Sunday, September 11, 2016

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE celebrations in Geelong 2016

Friday 9th September at City Hall, Geelong we celebrated the United Nations Declared day of Peace. Officially the day is always 21st September, but people can honour this either side in whatever way peacefully extols the virtues of peace.
It was delightful sharing at City Hall and through the streets of central Geelong, with a tasty refreshment segment at the end. My photos are not too good indoors but give an idea of the beautiful setting. See Facebook for plenty more.


 Guest Speaker Chagai


Members of various communities joined, including Karenni, Nepalese, Sudanese, Geelong Interfaith, COGG (City of Greater Geelong) representatives, Victoria Police, etc. About fifty joined us here.The Geelong Interfaith Network always takes part in the UN IDP. This year the Karenni (in red) led the procession through the streets of Geelong with gongs and cymbals.




Jenny brought the large set of handmade flags of all the nations in the UN with smaller ones used in the parade. A beautiful room display was set up, creating an intimate, welcoming atmosphere. The City Peace Pole happened to be in the room too so we used it.
We chose to not take the big flags on the walk as we’d had a lot of rain and weren’t sure it wouldn’t rain again while we were out. The small flags could be sheltered under clothing if need be. As it turned out, we were blessed with no rain until after we returned to City Hall.
The City of Greater Geelong provided the venue and the local police helped with moving through the streets. Jenny and Veema Mooniapah are the main force behind the IDP being so successful each year. Report by Randall Apps & Jenny Funston

SYMPHONY OF PEACE PRAYERS 2016


Symphony of Peace Prayers Geelong Sunday May 15th 2016

We had a beautiful, joyful, oneness ceremony. The vibration/energy for the 2016 SOPP was the most powerful I have felt here. This year we had twelve beautiful prayer presenters mainly from Geelong Interfaith Network, representing Christian, Baha’i, Buddhist, Hari Krishna, Hindu, Byakko Shinko Kai, Sikh, Muslim-Sunni, Jewish, Spiritualist, UPF & Church of Latter Day Saints. I felt their hearts were really open to connecting throughout the ceremony and found that my own heart opened more and more to love as I listened to and then shared each prayer.
A vital essence of SOPP is being part of the simple act of religious & spiritual leaders and participants praying the prayers of other faiths, thus sending a powerful message of tolerance and harmony to all.

In this moment, it is to remember the LOVE you feel in your heart for your faith, then…for a short moment, step into that LOVE space that resides within the heart of the individual faith presenter.

This is a powerful movement towards saying to another within our heart;
 ‘I respect your belief, I acknowledge our sameness & our differences in ONENESS and I thank you for the sharing.’
Other participants appeared to enjoy the whole proceedings immensely with the majority joining us for afternoon tea and reflection. One gentleman from Interfaith said to me, ‘I love coming to your events!’
For our ‘Soul of WoMen’ quiet meditation, each person wrote the word for them that most embraced the 'divine feminine'. They then presented this to the gathering, saying their word, then pinning their sheet on the board.


The Bollywood Dancers again graced our SOPP, with their vibrant energy and obvious love of life.

The flag ceremony is always a highlight, joyfully joined by all participants if able bodied, as we prayed for all world nations and regions in the world.



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