EARTH CLINIC'S PRAYER GROUP ARCHIVES
Updated: March 5, 2010 10:20 PM EST
PREVIOUS TOPICS FROM THE EARTH CLINIC PRAYER GROUP
FEBRUARY, 2010
After a 2 month hiatus, the Earth Clinic prayer group is back with renewed vim and vigor! Thank you for your patience while we took the past couple of months to rethink our priorities and approaches to this group.
We have decided to continue with monthly topics sent out the first weekend of each month, with additional topics sent out on an as-needed basis for world crises like Haiti.
JOINING OUR STAFF
Earth Clinic is very pleased to announce that we have been joined by Kathy Miritello, who will be helping us run the monthly prayer group as it grows to over 4,600 members!
Kathy is a 2008 graduate of the Art of Healing program taught by Helen Yamada and Mary Branch Grove. Kathy has also been studying and practicing energy healing with Rev. Rosalyn L. Bruyere since 2002 and is a member of the Crucible Program in the Healing Light Center Church. Inspired by the work of Dion Fortune during World War II and her Society of Inner Light Kathy began what is known as The Meditation Project in August 2008. Initially started to bring more honesty, integrity and ethics into the U.S. election process the Meditation Project continues by bringing light and healing to the nation. Kathy has a Master of Philosophy in Cognitive Neuropsychology from George Washington University and lives in Asheville, NC with her greyhound, Jenny.
FEBRUARY'S MONTHLY TOPIC
WHALE AND DOLPHIN HUNTING
Many thanks to Rae from Bellevue, Washington, USA who suggested this week's topic on the hunting of whales and dolphins. This is a world-wide problem in which these beautiful and graceful animals are senselessly slaughtered, often in inhumane ways. We ask our members to pray that these animals be protected from harm and that those who seek to harvest them for mere monetary gain find other means to sustain themselves financially.
We also ask that members continue to remember the people of Haiti in their prayers and to ask that their hardship be relieved as they work to restore their country.
NOVEMBER 8, 2009: WEEKLY
Prayers for the Soldiers
Our prayers of gratitude go out today to the brave men and women around the world who risk their lives each day to protect their countries.
We also ask our members to send prayers and healing to the soldiers and their families at Fort Hood in Texas who witnessed the deadly mass shooting last week from one of their fellow soldiers.
------------------------------------------------------
NOVEMBER 1, 2009: MONTHLY
Afghanistan & Pakistan
With an extra 2,000 monthly prayer members on board this Sunday, we'd like to continue working on last week's topic and send prayers of stability and peace to Afghanistan, as well as to Pakistan's 172+ million people.
Many thanks to Dr. Kumar from India for recommending that we pray for both countries concurrently.
------------------------------------------------------
OCTOBER 24, 2009: WEEKLY
Afghanistan
Our hot topic this week focuses on the future of Afghanistan, which some experts predict may not see stability for another 30 or more years. (See the September 22, 2009 article from The London Times Article entitled, "Messy, fragile, undemocratic - a new ideal for a new Afghanistan).
This Sunday, we ask our prayer members to send powerful prayers of peace and stability into Afghanistan; prayers of protection and hope into the hearts of Afghanistan's 32+ million inhabitants; and prayers of safety to the thousands of soldiers from around the world who are risking their lives each day in Afghanistan.
------------------------------------------------------
OCTOBER 4th, 2009: MONTHLY
Natural Disaster Survivors across Asia Pacific
In Asia Pacific, a convergence of natural disasters has left millions of people in terrible hardship.
We ask our monthly prayer members to join us in praying for the survivors of the recent 7.4 earthquake on Sumatra island's western coast; for the survivors of the typhoons battering a string of countries from the Philippines to Vietnam; and for the survivors of the September 29th tsunami that hit the Samoan Islands.
------------------------------------------------------
SEPTEMBER 27, 2009: WEEKLY GROUP
Iran
Iran is our hot spot this week; with France, the USA, and the UK accusing Iran of deception about a new, secret nuclear facility; with Iranian President Ahmadinejad criticizing the U.S. and Israel in an anti-Semitic speech to the United Nations General Assembly; and with Egypt's foreign minister warning that a nuclear-capable Israel and an Iran pursuing nuclear weapons could provoke a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
Therefore,
We ask our members to focus their healing prayers on a peaceful and bright outlook for this country with over 71 million inhabitants.
------------------------------------------------------
SEPTEMBER 20, 2009: WEEKLY GROUP
Leadership on Climate Change
With 100 of the world's leaders convening this Tuesday in New York to discuss climate change, and after reading today's New York Times article, No Leader on Climate Change as Nations Prepare to Meet, we thought it propitious timing to ask our members to pray for strong leadership on climate change issues.
------------------------------------------------------
SEPTEMBER 13, 2009: WEEKLY GROUP
Global Water Shortage
This Sunday, we ask our members to focus their prayers on solutions, both human and divine, to the world's water shortages.
For background information, please read today's article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, Weather Worsens Mexico City's Water Shortage. Another interesting article on the subject from the University of Arizona is Global Water Shortage Looms In New Century.
------------------------------------------------------
SEPTEMBER 6, 2009: MONTHLY GROUP
Prayers for our Soldiers in Afghanistan
08/30/2009: Ken from Phoenix, Az writes, "I humbly request prayers for all our service men and women who continue to serve and fight for our freedom over in Afghanistan. What they do is honorable and noble. This issue is close to my heart, because I served in Iraq in 2003. Thank you.
Ken"
------------------------------------------------------
AUGUST 16, 2009: WEEKLY GROUP
Taiwan Typhoon Victims
This Sunday our prayers of healing go out to the victims, survivors, and their families in southern and central Taiwan, where more than 500 people have died in the landslides and flooding that followed more than 80 inches of rain dumped from Typhoon Morakot. As of Saturday night, rescuers are working to save 4,224 survivors.
------------------------------------------------------
AUGUST 9, 2009: MONTHLY GROUP
Climate Change
For the second time since our prayer group commenced, we felt it was again time to ask our monthly members to pray for the health and healing of our planet.
BACKGROUND
To give you an idea about what the future may hold in terms of the suffering caused from climate change, here is a three paragraph excerpt from an article in the August 8th, 2009 New York Times.
Climate Change Seen as Threat to U.S. Security
..."The changing global climate will pose profound strategic challenges to the United States in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, military and intelligence analysts say.
Such climate-induced crises could topple governments, feed terrorist movements or destabilize entire regions, say the analysts, experts at the Pentagon and intelligence agencies who for the first time are taking a serious look at the national security implications of climate change.
Recent war games and intelligence studies conclude that over the next 20 to 30 years, vulnerable regions, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia, will face the prospect of food shortages, water crises and catastrophic flooding driven by climate change that could demand an American humanitarian relief or military response."
------------------------------------------------------
AUGUST 2, 2009: WEEKLY GROUP
Prisoners in Evin, Tehran's Notorious Prison
We ask our weekly members to pray for the release of the 150 political detainees still remaining in Evin prison. Recently released inmates have claimed they were severely beaten and abused during their incarceration and several prominent activists have died from injuries sustained while being tortured. Let's pray for their immediate release.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, JULY 19, 2009: WEEKLY
Aung San Suu Kyi
07/12/2009: Karina from Munich, Germany writes, "My prayer request is for Aung San Suu Kyi - She
leads the non-violence democratic movement in Burma - and is already under house arrest for 13 years. Now, she has to face another trial by the military junta and the outcome is uncertain. I would like to ask to pray for her and all the people around the world who are deprived of even the most basic gifts of human rights - freedom, peace & education. With her steadfastness and devotion to her people gives she give light to Burma and the world. She said once "It is not power that corrupts humans but fear" and the only antidote to fear is love - so let us send a bright light of love to people of Burma and from there to all around the world. Let us include those who fell into the vicious cycle of violence by forgetting themselves - that they may see an alternative to violence and hatred and can return to love, respect and peace.
