Craigen Healy reflects on silence at the Women in Black vigil

I love the silence. It is a vital part of the experience for me because, as our flyer states, no words can express the horrors of war, whereas silence speaks in a way everyone can understand.
Beyond silence I treasure the personal opportunity for prayer and meditation. Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies. This time of vigil focuses my mind for such prayer. I silently pray for those who plan terrorist acts against the US and for political leaders of our country and others whose goals make them my enemies in the competition for decision-making power in the world. I also pray for the healing of men, women and children whose losses in war make them sad, injured, vulnerable. I have meditated on Jesus' words, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God," and prayed for guidance to become a peacemaker.

The view of Main St., Farmington flows through my inner conversations with God and myself. I enjoy watching people come and go. Highlights in this panorama have come in the words some passsersby speak to us: The nurse who kept apologizing for parking between us and the traffic, the man who shouted, "If you want freedom you have to fight for it!", the old veteran with the crutches who told us he had "been this way for 57 years because of war," the several women who have thanked us for being there for them—these words into our silence have been very meaningful to me.

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