“BPC
Cares” Memorial Service for Tsunami
Victims
A
table/altar is set with 2 vases filled with flowers and
an empty basket in the center. There are 2 music
stands/podiums with microphones.
MUSIC:
Prayer: “A Multi-Cultural Journey of Spirit”
... until everyone is
seated.
INTRODUCTION:
ROSALIE
WELCOME:
JOANNA
We come together tonight, as part of “Battery Park City
Cares” and as members of our global community, to honor the memory
of all the souls who left this planet in the December
26th tsunami. We hope that our hearts will begin to know what our
minds cannot understand – that death is but a gateway to
the infinite source of life. We may find some comfort in the
awareness that many of these people held very strong beliefs about
life after death.
SPEAKER 1
Krishna
teaches in the Bhagavad Gita that “That which is non-existent can
never come into being, and that which is can never cease to be.
“
SPEAKER 2
The Buddha’s last words were. “Impermanent are all
formations. Observe this carefully, constantly.”
ROBIN
The Qur’an states that the believers shall have a
blissful end. “They shall enter the gardens of Eden, together
with the righteous … From every gate the angels will come to them,
saying: “Peace be to you for all that you have steadfastly endured.
Blessed is the reward of Paradise.”
LEE
The very beautiful and well known Christian Prayer of
Saint Francis ends with this thought: “ .. For it is in giving that
we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in
dying that we are born to eternal life.”
SETH
In Judaism we say, Ba-ruch atta, HaShem, no–tay-a
b’to-cheinu chayei olam – We praise You, O G_d, who places within us
eternal life.
JOANNA
And of course, included in all of these words is the
knowledge that the belief in Spirit in any form, Nature, Art,
Science ... Love, lives on.
All of these words have helped us get through times of
loss and pain. But the words that keep coming up for me are: “Out of
the darkness, comes the light.” Out of this tsunami? This most
devastating catastrophe? This unbelievable darkness? Where is the
light?
Marianne Williamson and Kofi Annan among others, point
out that the spontaneous, authentic outpouring of concern and love
from all over the world is the light. The tsunami woke us up. Shook
our very souls while we were literally “on vacation.” For many of us
it pushed all of our meaningless pre-occupations aside and allowed
us to focus on what is really meaningful in our lives. Maybe we
hugged our kids a little tighter, a little longer, maybe we reached
out to a friend, took a little time to say I love you, let our
lovers, partners or spouses know how appreciated they are. Maybe we
connected on a deeper level with a parent, gave our pets an extra
treat. In so many ways there was a deepening of commitment, a more
conscious expression of love and a greater appreciation for life.
Their deaths, the devastation of their homes, their
places of work, their farms, their fishing boats, their pets, the
wipe-out of an entire Island have great meaning for this planet.
They have awakened the world to the fragility and the sanctity of
all life. They have awakened the world to the fact that there are
catastrophes happening at this time all over this world, genocide in
Sudan, AIDS in
Africa, the killing and maiming in Iraq. The tsunami victims
won’t have died in vain if, all over the world, communities like
ours stay awake and turn our grief into action wherever there is
pain and suffering.
So we bless this opportunity for our community to grow
in consciousness, compassion, wisdom. To once again be reminded not
to take anything or anyone for granted. To come together to put all
of this feeling and commitment into meaningful action. To expand
into a greater expression of what it means for our community to be a
dynamic part of the world community.
And now I invite you to listen to the words of the Sufi
poet, Rumi … in song.
MUSIC: (start at #2 :20, fade after
lyric “… make sense”)
The
Field –
Rumi
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and
rightdoing,
There is a field. I’ll meet you
there.
When the soul lies down in that
grass,
The world is too full to talk
about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each
other
Doesn’t make sense.
Joanna introduces Morgan and the Poem by Mattie
Stepanek, written when he was 9 years old.
POEM
Believing for the
Journey
Every day,
Everyone in the world
Should do at least
One thing nice for others.
Doing so can help each
person
Believe in himself or
herself
More fully, and
Give confidence that may
Inspire each person
To do more and
More new and good things
For the self,
For others, and
For the world.
Those positive attitudes
And actions
Can be the first of many
steps
Towards the journey
For world peace.
And world peace,
Harmony, and
Confidence are essential
For our future.
