How Will You Observe the Ten Days from Sept 11 - 21?

Welcome to the blog the Peace & Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church of Evanston, Ill has set up in advance of the tenth annivesary of the Sept 11th attaks.  We want to encourage reflection and positive activities in the coming days.  As Unitarians, we affirm the "inherent worth and dignity of each individual", and we want to make sure voices of compassion, reason and love are heard in the days ahead. 

As a committee, we developed a list of ten activities you might want to pariticipate in during the next few days.  We felt that the ten days between Sept 11 and the International Day of Peace on Sept 21 should be set aside as a time to increase peace and understanding within ourselves, our community and internationally.

During the coming weeks we'll be highlighting different suggested activities from our list, and we invite you to Follow our blog and Comment on your own experiences as you reflect on the upcoming anniversary.  We encourage you to participate in as many of our ten activities as you can, and then let us know the details of what you did and what it meant to you.  

Item #9 on our list suggests folks "attend a peace demonstration".  We want to invite you to join us at the 9/11 Walk 'n Talk, sponsored by various Evanston community groups and religious groups at 2pm on September 11. 

The walk will begin at the Dar-us-Sunnah Masjid mosque and community center at 2045 Brown Ave in Evanston and will end at the Jewish Reconstructionist Conregration at 303 Dodge Ave, Evanston.  We will be symbolically linking the various faith communities of Evanston and meeting our neighbors as  we walk between the two sites.  More information will follow.  We hope you'll join us there.

Creating Peace Sept 11 -21

Every day between the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks and the International Day of Peace on September 21, join us in participating in an activity to create peace  -- within yourself or in the world at large.   You could:

 1.     Write a letter in favor of peace to your Congressman / the President

 2.     Join a peace organization or volunteer at an organization you already belong to

 3.     Create inner peace:  Meditate for half an hour

 4.     Forgive a friend or family member who has angered you

 5.     Forgive yourself

 6.     Give money to a peace organization

 7.     Write a poem about peace

 8.     Read a book or article about the effects of war or a solution to a world conflict

 9.     Attend a peace demonstration or a lecture about an international ‘hot spot’ 

 10.   Fast for a day and remember those suffering the effects of war and occupation