Special Commemorative Walk in Brooklyn, NY at the Maria Hernandez Park Labyrinth

Sunday, August 7th* at 10:45 AM

Maria Hernandez Park Labyrinth. Photo Credit: Matt Green / imjustwalkin.com

Commemoration is an essential part of healing through brokenness. WAYS OF PEACE has been leading peace walks at the 9/11 commemorative labyrinth in lower Manhattan every 4-6 weeks since last September — the 20th anniversary of tragedies that shook our city, our country and our world. Our next labyrinth walk will take us to Maria Hernandez Park in Brooklyn.

The Maria Hernandez labyrinth is laid out in four quadrants. We will dedicate each quadrant to a different commemoration of historical violence between August 6th-9th: Tisha b'Av, the ancient Jewish day of mourning for destruction and exile; the 1930 lynchings in Marion, Indiana that inspired the writing of “Strange Fruit;” the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and the 1989 drug-wars killing of Brooklyn neighborhood activist Maria Hernandez.

At the center of the labyrinth is a parrot mosaic inspired by Taino Indian traditions, where we will acknowledge the theft and destruction of Native American lands, families, and cultures.

The Maria Hernandez labyrinth walk will take place rain or shine, but space is limited. PLEASE REPLY TO waysofpeace.org@gmail.com BY SATURDAY, AUGUST 6TH to confirm your participation, receive any last-minute updates, and get directions.

Join the Next Cohort of “HOW TO MOVE OUR MONEY: Practicing Reparations as Spiritual Release”

Days/Times TBA Based on Participants' Input!

This unique nonsectarian course is designed for those who accept the basic ethical imperative of reparations — and who seek best practices for connecting that ethical imperative with their own economic privileges. “How to Move Our Money” is also directly applicable to our crises of gun violence, reproductive freedom, wartime displacement and beyond.

“It’s rare to find a space where social justice and money management converge....The workshop is supportive, insightful and inspirational, and it’s empowering to have the tools to move 'just giving' forward. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.”

PLEASE REVIEW THIS FLYER and reply to waysofpeace.org@gmail.com no later than August 14th to have input into scheduling.

*August 7th also marks 10 years since WAYS OF PEACE was incorporated. Please help us celebrate a decade of renewing justice and kindness across lines of diversity and throughout the life cycle by making a tax-deductible DONATION TODAY!

Peace Walk at the 9/11 Commemorative Labyrinth
Sunday, March 27th at 2:30 pm EDT

Join WAYS OF PEACE as we return to the 9/11 Commemorative Labyrinth south of Ground Zero. At this time of heightened awareness of violence worldwide, we will bear witness to how the traumas of 9/11 increased hatred and violence within the U.S. as well as beyond our borders. Step by step, we will support each other as we renew our commitments to healing, justice and peace.

The walk is weather permitting, and space is limited. PLEASE RSVP TO waysofpeace.org@gmail.com BY SATURDAY, MARCH 26TH to confirm your participation, receive any last-minute updates, and get directions.

Counting Days: From Hatred to Awakening

In 2011, outrage erupted at a liberal Florida college when it was discovered that a rising star of white supremacy had quietly enrolled there. Risking ostracism themselves, two Jewish friends invited this white supremacist classmate to weekly Shabbat dinners that — over the course of two years — led to a high-profile renunciation of hatred and bigotry. Shabbat dinner host Matthew Stevenson later reflected on what prompted him to reach out:

"My mother, who passed a few years ago unfortunately... was very active in Alcoholics Anonymous...and so I had this belief inculcated in me very early on that people can change and transform, no matter how far gone they may seem."

 

These are painful times of fear, anger and divisiveness in our communities and throughout the world. Yet healing continues to spread quietly through people in addiction recovery and their families, even as they share deeply and personally about the real brokenness that so many experience across our lines of diversity.

Addiction has been called the sacred disease of our time. Recovery offers hope and healing to our wounded world — one day at a time.

COUNTING DAYS: From Liberation to Revelation for Jews in Recovery is a unique guide for the one-day-at-a-time season between Passover and Shavu'ot. It offers daily reflections on Twelve-Step recovery principles integrated with classical Jewish mussar (spiritual development) teachings.

ORDER COUNTING DAYS TODAY to receive your copy in time for Passover!

Preregister Now for "HOW TO MOVE OUR MONEY:

Practicing Reparations in a Year of Release"

Online, Sundays March 6th through April 10th
5-6 pm ET / 4-5 pm CT / 3-4 pm MT / 2-3 pm PT

Offered by Ways of Peace and co-sponsored by the Fund for Reparations Now!, this unique nonsectarian course is designed for those who accept the basic ethical imperative of reparations — and who seek best practices for connecting that ethical imperative with their own economic privileges.

Through interactive presentations, discussions, action / reflection, and singing, we will inspire and support each other in committing to lifelong practice — especially in this sabbatical / release year that carries a promise of jubilee.

Limited to 24 participants. To preregister and/or learn more, please review this flyer and write to waysofpeace.org@gmail.com.

Kindness: A Leap of Faith for Two Years of Pandemic

Today is the 7th day of the Jewish month of Adar, a traditional time to lift up the hevra kadisha / sacred Jewish burial fellowship for its services of ultimate kindness throughout the year.

And because this is a leap year in the Jewish calendar, the entire month of Adar is doubled — so we have TWO opportunities to observe 7 Adar. The next 7 Adar will come in March, as we round out two years since the World Health Organization declaration of global pandemic AND the first confirmed COVID-19 death in NYC.

Whether your community maintains a sacred fellowship, is in the process of organizing one, or simply wants to grow further in the direction of kindness, please consider offering a program  during this season to help move your caring efforts forward. If you would like to bring WAYS OF PEACE to your community for a videoconference program, please contact us.