Thank all of you for your thoughtfulness, healing & light."
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, JULY 11, 2009: MONTHLY
The Persecuted Ones...
After hearing the reports of terrible riots and repression occurring in China's western Xinjiang region between the Han Chinese and the indigenous Uighur community, this Sunday we ask our monthly members to direct their prayers to those who are being persecuted for their faith.
Many thanks to Rebekah who requested this very topic back in April...
04/28/2009: Rebekah from Atlanta, GA writes, "Please consider praying for those persecuted for their religious faith. Worldwide there are many who are discriminated against, or physically persecuted due to their beliefs. These include the Tibetan Buddhists as well as Christians in India, Pakistan, or Darfur. The loss of property, lives, and peace in these communities is truly tragic."
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, JUNE 28 2009: WEEKLY
India Drought
This Sunday, we ask our members to focus their prayers on creating moderate to heavy rains from June through September throughout India. 
BACKGROUND
The Truant Monsoon: Why India Is Worried
Time Magazine
By Madhur Singh / New Delhi Friday, Jun. 26, 2009
"The bad news for India is scrawled across the scorching sky. Not a speck of monsoon clouds has been spotted over much of north and northwestern India for weeks, and the meteorological office has confirmed fears that the country will get late and below-normal rains this year. In a nation where 60% of farmland depends on rains, and where farms provide livelihood to more than 60% of the population, the news has triggered widespread panic..."
..."We're still hoping the rains will come," says K.R. Koundal, director of research at the New Delhi-based Indian Agricultural Research Institute, the government-run institute for agricultural research, education and extension. But for this to hold true, there will have to be moderate to heavy rains from June through September to make up for the shortfall, and even a 7% gap has economists and agricultural scientists worried. India's long stagnant agriculture sector, which has grown only 2% over the last decade, has already led to much farmer distress."
Source: Time Magazine
------------------------------------------------------
June 14, 2009
Peruvian Amazon and Inhabitants
This week we're heading to South America, an area of the world we rarely focus on. We ask our weekly members to pray for the indigenous communities of Peru and for the protection of their exquisite and holy land.
Background:
June 10, 2009
New York Times
by Simon Romero
"Congress temporarily suspended two decrees issued by President Alan García that had helped set off recent protests by indigenous groups fearful of large oil and logging investments in the Peruvian Amazon. The decrees would open vast jungle areas to investment and allow companies to bypass indigenous communities to get permits for projects. The protests resulted in repression by security forces and apparent reprisals by Indians last week that left dozens dead."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/world/americas/11briefs-peru.html?_r=1
Additional Articles:
Protesters Gird for Long Fight Over Opening Peru's Amazon
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, JUNE 7 2009: MONTHLY
This Sunday's monthly prayer topic was inspired by the speech President Obama gave in Cairo, Egypt on Thursday, June 3, 2009..
Taking our cue from Obama's eloquent and inspiring message to the Muslim world -- and while the topic is still in fresh in everyone's hearts and minds -- we would like to focus the healing prayers of our 4,000 members on peace.
Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Lord make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Lord make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
0 Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek;
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
And it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Then miracle shall follow miracle,
And wonders shall never cease.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MAY 31: WEEKLY
Ireland's Dark Past
This Sunday we're traveling thousands of miles from Asia, our recent point of focus (i.e., Burma, Sri Lanka & Pakistan), to focus our healing prayers on Ireland.
As you may have been reading in the news, the Irish Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse has recently completed a lengthy inquiry into a 60 year period of physical and emotional abuse of children at Catholic institutions in Ireland.
Two excellent articles found at the BBC News website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8054054.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8059826.stm
Tomorrow we send our prayers to thousands of victims of severe sexual and emotional abuse in Ireland. May our prayers also inspire Ireland (and other countries around the world) to find ways, both human and divine, to protect all future generations of children from such horrific abuse.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MAY 24th: WEEKLY
BURMA
We'd like to direct healing prayers to Burma this week, which is leading the news with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi again on trial and the U.N. Security Council calling for the release of all political prisoners in Burma.
In sending prayers to the people of Burma, we would like to also incorporate two April prayer topic requests from our members, Rozelle and Rebekah:
04/28/2009: Rozelle from Modesto, CA writes, "Please pray for those who are imprisoned, have been kidnapped, are being tortured or harrassed...that they will find freedom soon from their captors and/or they will escape or be released very soon..."
04/28/2009: Rebekah from Atlanta, GA writes, "Please consider praying for those persecuted for their religious faith. Worldwide there are many who are discriminated against, or physically persecuted due to their beliefs. These include the Tibetan Buddhists as well as Christians in India, Pakistan, or Darfur. The loss of property, lives, and peace in these communities is truly tragic."
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MAY 17th: WEEKLY
PRAYER TOPICS: SRI LANKA'S WAR/PAKISTAN CONTINUED
Many thanks to Dr. K.S. Ananda Kumar who submitted the following 2 prayer topics for this Sunday.
05/04/2009: "Dear Sir,
Please pray for the welfare of Tamilians trapped in Sri Lanka war, and also for the Sri Lanka soldiers who are facing a most difficult situation to identify the civilians from the terrorists. We should also pray that the war is over at the earliest and that all are properly rehabilitated.
With regards,
Dr.K.S. Ananda Kumar"
05/10/2009: "Dear Sir,
I have already suggested that we pray for the recovery of normal situation in Swat, Buder and Dir, in Pakistan, by defeating the Taliban elements. Not only we should pray for the normal life and stop refugees leaving the places, but also we should pray so that the Talibans use common sense and behave in a normal way. I understand that the Sikhs and Hindus living there area asked to pay some kind of jijia tax, for growing hair on the scalp/heads, and otherwise they are destroying the prayer temples and Gurudwaras who do not join their view. It is utter chaos prevailing there. The USA is feeling helpless and is giving aid to Pakistan which may not be an effective method for recovery to a normal situation. The Almighty God alone can rectify the situation./ It is therefore very much necessary that we pray our Almighty God to help those troubled in this situation and do whatever that is necessary for a normal life of all.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. K.S. ANANDA KUMAR"
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MAY 3rd: MONTHLY
A SWINE FLU CURE
04/29/2009: MamaCee writes, "A very timely topic, I think, would be the swine flu outbreak. We could pray that all who have lost loved ones be comforted and that the flu be eradicated completely."
4/30/2009: Josephine from St John's NL Canada A1E1R9 writes, "Please pray for a cure for Swine Flu."
04/28/2009: Beth from Amory, MS writes, "My prayer request for this week would be about the swine flu outbreak in this country as well as all over the world. Lets all pray the outbreak stops as well as no more deaths for any one that has contracted it."
04/28/2009:William emailed, "With your invitation - I will create a Prayer to overcome the current plague and its effects upon the consciousness and bodies of humanity.
Blessings ~ William"
04/28/2009: Caroline from Winchester, VA writes, "So many people have been affected by the swine flu, that I thought that a prayer for the families of those afflicted and a general prayer for healing and nurturing of our bodies and the Healing of the earth might be appropriate."
