Writing Retreat from Days of Deepening Friendship

"From Women Growing Wiser" is the way Vinita Hampton Wright begins her video discussing her writing retreat in honor of her new book coming out. I have decided to take part in her On-line Writing Retreat. Feel free to join me if you please. The links to her blog "Days of Deepening Friendship" and the assignments are on the right side here under the My Blog List caption.


First assignment: Explain in one sentence how writing helps you.


Writing helps me to look at myself more critically but at the same time helps me to see the person God is helping me grow into.

May We All Know Peace

Dear Sisters, Associates, and Friends,

As we enter into remembrance and renewal today, September 11, we offer
this prayer poem created by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat on the
afternoon of September 11, 2001. Let us remember all those who met
death today, all those whose lives were in any way impacted, all those
who continue to grieve, all those who performed acts of increible
bravery. Let us remember also the many throughout our world who live
with this level of violence and struggle to be people of peace each and
every day. May our remembering, our praying, and our living lead us to
a new world where all are welcome. May we all know peace.

Peace,
Chris

Chris Koellhoffer, IHM
Councilor for Spiritual Development
IHM Center


Rest in Peace:
September 11, 2001


By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

I am a World Trade Center tower, standing tall in the clear blue sky,
feeling a violent blow in my side, and
I am a towering inferno of pain and suffering imploding upon myself and
collapsing to the ground.
May I rest in peace.

I am a terrified passenger on a hijacked airplane not knowing where we
are going or that I am riding on fuel tanks that will be instruments of
death, and
I am a worker arriving at my office not knowing that in just a moment my
future will be obliterated.
May I rest in peace.

I am a pigeon in the plaza between the two towers eating crumbs from
someone's breakfast when fire rains down on me from the skies, and
I am a bed of flowers admired daily by thousands of tourists now buried
under five stories of rubble.
May I rest in peace.

I am a firefighter sent into dark corridors of smoke and debris on a
mission of mercy only to have it collapse around me, and
I am a rescue worker risking my life to save lives who is very aware
that I may not make it out alive.
May I rest in peace.

I am a survivor who has fled down the stairs and out of the building to
safety who knows that nothing will ever be the same in my soul again,
and
I am a doctor in a hospital treating patients burned from head to toe
who knows that these horrible images will remain in my mind forever.
May I know peace.

I am a tourist in Times Square looking up at the giant TV screens
thinking I'm seeing a disaster movie as I watch the Twin Towers crash to
the ground, and
I am a New York woman sending e-mails to friends and family letting them
know that I am safe.
May I know peace.

I am a piece of paper that was on someone's desk this morning and now
I'm debris scattered by the wind across lower Manhattan, and
I am a stone in the graveyard at Trinity Church covered with soot from
the buildings that once stood proudly above me, death meeting death.
May I rest in peace.

I am a dog sniffing in the rubble for signs of life, doing my best to be
of service, and
I am a blood donor waiting in line to make a simple but very needed
contribution for the victims.
May I know peace.

I am a resident in an apartment in downtown New York who has been forced
to evacuate my home, and
I am a resident in an apartment uptown who has walked 100 blocks home in
a stream of other refugees.
May I know peace.

I am a family member who has just learned that someone I love has died,
and
I am a pastor who must comfort someone who has suffered a heart-breaking
loss.
May I know peace.

I am a loyal American who feels violated and vows to stand behind any
military action it takes to wipe terrorists off the face of the earth,
and
I am a loyal American who feels violated and worries that people who
look and sound like me are all going to be blamed for this tragedy.
May I know peace.

I am a frightened city dweller who wonders whether I'll ever feel safe
in a skyscraper again, and
I am a pilot who wonders whether there will ever be a way to make the
skies truly safe.
May I know peace.

I am the owner of a small store with five employees that has been put
out of business by this tragedy, and
I am an executive in a multinational corporation who is concerned about
the cost of doing business in a terrorized world.
May I know peace.

I am a visitor to New York City who purchases postcards of the World
Trade Center Twin Towers that are no more, and
I am a television reporter trying to put into words the terrible things
I have seen.
May I know peace.

I am a boy in New Jersey waiting for a father who will never come home,
and
I am a boy in a faraway country rejoicing in the streets of my village
because someone has hurt the hated Americans.
May I know peace.
I am a general talking into the microphones about how we must stop the
terrorist cowards who have perpetrated this heinous crime, and
I am an intelligence officer trying to discern how such a thing could
have happened on American soil, and
I am a city official trying to find ways to alleviate the suffering of
my people.
May I know peace.

I am a terrorist whose hatred for America knows no limit and I am
willing to die to prove it, and
I am a terrorist sympathizer standing with all the enemies of American
capitalism and imperialism, and
I am a master strategist for a terrorist group who planned this
abomination.
My heart is not yet capable of openness, tolerance, and loving.
May I know peace.

I am a citizen of the world glued to my television set, fighting back my
rage and despair at these horrible events, and
I am a person of faith struggling to forgive the unforgivable, praying
for the consolation of those who have lost loved ones, calling upon the
merciful beneficence of God/Lord/Allah/Spirit/Higher Power.
May I know peace.

I am a child of God who believes that we are all children of God and we
are all part of one another.
May we all know peace.