Two Local Vigils Shine Light on War Deaths

Vigil at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
The vigil at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer was a small event; there were about 24 people in attendance. The lights were dim and a table was placed up front with one candle lit after a reader gave this introduction:

I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that He may hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. (Psalm 77:1-2) 

As the U.S. death toll in Iraq surpasses 1,000, and with tens of thousands of Iraqis also dead and maimed, Sojourners joined with the Win Without War coalition to call upon people of faith to gather in prayers of mourning on the evening of Thursday, September 9.

We mourned those on both sides who have died, the many who have suffered debilitating injury, and the families who grieve for their loved ones. We prayed for God's forgiveness for the destruction this war has caused and the hatreds it has aroused. We prayed that our elected leaders of both parties will find the moral courage and political wisdom to seek an early end to this tragic war, as we continue to pray and work for peace and justice in Iraq and all the world. 

We used readings and helpful responses in the form of Four Nocturnes, a tradition formed around the “dark night of the soul.” After each Nocturne, silence was kept. Then we shared open prayer for many concerns and grief. The prayers were various: for our children that we might teach them peace, for the families of Beslan, that military schools might teach the ways of peace, for the victims and families of the genocide in Darfur. The deepness of the response, the anguish, followed by hope and comfort was movingly shared in community. We ended the silence with song, “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream,” the vision of a world without war.

We ended with tea in the social hall and talked, while Carol Wilson collected signatures on a letter to the Mayor of Beslan to share with grieving families.

May God gather and shelter those who wait and watch and weep in these days, as a mother hen gathers her brood under her wings.

- Wanda Guthrie

Vigils Shine Light on War Deaths
Code Pink, along with other peace organizations, sponsored an emergency candlelight vigil in Frick Park Thursday night, September 9. A group of about 100 gathered on the corner of Forbes and Braddock Avenue to remember the 1000 Americans and 13,000 Iraqis who have died.

Among those present were WWII veteran Dan Bolef, who fought in the Battle of the Bulge; Regina Birchen, a Pittsburgher who was recently elected International President of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and Judy Focareta of Code Pink.