Building Bridges in Times of Peace and Times of War

Peace Prayer Day Ottawa 2004

Jean Piggott Place, City Hall, October 16, 2004, 10.00am – 4.00pm

A new, broad based peace movement is emerging in the National Capital.  Although the war in Iraq is over, local peace efforts continue to grow with Ottawa’s annual Peace Prayer Day.  An all day, family event, which takes place every fall season.  Those in attendance will experience communications of peace in a multitude of forms, including First Nations blessings, drum circle, sacred dancers, choirs from the Ottawa area, Labyrinth walking and so much more.  During the day, prestigious local Peace Awards are presented to notable local citizens who have devoted their lives to creating peace.  Past recipients include Grandfather William Commanda, Jean Goulet, and Tone Magazine.

Organized by Friends for Peace, Peace Prayer Day is open to all who want to see the spirit of peace flourish in our homes, communities and world-wide.  Friends for Peace is a coalition of environmental, meditation and peace groups.  It organized silent peace vigils across the National Capital Region before the Iraq war (4,000 participants), and organized the Peace Song Circle on Parliament Hill after war had broken out (5,000 participants on a miserably wet, cold day).   Its intent is to create a different form of peaceful expression that appeals to a broad section of Canadian citizens.  We are working to make these events happen in other countries.

We took advantage of being in the nation’s capital to create Peace Song Circle on Parliament Hill each spring.  Voices rang out in front of the Parliamentary backdrop as the Peace Tower bells chimed and thousands of people sang to their heart’s content.  The first Peace Prayer Day Ottawa featured First Nations Maniwaki drummers and dancers in full costume with children leading the entire audience through a circular dance, the Sacred Dance Guild, The Peace choir singing "Imagine" and "It’s a Wonderful World," Universal Dances of Peace which led us in dance and chants from many traditions including Israeli and Sufi, World Peace laughter tour, "primary sound" meditation from the Sikh tradition, Arabic prayer of peace and children’s prayers created on the day.  Peace Prayer Day Ottawa 2003 prompted many letters of thanks, especially from the United States. The letters speak of a great need for more such messages of hope and celebration of all traditions and paths, and of the longing for leadership and clear statements about how to begin in your own community.

On the day of this outdoor event, the elements and nature were responsive in many ways. Two eagles circled above us, the thunder gods threatened, and the persistent rain let up and allowed the sun to shine forth just as we started to sing together.  A marvelous documentary film has been made of it, which shows the courage and determination shining through to be nothing other than peace and to make a difference to our world.  It is available from kburton@cyberus.ca and 25% of the sale price is donated towards further peace events.  We are hoping that this becomes the Canadian way!

The event is affiliated with the UN’s annual day of peace prayer.  Our mission statement is below:

The Peace Prayer Day offers the space for individuals coming together to share the experience of oneness.  It is our intention to touch that place in each of us that recognizes that we are a Universal community.  Worldwide, we join together for inspiration, communication, creative collaboration and divine expression through prayer, music and dance.  Our goal is to reach as many people as possible as a global event and leader in the world peace movement.  We honor every person and group in their unique offering in pursuit of peace in ourselves, peace in our environment, peace in our world, peace in our homes, and peace in our communities.