04/28/2009: Yalile A. writes, "Please pray for the world at this time of crisis with the flu that is spreading from Mexico. I live in Costa Rica and the first case has just been confirmed. It a young woman of 21 years who came from Mexico three days ago.
Thank you. Yalile A."
04/28/2009: Natasha emails, "Prayer Requests -
1. students seeking to complete courses, exams, papers at the end of the spring term.
2. swine flu outbreak.
Sincerely, Natasha"
04/28/2009: Marnie from San Jose, CA writes, "Prayer Topic Request - Swine Flu. The Earth needs our prayers for the prevention of the spread of the swine flu, and for those that have already come into contact with the virus to be healed."
------------------------------------------------------
APRIL 19, 2009 - WEEKLY GROUP
Healing & Inspiring Our World Leaders
Continuing on with Sara's suggestion last week that we stick to the wonderful topics that our monthly members suggested at the beginning of April, this week's prayer focus is Global Healing and our World Leaders.
04/12/2009: Ken from Phoenix, AZ writes, "I would like to request to pray for our wonderful President, Barack Obama. His presidency presents many challenges and not many people would envy the position he is in. I would like to pray for his healing, empowerment, and to make things better for our nation overall and for the world. As a veteran of Iraqi freedom, I say namaste and blessings to all people, with a grateful heart!"
04/03/2009: Joan from Yonkers, NY writes, "Sunday Prayer topic - Global Healing. Let's pray that Pres. Obama's international outreach will mend global fences, lend a hand to our disenfranchised neighbors and put us in a positive UNIFIED direction recognizing that we are one planet - one people in search of peace and wellness for all."
04/03/2009: Marguerite from Wrightwood, CA writes, "We have been fortunate enough to have a new president who has true wisdom and grace and a first lady who is inspirational to all women and a first family that is loving. Let us pray that they stay protected from forces that would seek to harm them in anyway."
04/03/2009: Douglas from Georgetown, TX writes, "Suggested prayer topic: That courage, wisdom and love of Humanity will prevail over lesser things, and will permeate and inspire World Leaders and their associates.
04/03/2009: Vincent from Enid, Oklahoma writes, "We need God back in our schools. When we had prayer in school there were no school shootings.When we had God in our government our lives were better. I ask we pray to bring back prayer in schools. And God in our government . ...Thank you V. Reid"
KEN, JOAN, MARGUERITE, DOUGLAS, AND VINCENT - THANK YOU SO MUCH!
------------------------------------------------------
APRIL 12, 2009 - WEEKLY GROUP
Nourishing Mother Earth
04/05/2009: Sara from KOP, PA, USA writes, "Hi Deirdre and EC Team, This is beautiful- all the suggested prayer topics clearly reflect what is lacking in the society and our human lives. To fulfill all those expressed sentiments, let us pray all the topics and until we are done with the topics, no new topic will be invited or picked."
Thanks, Sara! We think it's a great idea, at least for the next couple of weeks, so here are two topics we'd like to combine, in harmony with the beautiful Passover and Easter celebrations going on around the world this spring weekend.
04/03/2009: Sandhya from Nagpur, Maharashtra, India writes, "This is with reference to the mail regarding the monthly prayer topic. I have been sungazing for the past 2-1/2 months and have been gradually realizing that we really do not give much respect and importance to Mother Earth whose bosom we live in and the plants that nourish us. My suggestion of a topic would be to pray for Mother Earth and hope for a greater awareness of Nature and going back to Nature and nurturing both Nature and Mother Earth in our own small ways every day of our life. It is my observation that the more materialistic we are becoming, the more indifferent and insensitive we are becoming to our natural surroundings and this should CHANGE.
I hope this suggestion of mine will be of interest to everyone.
Thanking you,
Warm regards,
Sandhya
04/03/2009: Marla from Buffalo, NY writes, "Bee Colony Collapse: Pollinating bees are rapidly declining in population. Agricultural practices leaves bees weak and susceptible to disease. They are still uncertain of the cause of their colony collapse, but suspect pesticides to be a major factor. Without pollinators, we do not have food to eat--plain and simple--yet everyone seems to take them for granted.
Now that it is Spring time, I feel it is appropriate to pray for the bees to be able to do their job, and for ample fruit and vegetable growth. And probably most importantly, for a natural solution to this problem."
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2009: WEEKLY GROUP
Nowruz "New Day"
Yesterday, millions of people in Iran and other communities around the world celebrated Nowruz, the arrival of spring and the beginning of the New Year.
Following President Obama's special video message on Nowruz, we'd like to continue the flow of positive energy to Iran by asking our weekly members to send prayers of warmth, healing and good will to Iran and to all the wonderful people around the world celebrating this New Day.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2009: MONTHLY GROUP
HEALING DESPAIR
So many challenges going on in the world at this time, it is difficult to pick just one for our monthly prayer group. But given the amount of fear permeating populations across the globe, we thought it a good time to put together our combined energies and combat anxiety and apprehension in the world population.
We ask the members of our monthly group to pray tomorrow for inspiration and healing to all nations and people suffering from despair.
---------------------------
Many thanks to William Moffitt from Hamilton, Montana, USA who authored this beautiful prayer for our group this week:
Forgiveness & Love Prayer ~
Let's forgive ourselves and our relations of all transgressions.
Let's bless ourselves and our global family with unconditional love.
Let's magnify our group love to embrace mother nature and earth too.
Let's hold the perfected image of life and love for humanity within our hearts.
Let's share our glowing presence of love with every person we meet.
Let's enjoy the blessings of forgiveness and love individually and as a group.
Let's invite others to experience the blessings of forgiveness and love.
William Moffitt, Hamilton, MT / USA
March 04, 2009
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 2009: WEEKLY GROUP
World Peace and Harmony
2/21/2009: Janice from Springton, TX writes, "Prayer for Guidance. Please unite this week and pray for world peace & harmony; everything is out of balance and it sounds so much like a generic idealistic prayer but it is really so very important... Pray that you will have the strength and resources to help the one standing right next to you this week...and so on and so on... that way, each little link of humanity will be bound together by hope and strength and Light... A little faith in your brother, a hug for your sister, give a dime to your neighbor, share something with someone and the candle will remain lit...
In the name of humanity, amen."
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2009: WEEKLY GROUP
Afghanistan
Last week the United Nations reported a 40 percent increase in the the number of civilians killed during 2008 in Afghanistan from the year before.
"Tuesday's report says that as the conflict drags on destroying infrastructure, drying-up job opportunities and reducing access to basic life-supporting services, it is taking an increasingly heavy toll on civilians." Source: Voice of America
This Sunday we ask our weekly members to pray for all of Afghanistan: the land, the pets, the livestock, the babies, the children, the orphans, the wounded, the mothers and fathers, the brothers and sisters, the widows and the widowers.
May our prayers go out in 4 directions to heal the Central Highlands, Northern Plains, and Southwest Plateau of Afghanistan.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2009: MONTHLY GROUP
1. CHINA'S DROUGHT
As news organizations around the world reported Thursday, China is suffering from its worst drought in half a century. Irrigation reservoirs have dried up, causing an estimated 4.3 million residents and 2 million livestock to face a drinking water shortage. The affected area is primarily in central and eastern China, including most of the country's wheat-growing farmland.
To give you an idea of the situation, Beijing has not had precipitation in more than 100 days.
