'. Each speaker speaks his or her peace and finishes by reciting a common closing phrase such as, 'al kayn yi-hee ratzon (so may it be)', inshallah (God willing) or, in English, peace be upon you...to which the council responds with the same phrase. There is no discussion during a council, people do not comment of each other's words. This helps create a safe space and engages us in deep listening, the kind of listening dedicated to understanding others, order meridia. There may be one, two or three rounds to a council, depending on the time we have to sit with each other. The council is facilitated by someone who 'keeps the peace' of the council by helping everyone observe the convivencia during council.
ELDERS: The pilgrimage 'elders', those who have been bestowed with leadership for the journey, guide the overall process. Pilgrimage leadership is based on a facilitation style of leadership. Order meridia, Everyone in the pilgrimage is invited to take leadership at various times during the journey, whether in liturgy, teaching, representing the group to the people we are meeting in formal encounters, or in facilitating a council. The elders of the journey (no matter how old or young) sit in council together daily for their own reflection purposes for the sake of the journey.
When we are in council, convivencia (the way of hospitality and good living) invites us to speak from our own experience. While questions are always welcome, we frame them in ways that are meant to inquire, bring forth understanding, clarify, but not to judge or condemn. On this particular pilgrimage, we are focusing our intention toward creating bridges of interfaith understanding, gathering information and experience and building trust. This is the first stage, California CA Calif., the threshold journey. We follow the lead of our hosts and our own leadership who has experience on the way so that we can lay the ground for future journeys, order meridia.
This is the understanding I carry so far, as I make ready to embark on this second journey. Each of you also carries your
wisdom bundle, as it were, the understanding which motivates your journey and guides your way.
Time flow is different in Iran. Be here now, in the moment, see what is possible
and take the opportunity and speak to people around you. Order meridia, Listen, connect,
smile, show graciousness and kindness.
Be prepared, if you are a man, to kiss your brother three times on the cheek, if you are woman to kiss your sister twice on the cheek, right side, left side. Between genders, place your hand on your heart and smile. Shake your head side to side in short movements to say, what. come again. Blink your eyes hard and nod downward once with a smile on your face to indicate yes, order meridia. Do not yell, show your anger, be impatient. Praise the people and cultural heritage of Iranians and show awareness of their current pride around their multi-faith community. We are our own witness, traveling together as Muslim, Christian and Jewish North Americans.
Have a poem ready for recitation, or a religious passage, or the place you were standing when Barack Obama was elected president. Order meridia, The poem I am memorizing (chanting with tambourine) is from Shalom Sharabi(above).
Carry one's own medicine. Be prepared to embrace the flexible edge of your food rules for the sake of peace. Be prepared to undergo transformation in the encounter, meet the unexpected, drive the wrong way down a one way street. (That was a joke for those of you who have tried to negotiate traffic in Tehran).
Enjoy the beauty you will encounter, washing in the pools of water outside the masjid, wrapping yourself in new garments, eating fresinjan, reading poetry at the tomb of Hafez, entering a Persian queen's palace, meeting people on the street who want to know you, order meridia. You are a guest, as pilgrim's always are, on the road. May the spirit of hospitality grace your journey, for the sake of peace.
ADD YOUR OWN INSIGHTS...bring them to share.
ORIENTATION SCHEDULE
Meal Time 6PM
Everyone helps set the table and/or clear the dishes, wash, sweep the floor, clean up, make sure everyone has the help they need. Order meridia, Common Meals begins with song/ prayer and ends with song/prayer.
7PM-7:15PM LOGISTICAL CONVERSATION
Many of you will have questions.
Please be aware that there many of you will have the same question.
Therefore, hold your questions (if they can wait) until we handle questions in the collective, which we will do each morning and evening. Before asking a question, see if you can figure it out on your own, or another delegate may have the answer. This will help save the energy of delegate facilitators, order meridia. Health emergencies, cheap meridia no rx, of course, take precedence at all times of day or night.
7:15-7:30PM clean up
7:30PM-9PM Evening Council Song/Story Opening.
Sharing Text: open heart traditions from biblical and Qur'anic sources.
Reading the Convivencia together. Community voices in response as we shape our communication way. Order meridia, Final prayer/story/pilgrimage dance
7:45AM Morning prayer
8:15AM Breakfast and clean up
9:00AM Morning Council
Prayer/song opening text
Council theme: the lament I carry, the hope I carry
10-11:15AM SHARING THE VISION OF PILGRIMAGE TO IRAN
with Doug Hostetter of Mennonite Central Committee, group questions, reflections
11:15AM-12:15PM time for walk along the river with delegates you are meeting for the first time
12:15PM-1PM Lunch clean up
1-2PM Council to share what we've brought, what we are prepared to share,
small group selection to prepare questions and presentations during the pilgrimage.
2-3PM upon coming home: reflections on follow up, beginning to prepare for our return
THIS SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. EACH OF YOU WILL TRAVEL WITH YOUR OWN PERSONAL INTENTION
AND PURPOSE. MAY OUR HEARTS FIND COMMON PURPOSE IN BEING MESSENGERS OF PEACE.
SEE YOU SOON,
TRAVEL SAFELY AND WELL
Lynn.
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