The candles are lit to represent each child’s life which has been snuffed out today by war...
The church was filled with community members on a Tuesday night. The service began with the lighting of 250 candles on the alter. Each candle represents the 250 children that have died today as a result of the war on Iraq. Over 50% of the people in Iraq are under the age of 15. Malnutrition has doubled, unemployment has skyrocketed, people are afraid to send their kids to school for fear they’ll be kidnapped. Where are the children of Fallujah, Basrah, Baghdad, Mosul… we hear very little about the children in war, yet they are the most vulnerable. An Iraqi-American who recently returned to Iraq wrote an email recently about the terrible conditions. His email read…Late at night, when everyone goes to sleep, you can find me weeping, trying to reconcile the horrible scenes I have witnessed and the very little that I can do.

A reading from Matthew 2: 16-18, read by the Reverend Glen Herrington-Hall from the United Church of Christ in New Brighton.

“Rachel weeps tonight for her children. She refuses to be consoled, because they are no more.”

The nine litanies of repentance and sorrow begins with the snuffing out of 250 candles, representing the snuffing out of 250 children’s lives today…

Community members painfully approached the alter and snuffed out the candles, one at a time, as the congregation shed tears for the children whose lives have been snuffed out by war.

…. The John Hopkins School of public health released new numbers indicating that more than 100,000 Iraqis have died since the start of hostilities, many of them children.
We must awaken the conscience of our nation; Let us have the courage to act.

…. The situation in Iraq grows more desperate by the day. Poverty, deprivation, lack of security and hunger now rule the country…
We must awaken the conscience of our nation; Let us have the courage to act.

…. Today, the city of Fallujah lies in ruins and our government states that it is just the beginning to recapture more than 20 other cities now in the hands of Iraqi resistance. DNA samples, retina scans and the requirement to wear I.D. badges at all times will be instituted. This is the marking of a police state reminiscent of the rise of the police state in Nazi Germany…
We must awaken the conscience of our nation; Let us have the courage to act.

…. More than 1,250 American young people have been killed and nearly 900 American children have lost parents since the beginning of the war on Iraq…
We must awaken the conscience of our nation; Let us have the courage to act.

… Tens of thousands of children in Iraq and the world over have been traumatized by war. Some have lost the ability to speak, others are filled with fear, anxiety, depression and nightmares that leave them screaming at night.
We must awaken the conscience of our nation; Let us have the courage to act.

…. Trent Lott, Senator of Mississippi said, “If we have to, we just mow the whole place down, see what happens.” These statements from our leaders are a clear indication that we are in a struggle for the very soul of America..
We must awaken the conscience of our nation; Let us have the courage to act.

…. A nurse at a U.S. base in Germany writes about a young West Point Lieutenant wounded in Iraq. She wrote, “After a few bites of dinner, I let him sleep and then cried with him as he woke up from a nightmare. When he pressed his fists into his eyes and rocked his head back and forth, he looked like a little boy. They all do; some missing limbs, eyes, or worse.”
We must awaken the conscience of our nation; Let us have the courage to act.

…. Millions of other innocent children around the world die at the hands of powerful rulers – directly through war or other acts of violence or indirectly through the policies of nations and corporations that impoverish the world’s children and doom them to early deaths or lives of misery.
We must awaken the conscience of our nation; Let us have the courage to act.

…. U.S. and local weapons manufacturers are guilty of supplying weapons to many oppressive leaders around the world. These weapons continue to maim and kill thousands of innocent children. At the same time, the unprecedented increases in the military budget leave many of our own children suffering from poverty, poor healthcare and second class education.
We must awaken the conscience of our nation; Let us have the courage to act.

The Lighting of the 4 Candles of Hope (representing the four directions)… The Community Speaks Out!
Community members return to each corner of the alter to light 4 candles of hope as the congregation sings, “Don’t let the light go out.” Don’t let the light go out!

Community members speak;

The congregation responds with:
The community is speaking out – we can make a difference.

We all sing the song:

Who will speak if we don’t?
Who will speak so their voice will be heard?
Who will speak if we don’t?

Who will speak for the children of violence, who will speak for the victims of war, who will speak if we don’t?
Who will care for the poor and broken, who will care for the ones with no hope, who will speak if we don’t?
Who will care for the plants and the creatures, who will care for the land and the sea, who will speak if we don’t?
Who will speak for the ones who are voiceless, who will speak the truth in the places of power?
Speaker, Meg Novak:
Our first speaker is the founder of the former Babylon Art and Cultural Center – Meg Novak.

Meg went to Iraq in 2002, which she said, “Seems like a lifetime ago”. Despite her terrible cold, she had to come to tonight’s service, because to her, it represents a bringing together of spirituality and activism.

“Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, it does.” The abuses at Abugarab, the reelection of George W. Bush, and the massacres in Fallujah. Meg has become a doula to counteract the realities of each day. A doula provides psychological encouragement and physical assistance to a newly delivering mother. Meg states that no matter what happens in this world or how bad things have gotten – children will continue to be born and there is always hope in the birth of new life.

The hopeful energy of new life balances the pain she experiences daily for the people of Iraq. She speaks about the massacres at Fallujah and asks, “How can human beings know about these horrendous acts and sit back and do nothing?” “What would it mean if we all stop for one day; one hour and refuse to do things as usual?”

Her challenge to us is to recognize and internalize what this war means to children and to us. Have the courage to feel; to lose it in the midst of this insanity. The next time you’re touched by this insanity; act on your feelings – take a day off and work for peace and justice.

Too many times we turn away from reality just to stay sane. But maybe what we need is a little more insanity. Maybe we need to truly embrace the shame of what we’re doing; really feel the breaking of your heart for each mother and father who experiences the suffering and tragic death of their children from this war. To feel what it’s like to be the parent watching their child suffer from disease and die. When a child dies before their time, it leaves a gaping hole in our universe. Would it suddenly become more urgent if it were our children who were dying? Wouldn’t we do whatever we could to save their lives?

Every Christmas Meg writes a letter to her son. Her partner is from Iraq. They have a son who is now a year and a half old. Writing to him allows her to be the most honest to him.

Meg wanted to write a letter of hope and peace for all children no matter where they live, but war makes life, unlivable.

Her heart-wrenching letter leaves this reporter unable to describe in words the depth of pain she articulated for her son; for all of our sons and daughters and for our world. With loving, tender words, she tells her son that both of his countries are dying. She ends her letter telling her son that the only way to survive is to love those who love you fiercely. Her gift is hope. We can win.

Speaker, Mel Duncun:
Mel Duncun was in Iraq in1999. He is currently a director of the National Peace Force. He has a son fighting in Iraq right now. His daughter was playing “What child is this?” on the saxophone in the background while Mel reads, “Rachel weeps tonight for her children. She refuses to be consoled, because they are no more.”

Mel Duncan
Empires, whether Roman or American, do not weep for children.

Mel has been with the children who have been emaciated from our policies of sanctions; he’s seen the children forced to wear a cyanide pill around their necks; and yes, he’s seen his son go to war. He sits in horror at 3am trying to blot out the faces; those faces and souls are part of his soul. He thinks of what it would be like if he gets the knock at the door about his son; and then he thinks about all of the Iraqi families who have had that knock on their door.

Active, courageous, outrageous and pain- filled compassion is what is needed.

These children, the holy innocents come from Rachel’s womb; our wombs. We stand with our children. We weep and we refuse to be consoled. We hold in our hearts the recommitment to defend our children whatever their names may be and defend them from the ravages of empire. This will take more courage than any of us can ever imagine; creation and resistance. Come together as community and find the common answer and the common act. Keep infinite hope within finite despair (Martin Luther King). During these dark times, we will move toward the light even if the light is nothing but a glimmer at 3 am.

And we sing, “Imagine’

Candle light Reflection:
The congregation was asked to think about what we can do for children and victims of war.

Children carried pictures of Iraqi children around the room, so that we can lift them, and all children, up in prayer all over the world. It is when we see all children as our children, that we can put an end to poverty and war.

This candlelight service is a call to action. Everyone was asked to come forward and take a candle from the table and alter. Each candle represents a child who is a victim of war. Light this candle and think of what we can do for children.

Commitment to Action
Everyone takes a candle and commits.

In closing – Carol Masters, member of the Community of St. Martin reads a prayer she wrote:

Loving God, too often we accept the decisions of our leaders that we have no other choice but to use our power to make war or to do violence to others.
Too often we become entangled in our own despair at the irremediable human dependence on violence.
Help us to remember that you made the human heart with so many other powers--the powers of love, mercy, forgiveness, nonviolence, sharing, healing.
Give us the strength to hear and to follow the loving counsel of the prophets of our faiths, and of men and women and children of peace.
May we always know that this light shines in the darkness and the darkness will never overcome it.
Amen


and
MarySue Hansen has been a parishioner of St. Joan of Arc for over 11 years. She lives in St. Paul and treks over to S. Mpls every Sunday Morning for 9 o'clock mass, community and spiritual renewal. She lives and breathes community, loves children, and believes strongly in the power of collective learning and action. She is the Director of a collaborative community working to improve protective factors for children in Suburban Ramsey County.
Closing Song: God of Day and God of Darkness.

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