We ask the 3,500+ members of our group to pray for ongoing rain in this region, so that their people, wildlife and livestock should not suffer.
China Drought Monitor Map:
http://ncc.cma.gov.cn/upload/upload2/hljc/eki090206.gif
BBC news article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7193252.stm
2. CENTRAL TEXAS DROUGHT
02/01/2009: Larry from Austin, Texas, USA writes, "A recent EC prayer topic was about rain for California. That topic inspired me to write my own request for the area I live in. I would like to request a prayer for rain for Central Texas.
According to our local weather service we have been in a drought situation since late 2007 and looking forward, future forecasts still don't show any significant predictions for rain in this area anytime soon. This latest drought situation will be going down in the record books as on of our biggest ones.
One of the major effects of having so little rain in this area are extremely high levels of pollens in the air. We've had several record high days this winter. Because of this, people with allergies have been having a very tough time, myself included.
I'd like to thank everyone in advance for any prayer assistance."
U.S. Drought Monitor
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, JANUARY 25th: WEEKLY GROUP
GLOBAL STEWARDSHIP OF THE EARTH
Sunday's prayer request is inspired by a January 22, 2009 U.S. Geological Survey report that old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest are dying at an alarming rate.
This weekend, please pray for the health and survival of all plant life, animals, and ecosystems on our earth.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, JANUARY 11th, 2009 : MONTHLY GROUP
GAZA AND ISRAEL
Earth Clinic doesn't know politics. We do know a thing or two about health, and knowing about health we recognize ill-health when we see it. When we have read about the conflicts between Israel and Gaza, we have seen disease, a chronic illness that had spread for years even before this two-weeks long war. All their people are suffering and are in need of healing.
Please pray with us this Sunday for the people of Gaza and Israel, that they will seek and find in their troubled land a moment of peace long enough to bring to light a hopeful path they can share.
------------------------------------------------------
DECEMBER 14th, 2008: WEEKLY GROUP
THE UNEMPLOYED
We want to be useful, to help those we love, for our lives to have meaning; and for most of us the first place that self-esteem can grow is in gainful employment. No time is a good one to lose a job or be without the work that makes us whole, but this moment is growing steadily worse.
Please pray with us this week for the newly and long-term unemployed, helping them to find new jobs, new opportunities, or to hear this as a call to discover new meaning and purpose in their lives.
------------------------------------------------------
DECEMBER 7, 2008: MONTHLY GROUP
INCREASE THE PEACE -- PAKISTAN AND INDIA
We are at the beginning of a month that for many symbolizes peace and hope, yet the world seems more unsettled than ever. In the streets of Mumbai we see militants and terrorists wanting to tear the world apart, claiming irreconcilable differences between Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Christians-divisions that aren't really there. This is a difficult moment, but the world is not run by terrorists or militants. The world is made up almost wholly of people who want peace and long for reasons to be hopeful.
This Sunday we ask our monthly prayer group to please meditate with us on a rededication to peace between neighbors, a month of renewal for the sibling nations of India and Pakistan who were born at the same time, hoping for the same freedoms from fear and oppression.
------------------------------------------------------
NOVEMBER 30, 2008: WEEKLY GROUP
VICTIMS OF THE MUMBAI TRAGEDY
As this newsletter goes out, our American group members have been spending the past few days in celebration of Thanksgiving, a festival of gratitude commemorating the generosity that helped the country in its first hours of great need.
This Sunday, we ask our members to extend heartfelt prayers to the families and friends of those who were wounded or perished in the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
------------------------------------------------------
NOVEMBER 23, 2008 - WEEKLY GROUP
CHILDREN OF HAITI
This week we offer our help for a second time to the pitifully starving people of Haiti who despite their own labors could not overcome an irresponsible government that has ravaged their land or a series of four destructive August storms that laid waste to 60% of the country's food crops. Please pray with us in hopeful belief that the tiny, unnourished bodies of Haitian children will tomorrow be filled with the fruit of human kindness, from heaping plates served up by generous people and nations.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081120/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_haiti_food_crisis
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16 - WEEKLY GROUP
Congratulations and thank you! Our group has prayed for a positive result in the American Presidential elections, and much of the world is very happy with the result. Last week we prayed for relief to come to victims of continued barbarities in the Congo, and this week local and international groups have made some progress in quelling the violence and making steps toward peace and comfort for the hurt and the lost. We have meditated on the need for patience and confidence in the face of economic troubles that have washed over the world, and so far our prayers have been answered. Our group can't take credit for these successes, by any means, but we can be proud to have played our part in these very specific moments in the global play of life.
This week, we shift gears and ask you to meditate more generally on our shared vision of that future day when our group isn't torn between so many competing voices in need, when the bright orange fingers of a new dawn reach into that peaceful tomorrow that finds our own hands and fingers reaching out to all our sisters and brothers across the world with equal light and generosity.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9 - WEEKLY GROUP
THE CONGO
Across much of Africa there was celebration this week as America elected its first African-American President, but in the Democratic Republic of the Congo along the border with Rwanda, right in Africa's heart, battles were escalating between Hutu and Tutsi rebels, militia groups, and the government, threatening to spread into nearby nations still healing from past entanglements. Already more than a million have been displaced, one in six citizens of the country--torn from their families, fearful of rape and disease, hopeless for the future. The displaced are praying for peace, and we ask our group to please join with them and dedicate 10 minutes this Sunday to pray for safety and comfort to wrap up and protect the survivors of this repeated atrocity.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2 - MONTHLY PRAYER GROUP
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
On so many issues and in so many ways we have reached as critical a moment in world history as ever there has been, and real leadership is radically essential. We ask you all to pray this Sunday and this month that the American people will actively and in good conscience elect a leader for their nation, a leader for international peace, and for sister- and brotherhood across the nations.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12 - WEEKLY
PAKISTAN
In the best of times, we are thrilled to have such a wonderfully large international family here at Earth Clinic. Yet while news of trouble in the international economy has us all thinking about how closely knit all peoples are today, it has us more in mind of the worst of times. We're no pessimists, but how much worse is it now for countries already in trouble and already critical to global health and security?
We are thinking right now of Pakistan, how its troubles and concerns are tied to India, Asia, the Middle East, and from those connections tied closely to the rest of the world. So we pray this week for the new government in Pakistan under the husband of slain leader Benazir Bhutto, that after the recent Marriott bombing and another suicide killer who claimed a number of policemen and four schoolgirls aboard their bus, and after the country's efforts against the terrorist Taleban, that a democratic government can become as firmly footed as the country's Himalayan mountains, as deeply concerned with its citizens' needs as the valley of the Hindu Kush, and as peacefully-minded as the graceful clouds that float so beautifully between them.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY'S OCTOBER 5:
THE PRESIDENCY
This Sunday, we ask our monthly group to pray for the United States presidency as we veer our nation back towards wisdom, prosperity, and contentment.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28:
TAINTED FORMULA CRISIS IN CHINA
China returns to our attentions this week as we respond to the cries of 54,000 infants poisoned by tainted milk supplies that are now being shipped from shelves around the world. We pray that the red-faced shame of the companies and individuals at fault will inspire a brighter new era of corporate responsibility and the cries of the infants will heal into childish laughter.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21:
GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
A quick alert for our prayer group faithful: the focus for our upcoming (October) prayer group will address the global concern about and interest in American politics by focusing on the highest possible outcome for the upcoming presidential elections. Until that time, we will concentrate on other practicable needs of our international friends and neighbors.
