In the Service of Peace
Music, words, silence – a gathering for all peace seekers
led by
Dr. Stephanie Dowrick & Professor Kim Cunio
To lift hearts, spiritsand hope for a kinder, calmer world for all.
Peace IS the way.
The only way if we truly care about people, planet and especially the worlds’s children.
Our efforts matter to the world they will inherit.
It was a perfect autumn day to travel by train into Pitt Stree Uniting Church for the service.
It was affirming to gather with many other peace seekers for an experience
of sublime music, words from the universal traditions,
time for quiet and twice time for standing and greeting the people around us.
We were caught hypnotically by the music and the readings it worked for both of us .
We left to travel back home with a new seed planed
of peace in our own hearts. There was a new and renewed calmness in both us.
“Peace be with you” There were the first words the risen Christ spoke to his disciples –
words which feel especially important as conflict continues around the globe.
=> Event at the Pitt Street Uniting Church Stephanie Dowrick 3- 4.30pm.
by Michael Keating
This was a surprisingly rich experience. I found myself physically and mentally involving myself. Unfortunately I had forgotten, at the last, to take my recycled scribble sheets, so here I am trying to bring back some ideas that permeated a meditative state. Colleen has been sharing the Stephanie Dowrick Poem-a-Day from her Facebook as they arise.
I immersed myself in the general ambience of the ‘liturgy’. Stephanie specifically distanced us from the idea that it was liturgical, however I cannot, at present, think of a clearer terminology for myself.
The music was excellent. The vocalists were captivating. The readings (from various belief frameworks) were too numerous and thus too hard to follow – they also needed more context. Fewer readings, read slower and with appropriate pauses would have helped. The only reading I recognised was Wordsworth’s ‘trailing clouds of glory’. However the ambience was such that the readings sort of fitted in well enough.
The following often-quoted maxim on mindfulness came clearly into my mind.
“Watch your thoughts, they become your words;
watch your words, they become your actions;
watch your actions, they become your habits;
watch your habits, they become your character;
watch your character, it becomes your destiny”
is a popular, often-quoted maxim on mindfulness. It highlights that internal thoughts shape external reality, usually attributed to Lao Tzu.
Lao Tzu: There is no record of this specific sequence in the Tao Te Ching or other classical texts. The attribution likely grew because the quote’s focus on mindfulness aligns with Taoist philosophy.
Somewhere we have a laminated copy of this maxim, better set out. It will come to light at some later date.
At two points the congregation (mainly mature women and a sprinkling of men) was asked to standup and greet their neighbours.
I was surprised how gracious these were. The group seemed to mainly regular attendees (not necessarily locals)
and invitees through Stephanie Dowrick’s Facebook (or other) contact.
One of the women chatted to us afterwards and alerted us to the quality of of the Jesuit parish at
St Canice’s Parish Church Potts Point.
Lao Tzu
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