FLOWER
CEREMONY:
MUSIC
UNDER: The Gyoto
Monks – Chants from the Top
of the World
#2
for Gaia (Philip Glass, Mickey Hart, Kitaro) Band 3
Deborah leads flower meditation with group of 15
people: men, women, children.
DEBORAH
As I
read the names and the number of people lost, one person at a time
please come forward and place a flower into the basket. After each
flower is placed, let us all take a deep breath, feel free to close
your eyes or not, and send healing energy, love, a message, or
simply send those people a thought. (After each one or as needed,
Deborah repeats the direction.)
Andaman and Nicobar
Islands - 1,316
dead.
Bangladesh – 2.
Burma – 200.
India:
10,749 dead; 5,640 missing --
Indonesia:
dead at 97,636, with 132,197 missing.
Sri
Lanka:
29,854 dead, 6,007 people missing, 100,000 families
displaced.
The Mulativu district of Sri Lanka, which
is entirely under rebel control reports 1,932 dead with another
1,000 missing.
Thailand:
5,313
dead, 3,396 missing or presumed
dead.
Somalia:
150
dead.
Maldives:
82 dead, 26 missing.
Malaysia:
68 dead, 6 missing.
Myanmar:
59
dead.
Tanzania:
10
dead.
Kenya:
1 dead.
Seychelles:
3 dead.
The
remaining flowers represent the tourists and missing loved ones from
all other parts of the world who perished that day, including
Sweden,
Finland,
Germany,
Great Britain,
United States,
Canada,
Israel,
Norway.
READING: Child invites participants to come
up to the mike, introduces the prayer and directs the audience to
the responses in the
program..
Children & Hallmark residents / Audience
response
SPEAKER
1
In
the rising of the sun and in its going down.
we remember them.
SPEAKER
2
In
the blowing of the wind and in the chill of
winter,
we remember them.
SPEAKER
3
In
the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring,
we remember them.
SPEAKER
4
In
the blueness of the sky and in the warmth of summer,
we remember them.
SPEAKER
5
In
the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn,
we remember them.
SPEAKER
6
In
the beginning of the year and when it
ends,
we remember
them.
SPEAKER
7
When
we are weary and in need of
strength.
we remember them.
SPEAKER
8
When
we are lost and sick at heart,
we remember them.
SPEAKER
9
When
we have joys we yearn to share,
we remember them.
SPEAKER
10
So
long as we live, they too shall live, for they
are
now
a part of us, as we remember
them.
POEM
NINFA introduces and
reads:
A Spark From Within-tsunami
by Eileen Tiger Lily
Written
on Tuesday,
January 04, 2005
The night covered the ocean with a canopy
of sparkling stars
palm
trees swayed as a gentle zephyr played among the
waves
two
lovers stared out to sea amazed that it was the
same
water
that rose up to destroy so much of the life and
land
they
knew and loved so deeply arms around each other
they
raised
their heads to the sky and said a prayer for help that
their
island could be restored and people find a way to
go
on
with their lives with some faith that there was a reason to go
on
there
was peace all around them as their hearts beat with
anguish
knowing
the huge task that lie ahead with everything in rubble the
peace
seemed
like it was taunting them nothing made sense, yet a spark
from
a spirit within, gave them hope
Someone introduces song and invites everyone to sing
along.
MUSIC:
“What the World Needs Now”
What The World Needs Now
Is Love
by Burt Bacharach
What the world needs now is love, sweet
love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What
the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but
for everyone.
Lord, we don’t need another mountain,
There
are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and
rivers enough to cross,
Enough to last till the end of
time.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s
the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world
needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for
everyone.
Lord, we don’t need another meadow
There are
cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and
moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen, lord, if you want to
know.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s
the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world
needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for
everyone.
No, not just for some, oh, but just for
everyone
CLOSING:
And
so tonight we hold these dear souls in consciousness, and reach out
in spirit to their loved ones, to offer whatever support we can in
their time of grief. We wish them the strength and courage to move
through their sadness and reconcile their loss. May the Peace that
passes all understanding, fill our minds and hearts, and extend from
us to bless the world with peace. And so it
is.
As
participants gather for fellowship
…
MUSIC:
Taneen: Sufi Music Ensemble – “Divine Breath; Into
Ecstacy”
