It was 12:45 pm today (Mother's Day) when my wife and arrived at College Green Park in Iowa City. We sat under a tree watching guys toss frisbees, families enjoying picnics, and wondered whether we'd be the only people standing vigil at 1 pm to "change the world." As if on cue, two women walked into the park, then a woman and her two kids, and then a family of four plus a grandma and grandpa. About 20 of us in all, including some folks who just happened to be in town for the day and heard about the vigils on NPR this morning--it was all serendipitous.
We joined in a circle and at precisely 1 pm, we began our five minutes of focused meditation. When the clock struck 1:05 we stopped and people shared what they had meditated about.
One of the people, an Episcopalian minister, had a copy of "The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering" by Sharon Mehdi and we all took turns reading a little bit of it (including a woman with a Scottish accent who hoped we could understand her--she had a voice that was both quiet and lilting. There were tears and laughs and knowing nods as the story of standing silently to change the world unfolded. Knowing that small groups adding up to tens of thousands of women, men and children were also sharing this moment at over 2,000 sites in 66 nations was awe inspiring, but not as inspiring as sharing a few, electric minutes with people who were there and just want to live in a peaceful world.
At the end, we all decided to come back together at the park at 1 pm on June 10th and hopefully, just like in the story, more and more people will join--not only here, but all over the world. We also decided that every day at 1 pm, we would take one minute out of our hectic lives and visualize peace in the world. In my mind, it would look like the circle of twenty people--young, middle-aged, and elderly with whom I spent today.
With 10,000 Moms fighting in Iraq it seems like the least we can do.
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