Particularly, this week we turn our attentions to the global financial crisis, where greed has led a privileged few to create a fearful situation for the international economic community. We pray that calmness and security will swiftly return and a new economic era emerge guided by an awareness that capitalism and enlightened human concern are not mutually exclusive.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14:
HURRICANE DEVASTATION
This week we offer our thoughts and prayers for the people of Cuba and of Haiti who have suffered under the onslaught of two consecutive and terribly destructive tropical storms, that they may have clear, untroubled skies and the assistance they need - from governments, family, and friends - to restore their lives and fulfill their most admirable dreams.
We would also like to request immediate prayers that Hurricane Ike downgrades into a gentle tropical storm before it hits the coast of Texas in the next 30 hours or so.
------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2008
[Monthly Group]
The Children:
We come together through Earth Clinic to pray for our ideals to be realized in the world, but for those of us most in need the basic, practical concerns of food, water, and health are as far as a mind and body in poverty has time and freedom to reach.
This month, when many students begin school and families still wonder whether the food crisis will set basic nutrition out of reach, we turn our Sunday meditations to the children of the world, that their stomachs may be full and from that basic comfort can they have the freedom to keep their minds wide and open with wonder and understanding.
--------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 2008
[Weekly Group]
Darfur:
Lest we forget, lest we forget... The tragedies continue in Darfur--rape, murder, amputation, and religiously inspired violence. This week we return our thoughts to Sudan and pray that the tribal peoples of Darfur will lend their hands in support of their chiefs, that their chiefs will respect the will of their people, and that the Sudanese government will shake hands with them on a peace of good faith so that everyone -- rebels, militia, military, and police can lay down their arms and with one free hand raise themselves up, while offering their free hand to a neighbor.
--------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, AUGUST 17 and SUNDAY, AUGUST 24, 2008
[Weekly Group]
The Russian/Georgian Conflict
This week we ask our weekly prayer group to pray for the best possible long-term outcome to the Russian/Georgian conflict.
--------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, AUGUST 10th, 2008
[Weekly Group]
Olympian Virtues
On the political and the playing fields proud nations and people will be meeting, locked in conflicts that can be modest and sportsmanlike or epic and full of rancor, and it can be easy to forget which is which. This week we ask you to pray that with fitting pride in ourselves and our countries we also exercise our talent for empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, recognizing that our truest victories come only when we respect the worthiness of our opponents.
--------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2008
[Monthly Group]
Worldwide Violence
The Olympics, which must be the world's brightest symbol of international peace and cooperation, are only days away yet a Chinese Islamic group is following up its recent bus bombings with more threats against the Games themselves. Whether it is the Middle East, Africa, India, Turkey, or our own streets, it sometimes feels like the violence only ever gets worse, but we know that in fact the spirit of freedom and our most extended senses of family and community are much stronger.
This month, we pray in the spirit of the Olympics and their interlocking rings that the world will experience a swifter decrease in violence, a higher sense of responsibility to each other, and a stronger sense of peace between us.
--------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, JULY 13, 2008
[Weekly Group]
International Conflict with Iran
Sometimes, a problem is so large and complicated that no simple solution will ever be found, but there is always a path to peace. Iran presents the world with this type of situation. Several of our members have already powerfully stated as much: Iran is a substantial modern nation that deserves respect for its petroleum-rich economy, magnificent Persian history, and as the foremost representative of the Shia branch of Islam, but the country's leaders try to demand this respect with nuclear threats and disdain for the larger community of nations. Iran bluffs its way through nuclear development, calls for the destruction of entire nations, and refuses to participate in productive conversation with its international peers-who sometimes respond with fits of pique, rather than good common sense.
We would like to spend the next several weeks dedicating our Sunday meditations to the worldwide conflict with Iran. We will send out a reminder and new ideas to approach this problem each week, and we eagerly invite your comments and suggestions in the meantime.
This week we begin with a group intention for a general peace between Iran and the community of nations. We need an end to the deafening rattle of sabers and scimitars that deafens the rational conversation of mutual respect between nations and peoples. Instead, we envision a luxuriant Middle Eastern marketplace of ideas-the fair exchange of personal histories and compatible national hopes for a peaceful future.
--------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, JULY 6th
We let democracy decide this month's topic (though it was a very close election). Many thanks to those few who left a comment on the new monthly prayer request page.
ZIMBABWE'S STOLEN ELECTIONS
It is hard enough to bear the insult of a nation whose people live without freedom, but it is absolutely deplorable for the leaders of Zimbabwe to torture, threaten, imprison, and murder their own countrymen into a false show of democracy in thoroughly un-free elections. This month, we direct our meditations toward South Africa and the other countries that are neighbors to Zimbabwe, praying that a coalition - a brother- and sisterhood - of African nations will peacefully influence an end to Mugabe's long and merciless reign over the country he once liberated.
--------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, JUNE 29: KENYA'S SUFFERING CHILDREN
6/26/2008: Monica from Round Rock, TX writes, "I would like to suggest us praying for the Children in Kenya who are being kidnapped, abused, and tortured. I believe we need to pray for us, the world, to stop abusing and taking advantage of one another especially those who are so venerable and depend on us. Please, let's come together like we do in prayer every Sunday and pray for these innocent children who are in a living hell. Here is a link to the article that explains more in detail their situation. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080625/ap_on_re_af/kenya_children_in_crossfire
Thank you, Monica A.
--------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, JUNE 22: WORLDWIDE OIL CRISIS
This week we ask that you direct your Sunday intentions to the escalating oil crisis - which is more than an unpleasant increase in the cost of living, it threatens to suddenly topple the world's fundamental mode of operations for dependable food, livable economies, and stable governments - by praying that the necessary solutions for today's needs and for freedom from conflict in future years be sensibly adopted.
6/11/2008: Lourdes from Spain writes, "For next Sunday, I propose, if all are in agreement, to pray for a positive solution for the highest good of all, to the increasing price of oil which is causing chaos and conflict world over. The whole of Spain is affected by a "strike" of truck drivers because of the increase of the price of "Gas oil". My hometown is already without petrol and no goods are coming in. Serious conflicts are also happening all over because of the same. Thanking you always for your kind attention and prayers. Blessings, Lourdes."
--------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, JUNE 15th: THE ALBINOS IN TANZANIA
Desperation convinces us to believe the most unlikely promises and drives us to cross moral boundaries we would otherwise never step anywhere near. This week, we pray for the Albino citizens of Tanzania who are being murdered for the supposed magic of their skins, that the country's legal efforts to protect them may succeed, and that the country can bring itself out of such desperate hungers and fear as would make Tanzanians willing accomplices to murder.
Read the article in last Sunday's New York Times
--------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, JUNE 1st: MONTHLY TOPIC
World Food Crisis
Only when our basic needs are met can we readily step outside of ourselves and offer our care and concern to others. Even where cyclones and earthquakes haven't made the situation all that much worse, a perfect storm of problems has driven basic food prices upward at a dangerous rate, driving people across the world to the brink of starvation. This Sunday we ask the group to concentrate their intentions on a fair distribution of food to all the people of the world so that none may starve and each of us will have the energy to care for our brothers and sisters.
--------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MAY 25th: WEEKLY TOPIC
More Help for Burma's Cyclone Victims
Excerpt from the BBC News:
Friday, 23 May 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7415873.stm
" ...The UN estimates that only a quarter of the 2.5m Burmese affected by the cyclone have received the help they need.
