On Earth Day this year I was grateful to participate as a facilitator in an online interspiritual and interfaith gathering welcoming over 40 sisters and brothers from the world’s blessed spiritual and faith traditions, as well as beloveds who describe themselves as being ‘spiritual but not religious’ and secular.
Thanks to the gift of technology we had friends join us from across the whole island of Ireland to unite our hearts together to offer our love, prayer and silence/meditation for the sake of the Divine’s love for our Mother Earth.
Representatives from the following communities here in Ireland participated in our gathering: Zen Buddhism, Jewish Community, Wake Up International, Indigenous Spirituality, Centering Prayer Groups, Eco-Congregation. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Baháʼí Communities, Sikh Community, Catholic Communities, Church of Ireland Communities, Shaolin Buddhism, Corrymeela Community Climate Justice Group, Dublin City Inter-Faith Forum, Mid-West Interfaith Network, Drumalis, Cork Three Faiths Forum, Islamic Foundation of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES), Anwar E. Medina Mosque, The Irish Sufi Foundation, Clean Medina and Celtic Christian Spirituality.
A representative from Corrymeela Climate Justice Group, which is a part of Corrymeela Community, one of Northern’s Irelands oldest peace and reconciliation organisations, shared a beautiful and moving prayer for peace in our communities.
We then enjoyed an opportunity to connect with each other as a community, where some participants generously shared readings and poems from diverse faith traditions.
In the spirit of uniting contemplation and action, participants were also invited prior to the gathering to offer a small act of loving kindness to sacred Earth in one’s local area in whatever way one felt inspired.
Some small actions people offered included: playing with their child(ren) in Nature, cherishing the beauty and wonder of dawn light, cleaning an area of in their local community with reverence, walking mindfully with love for earth, writing a firm yet non-oppositional letter to a local elected leader urging them to ban single-use plastic items, volunteering on an organic farm, planting flowers and herbs in their garden while offering blessings for Earth and future generations.
We were blessed to have with us the presence of a very inspiring young leader, Evans Mwangi, from International Peace Initiatives in Kenya to support us with our technology on the evening. International Peace Initiatives empowers a new generation of leaders through peace and ethical leadership programs, and provides children and women affected by HIV/AIDS with resources to build stability, self reliance and resilience.
There was something about all us coming together for the sake of the Divine’s love for all of creation that created a palpable sense of the presence of Beauty.
It reminded my heart of these words from beloved John O’ Donohue, peace and power be with him: “When we experience the Beautiful, there is a sense of homecoming. Some of our most wonderful memories are beautiful places where we felt immediately at home. We feel most alive in the presence of the Beautiful for it meets the needs of our soul.” [1]
May the Divine Beauty in our hearts continue to unite us togther in prayer and care for each other and our common home.
Le grá agus beannachtaí
Lynda Morrissey
[1] John O’ Donohue, Divine Beauty: The Invisible Embrace