The Red Cross has said that in districts further south-west of those shown to Mr Ban, waterways were still clogged with corpses and that many people had received no aid.
One foreign doctor told the BBC many were drinking water from puddles, while children and old people were suffering from dysentery, dengue fever and dehydration.
The generals have agreed that some UN helicopters can join the aid effort, but British, French and American naval vessels are still standing by off the Irrawaddy Delta, having been refused access to the area...."
--------------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MAY 18: WEEKLY TOPIC
China Quake Victims
Lourdes writes, "Hello everyone. Whilst we are all still in shock because of the terrible devastation caused by the cyclone in Myanmar, China is also suffering the consequences and effect of an earthquake. I propose we unite in prayer for the victims of the earthquake. Once again thanking you for your kind attention and my sincere blessings to everyone. Peace love and light, Lourdes"
--------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MAY 11: WEEKLY TOPIC
Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone
5/7/2008: Lourdes writes, "Hello everyone. I propose that we pray for everyone affected by the devastating effects of the Cyclone, including those who failed to warn the people that a cyclone was about to hit causing even greater devastation.
With my sincere best wishes and blessings to all Lightworkers of Earth Clinic.
Lourdes"
ADDITIONAL TOPIC:
5/2/2008: Merry S writes, "Late but hopefully people would be open to this topic for the next prayer session: A day of gratitude where we pray all day long in appreciation for all that we have - it can be little things that we are grateful for such as the ability to wash our clothes or as big as thanking the earth for all it gives us. Of course we are all thankful for family and friends. I believe when we focus on the good then more good will come to us. I'm so appreciative of Earth Clinic and for all the healing your communication provides for us all. Thank you!"
--------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MAY 4th: MONTHLY TOPIC
Our group members had a host of topic suggestions this month. There were so many different issues needing prayer and all of them so worthy of our attention, it has been difficult to distill a single intention for our Sunday Group. The world is full of challenges, and it can be saddening just to read the number of prayer requests that have been posted. We don't like to see the evil of the world.
But look at the blessing we have in our international community of prayer, banding together across the miles and the differences between us, in an era when those divisions seem smaller by the day. What an amazing group!
Still, we look at the news and know that childhoods have been stolen by cultists in Texas and a deranged father in Austria, while young people choose violence in New Zealand, Southern California, and Chicago. American politics fixates on the hatred of small, angry voices of racial division. A single man once seen as Zimbabwe's savior has grown into a rapacious monster. Even our attempts to do right and use fuels that are safer for the planet cause families in Haiti to go hungry. More than ever, we can see that we are all united - alike in our pains as in our shared pleasures.
With all of that in mind, this week we meditate on the need for strength, in our group and in like-minded people, to look into the hatred, poverty, and sorrow in the world. This Sunday, we ask the group to pray for truth, that its light shine ever deeper into the darkness of selfishness and fear.
--------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, APRIL 27th - WEEKLY
World Hunger
Many thanks to Monica A. for sending us the following news article, Silent tsunami of hunger threatens world: WFP
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/04/22/un-world-food.html
--------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, APRIL 20th - WEEKLY
Prayers for the Animals and the Children
4/12/2008: Venita from Sheridan, USA writes: "Hello Everyone, I would like to suggest "Blessing the Beasts and the Children" for a prayer topic. They are the souls who are most vulnerable to physical, psychological, and mental abuse at any given moment in time. They need prayers all the time.
Love and thanks to all. Venita"
--------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, APRIL 13th - WEEKLY
The Energy Crisis:
4/10/2008: Amanda from Salt Lake City, UT writes: "There is something I would like to add to the topics the prayer group is focusing on: a prayer for individuals, corporations and governments put more focus on finding and using sustainable, environmentally friendly energy sources.
Gas and oil prices keep going up http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/
and there seems to be no sign that they will go back down. This drives up the cost of everything, and is making life more difficult for people.
There are alternatives but people need to know about them, and need to put pressure on governments and corporations to perfect these new technologies and make them more widely available:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/SuperModels/Shucktheethanol
I hope we can find some time in our prayers/meditation to focus on finding solutions to the energy crisis, so that we can continue having power for our homes, transportation, etc; but do it in a sustainable way that does not damage the environment and contribute to global warming."
--------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MARCH 23 - APRIL 6th
TIBET:
In this first week of spring, the season of renewal, let us please join in prayer for a restoration of peace in Tibet and neighboring provinces. We pray that the Dalai Lama's influence will calm the protests and that China's government will moderate its response in order to open a renewed germination of peace between the two peoples.
HAPPY EASTER!!
----------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MARCH 16th - WEEKLY
IRAN
3/15/2008: Tracy E writes, "Iran is a cause for concern - this is an excellent place to focus energy. I would just like to make sure that we keep our energy focused in a positive yet powerful place... May I just suggest that we pray for peace between us and Iran & Iraq instead of praying for 'no war'. I think it was Mother Theresa that said, "I will never attend an anti-war rally, invite me to a peace rally and I will come." I truly believe that when you come at any problem from a positive angel it is resolved much faster. Just a thought... Much Love, Tracy
3/14/2008: Amanda writes: "I've enjoyed participating in the prayer group. Sometimes it seems that things in the world are so bad that all I can do is pray for help.
Today I read a disturbing article in the NY Times online:
Admiral Fallon, the man who famously said that an attack on Iran would "not happen on my watch" was just "retired". Now, he is no longer on the watch.
Things are bad enough already--too many lives have been lost in the Iraq war, and it is also partially responsible for the problems in the US economy. A war with Iran would make things even worse, and not just for the US, but the entire world. I think a US attack on Iran could spiral out of control and become World War 3.
I am so scared. I think we should all pray that that there will be no war with Iran, and for an end to the Iraq war (and all war for that matter). And I think we should do it sooner rather than later. Thanks, Amanda"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MARCH 9th - WEEKLY
PRAYERS REGARDING THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS.
Two excellent articles for review:
From the Economist Print Edition
December 6th, 2007
Rising food prices are a threat to many; they also present the world with an enormous opportunity
From THE TIMES ONLINE
March 7, 2008
Lewis Smith and Francis Elliott
Rush for biofuels threatens starvation on a global scale
UN sees more people going hungry in Philippines as rice prices soar
by Cecil Morella Fri Mar 7, 1:25 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080307/hl_afp/philippinesfarmriceunaid_080307182506
-------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, MARCH 2ND: MONTHLY
2 topics were chosen by our prayer group (2050 members this month): Prayers for the Returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, and Prayers for Peace and Stability in Kosovo.
2/22/2008: Karen B. from St. Wendel, IN writes, "Soldiers coming back from Iraq and mentally decompressing: So many of our boys are having a hard time, returning to their sweet selves after they have had to callous up to be a soldier of war. I feel so sorry for them. I am sure some of their actions are hard for them to let go."
2/23/2008: Denise S. writes, "I think that next Sunday's large prayer group topic should be the struggle and turmoil going on in Kosovo right now."
--------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th: WEEKLY
PART 1: PROTECTION FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
2/20/2008: Gail S. from Santa Monica, CA emails, "I would like to request the group pray for the safety of the U.S. presidential candidates, especially Obama. No matter what your political beliefs are, he seems at risk both from history, and from all the very excessively profitable interests that he is confronting. An acquaintance of mine in St. Louis told me he went to an Obama rally recently in a huge venue. When he had attended other events at this same venue (sorry, I didn't learn the name of the venue) metal detectors were used to screen people, but not at the Obama rally. So for many reasons, we should now be very concerned about his protection and safety and that of all the candidates.
PART 2: NATIONAL DEBT OF TRILLIONS
Gail goes on to write, "I would also like to suggest that the group pray about how we can eliminate the trillions of dollars of debt that now threatens the US with complete bankruptcy. Just to give an idea, I was told this week by a state politician that every man, woman and child in the United States now owes at least $400,000 EACH to pay this debt that is growing by the minute because of the Iraq war. When Bill Clinton left office, we had a surplus of $250 million dollars and the national debt was completely paid. So in just this 7 years of the Bush administration, we have gone from a surplus to a debt of trillions with no plan of how to pay it back. The war is costing us 2 billion dollars per week. We desperately need prayers to address this looming financial crisis which will effect all Americans when it happens.
Former Senator Sam Nunn was on Charlie Rose last week discussing this very scenario and he said that by 2020, all the United States will be able to pay is only the interest on this debt, Social Security and Medicare. We won't have another penny for anything else. He goes on to say that no one is addressing this and there is no news coverage of it.
We need to make this public and start praying very sincerely for a solution."
-----------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2008: MONTHLY TOPIC
A giant THANK YOU to everyone who wrote in topic suggestions for Sunday's session. Tallying up the greatest # of votes, we were able to pick 2 topics for Sunday.
TOPIC #1. PRAYERS FOR THE 2008 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS:
Per Pam: "The thing most on my mind lately is for the US to have a new president who will work to bring peace, love, harmony, healing, and unity to our country and to the world. Pam"
TOPIC #2: PRAYERS FOR THE POOR PEOPLE OF HAITI:
Per Monica: "There was an article on the news about how poor people from Haiti eat dirt cookies made of dirt and shortening because of the high prices of food and their $2/day salary. This place has not yet being declared a state of emergency but I believe it is. This food is being given to children and whole families as the main source of food, sometimes three times a day. I believe organizing a prayer group for them is the least we can at the moment. Let's all join together and pray for them. Please let me know if you agree and if you do, what date and time can we do this"
News Article on Haiti http://www.maltastar.com/pages/msFullArt.asp?an=18446
SUNDAY, JANUARY 27th WEEKLY TOPIC: PRAYERS TO QUELL THE TERRIBLE VIOLENCE AND UNREST IN KENYA
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080125/ap_on_re_af/kenya_election_violence
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7210310.stm
-----------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, JANUARY 6th MONTHLY TOPIC: 2008 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
It seems like the election cycle will never end, but these next several weeks may very well decide the presidential election, so we need to keep our energy and our attention sharp. This Sunday, we ask our members to direct their prayer intentions toward the 2008 U.S. Presidential Elections. We ask that you envision the ideal of leadership and goodness in order to guide the very best candidate, for the U.S and for the world, to an election victory.
-----------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16th WEEKLY TOPIC: PRAYERS FOR THE USA & JAPAN TO GET ON BOARD WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD AND AGREE TO REDUCE EMISSIONS NEEDED TO REIN IN GLOBAL WARMING
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/environment/2007-12-13-gore-climate_N.htm
December 13, 2007 "BALI, Indonesia (AP) - Former vice president Al Gore said Thursday the United States is "principally responsible" for blocking progress at the U.N. climate conference, and European nations threatened to boycott U.S.-led climate talks next month unless Washington compromises on emissions reductions.
Gore urged delegates at the conference to take urgent action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
"My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali," said Gore, who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for helping alert the world to the danger of climate change.
The United States, Japan and several other governments refuse to accept language in a draft document suggesting that industrialized nations consider cutting emissions by 25% to 40% by 2020, saying specific targets would limit the scope of future talks.
The European Union and others say the figures reflect the measures scientists say are needed to rein in global warming and head off predictions of rising sea levels, worsening floods and droughts, and the extinction of plant and animal species.
"No result in Bali means no Major Economies Meeting," said Sigmar Gabriel, top EU environment official from Germany, referring to a series of separate climate talks initiated by President Bush in September. "This is the clear position of the EU. I do not know what we should talk about if there is no target."
The U.S. invited 16 other major economies, including European countries, Japan, China and India, to discuss a program of what are expected to be nationally determined, voluntary cutbacks in greenhouse gas emissions.
The Bush administration views the major economies process as the main vehicle for determining future steps by the U.S. - and it hopes by others - to slow emissions. But environmentalists accuse the U.S. of trying to undermine the U.N. process.
The talks in Bali are scheduled to wrap up Friday."
MORE ARTICLES: 2007 Among the Warmest Years on Record
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2007-12-13-2007-temperature_N.htm
-----------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2007: MONTHLY GROUP SESSION
You'll hear no alarm bells, see no flashing lights or speeding rescue trucks to get our hearts racing, but the world's scientists have declared that there is a planetary emergency, and they're right.
This Sunday, please pray that each of us will take up our particular responsibility to the global environment on which we all depend. The time is right, with the new Australian government pledged to come on board with Kyoto, the UN IPCC issuing its alarming cumulative report, and a new round of international environmental talks slated to begin at the end of this week in Bali.
This Sunday our group will pray that leaders and citizens on every level will begin to take more ambitious and consistent action so that the family's recycling will inspire the city to set aside more park space, which the state can support with green cities funding, as a model of effort for our national leaders to take to Indonesia where all the countries of the world can take up the cause.
-----------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18: PRAYERS FOR THE BANGLADESH CYCLONE VICTIMS http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071118/ap_on_re_as/bangladesh_cyclone
By PARVEEN AHMED, Associated Press Writer
"BARGUNA, Bangladesh - The death toll from Bangladesh's most devastating storm in a decade climbed to at least 2,300 on Sunday and relief officials warned the figure could jump sharply as rescuers reach more isolated areas. Teams from international aid organizations worked with army troops in a massive rescue effort that drew help from around the world. Rescue workers cleared roads of fallen trees and twisted roofs to reach remote villages, but tents, rice, water and other relief items were slow to arrive. Hungry survivors, thousands of whom were left homeless, scrambled for food..."
Please direct prayers to the survivors of this devastating cyclone.
-----------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11th ---- WEEKLY GROUP FOCUS
PAKISTAN
On Sunday, November 11, 2007, we would like to continue our prayers for peace and stability in Pakistan, and also for the release of all prisoners including judges, lawyers, political workers, civil society activists and media persons.
-----------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4th -- MONTHLY GROUP
WORLDWIDE REFUGEES
Many thanks to our new member Janet L. for suggesting Sunday's topic: praying for the huge number of refugees all over the world.
Statistical Snapshot as of 12/31/2006:
Total Number of Refugees and Asylum Seekers: 13.9 million
New Refugees and Asylum Seekers: 1.1 million
Refugees Warehoused 5 years or more: 8.8 million
Total Number of Refugees Resettled: 69.4 thousand
Source and Further Research: http://www.refugees.org/article.aspx?id=1942
We will send out an email Monday morning with a link to our feedback survey. At the end of the survey there will be a comments box where you can describe the visions and insights received during your prayer or meditation session.
-----------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28th -- WEEKLY GROUP FOCUS
WILDFIRES
We would like to continue to pray on the wildfires raging across Southern California. The Santa Ana winds did cease last Wednesday, but we would to pray for the safety of thousands of firefighters risking their lives each day, as well as for the hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced by these fires.
MYANMAR
50 activists were recently released in Myanmar. Let's pray for the continued safety and release of the pro-democracy protesters.
-----------------------------------------------------
MONDAY, OCTOBER 22 -- TO WEEKLY AND MONTHLY GROUPS
IMMEDIATE PRAYERS NEEDED FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES
We have received an emergency request for the group to immediately pray on the wildfires raging across Southern California. We would like to request that all 1,700+ members of our Prayer Group pray today specifically for: a) the Santa Ana winds to cease for the next 5 days; and b) a powerful rainfall to douse the wildfires within the next 24-48 hours, if not before.
About Santa Ana winds: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana_wind
About Southern California Wildfires: http://www.latimes.com/
-----------------------------------------------------
OCTOBER 21st -- WEEKLY GROUP PRAYER FOCUS
Sunday's prayer focus session has 2 topics:
PAKISTAN
Prayers for healing and peace in Pakistan following the suicide bombing of Benazir Bhutto's homecoming parade which left 136 people dead and countless more wounded.
SOUTHEAST USA
More prayers for rain in Southeast USA and the West Coast. Please consider focusing your prayers on persistent rainfall to fill Lake Lanier. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1674054,00.html
By: AP/Greg Bluestein
..."More than a quarter of the Southeast is covered by an "exceptional" drought - the National Weather Service's worst drought category. Georgia is smack in the middle of the affected area, which extends like a dark cloud over most of Tennessee, Alabama and the northern half of Georgia, as well as parts of North and South Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia.
State officials warn that Lake Lanier, a 38,000-acre north Georgia reservoir that supplies more than 3 million residents with water, is already less than three months from depletion. Smaller reservoirs are dropping even lower, forcing local governments to consider rationing."
..."Scorching summer temperatures and a drier-than-normal hurricane season fueled the drought. State climatologist David Stooksbury, who said it will take months of above average rainfall to replenish the system, is now predicting the drought could worsen if "La Nina" conditions develop and bring little winter rainfall.
"I tell people we need 40 days and 40 nights," he said with a sigh."
-----------------------------------
OCTOBER 14th -- WEEKLY GROUP PRAYER FOCUS
October 14th's prayer focus topic for the weekly group is based upon last Sunday's deeply disturbing New York Times front page article, "Rape Epidemic Raises Trauma of Congo War" by Jeffrey Gettleman. Our sisters in Eastern Congo need immediate and ongoing prayers of strength, healing, recovery, compassion, protection, and an end to their immeasurable suffering.
Warning: The following excerpt from the New York Times article is an important but agonizing read. Please proceed with caution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/world/africa/07congo.html
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Published: October 7, 2007
BUKAVU, Congo - Denis Mukwege, a Congolese gynecologist, cannot bear to listen to the stories his patients tell him anymore.
Every day, 10 new women and girls who have been raped show up at his hospital. Many have been so sadistically attacked from the inside out, butchered by bayonets and assaulted with chunks of wood, that their reproductive and digestive systems are beyond repair.
"We don't know why these rapes are happening, but one thing is clear," said Dr. Mukwege, who works in South Kivu Province, the epicenter of Congo's rape epidemic. "They are done to destroy women."
Eastern Congo is going through another one of its convulsions of violence, and this time it seems that women are being systematically attacked on a scale never before seen here. According to the United Nations, 27,000 sexual assaults were reported in 2006 in South Kivu Province alone, and that may be just a fraction of the total number across the country.
"The sexual violence in Congo is the worst in the world," said John Holmes, the United Nations under secretary general for humanitarian affairs. "The sheer numbers, the wholesale brutality, the culture of impunity - it's appalling.
--------------------------------------------------
PRIOR TOPICS:
Sunday, October 7th -- monthly group (1,650 participants)
Part 1: Prayers of hope, protection and strength to the people of Myanmar and to the hundreds of Buddhist monks & nuns who were reportedly imprisoned after last week's demonstrations.
Part 2: Prayers for rain in drought-stricken areas around the USA and world.
WORLD DROUGHT MONITOR: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2007/sep/hazards.html
Summary: "Across the United States, severe to extreme drought conditions persisted throughout much of the western U.S., the Southeast region, and parts of Minnesota. Exceptional drought endured in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, North and South Carolina. On September 25, 63% of the western U.S. was in moderate to exceptional drought, 77% in the Southeast, and 44% for the contiguous U.S., according to the Federal U.S. Drought Monitor.
Across southern areas of the state of California, 25 fatalities were attributed to a heat wave that prompted temperatures to soar past the 40°C (104°F). The excessive heat resulted in the declaration of an 'electrical emergency' by energy officials during the week of Sept 2 and thus left about 55,000 people without electricity for two days (BBC News)."
THE US DROUGHT MONITOR:
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
THE NORTH AMERICAN DROUGHT MONITOR: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/monitoring/drought/nadm/nadm-200708.jpg
-----------------------------------------
Sunday,September 9th: The tragedy of 9/11 was no misunderstanding. It would be wrong and demeaning to suggest so, but failure or refusal to understand was at its root and has continued to be its widespread consequence. This Sunday we call our expanding group of 1,570 members together to meditate on the possibility and the reality of peace. Please concentrate your prayers on inspiring the patient understanding in all our world leaders - elected officials, powerful groups, and inspired individuals - that will be required to guide us to that greater peace.
-----------------------------------------
Sunday, August 31st: Immediate Prayers Needed for Wildfires in Greece. Heat wave and high winds forecast for the weekend, fueling fear of more devastating wildfires. Map of area with wildfires here.
9/3/2007: See latest update for Monday, September 3rd.
-----------------------------------------
Sunday August 26th: Prayers to address global warming (weekly group). We ask that our prayers inspire people around the world to engage in conversation, reflection, commitment, and personal action concerning the threat to our planet posed by global warming.
-----------------------------------------
Sunday, August 19th: 1. Utah Mine Tragedy: Prayers for the miners, their rescuers and their families. 2. Prayers for the victims of the 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Peru. 3. Keeping watch on Hurricane Dean. (weekly group)
-----------------------------------------
Sunday, August 12th: Prayers for the Earth. See prayer vision from Rolling Thunder. Also, prayers to end the drought in Southeast USA, round 2.
-----------------------------------------
Sunday, August 5th: Immediate prayers for the safe and peaceful release of the 21 remaining South Korean hostages in Afghanistan (monthly group).
-----------------------------------------
Sunday, July 29th: Prayers for the Animal Kingdom (after the Michael Vick's dog abuse case)
-----------------------------------------
Sunday, July 22nd: focusing on time zones and group connection (weekly group).
-----------------------------------------
Sunday, July 15th: Quelling 60+ wildfires in Western USA (weekly group).
-----------------------------------------
Sunday, July 8th: Topic of Terrorism: Creating calm in hearts and minds of all (monthly group)
-----------------------------------------
Sunday, July 1st: Drought in Southeast USA (weekly group)
Sunday, June 24th: Gaza (weekly group)
Sunday, June 17th: Iraq (weekly group)
Sunday, June 3rd: Darfur #2 (weekly group)
Sunday, May 27th: Quelling raging wildfires in GA and FL (monthly group)
Sunday, March 18th: Darfur (monthly group -- This session was the first of the group.)
PLEASE CONTACT US WITH
COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/FEEDBACK
OTHER PAGES OF INTEREST
Prayers that Heal
Rolling Thunder's Prayer for the World
