Marya Mann : Blog : Why Do We Make And Bless Peace Flags?

Why Do We Make and Bless Peace Flags?

Aloha, Friends!

To our shared collective blessings, we bow.

In this moment, this day, this year, we have much to integrate, accept, and appreciate. Let us count the ways and share our blessings for the children!

You are invited to cultivate a sense of gratitude for vigorous new levels of peace, joy, and contentment, to manifest the new Earth we envision. Please come to celebrate your infinite love at a Peace Flag Blessing Ceremony and Exhibit — in person or from afar — at 10 am HST on Sunday, November 27th.

The Blessing Ceremony centers around new Peace Flags created by Hawaiian children, families, and artists as gifts for the children of Uvalde, Texas; Kyiv, Ukraine; and other troubled areas.

A few months ago, I wrote to you about the “ripple effect,” and how many indigenous, classical, and modern wisdom traditions affirm what Thich Nhat Hanh calls our “inter-being.” When we make Blessing Banners and Handmade Flags that wave in the wind, our peaceful intentions ripple out into the world. It’s like magic. But it’s actually good science and benefits the makers and givers as much as viewers and receivers.

I’ll share details of the event in a minute, but first I want to tell you a young girl’s story. During the wonderful Holiday Festival at Hale Halawai in downtown Kailua last week, one of the children, an 8 or 9-year-old visiting with her parents from Vancouver, stopped at our painting booth. Her deft hands drew a skillful set of lines on the silk. Coloring came easily to her. I commented on her talent, and she said she loved our vision for a peaceful world.

“I really like that you are sending Flags to places with violence and trauma. But,” she said, “violence is everywhere now. You’ll have to send them to more places than Texas and Ukraine. What about Afghanistan and Israel?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“That’s a lot of places. How is that possible?” she said.

“We just keep making peace flags and eventually more people will be making them and the world will be so full of them that peace will fill the air.”

“But how do you take them everywhere they’re needed?” she said as she put the finishing touches on her take-home silk painting. I helped her get started on another flag she wanted to make for Ukrainians.

“Well, you’re creating something when you’re painting, making something new possible. And you could help. When you’re finished with your flags, could you write down a list of places that need Peace Flags?”

She finished her gift of art — a gold foreground, pink and blue dots, and inscribed with the words: “Everything will be alright.” Then she made her list: Pakistan, New Brunswick, Ukraine, Israel, Afghanistan, Texas. That was just off the top of an 8-year-old’s head.

It could just as easily have included Yemen, Palestine, and Colorado Springs.

Thankfully, the number of war deaths has been declining since 1946. And yet, conflict and violence are rising, with devastating effects. More than 1 in 10 children worldwide are affected by the danger, toxic stress, and long-term health consequences of trauma and war. The U. S. has been active in 107 wars since its inception, and today, the U.S. is involved in from 27 to 143 active ongoing conflicts, depending on whether it’s reported by The Stars and Stripes of Mother Jones. These statistics don’t even include domestic and street violence, school shootings, and terrorist actions, which often stem from the post-traumatic-stress of being children of war and children of veterans of war.

As a supporter of Climate Healing, you may already know that militaries worldwide produce more greenhouse gases than all but three countries, and that the U. S. Department of Defense accounts for nearly 80% of the federal government’s fuel consumption and pollution. The irony here is that many conflicts today are waged to obtain more access to fossil fuels to support more combat to obtain more fuel. It’s a real crazy wheel. Most of us, including many military combatants, would like to step away from the paradign of war to a paradigm of peace and respectful partnership.

How do we turn this insane situation around? It’s what keeps me awake at night — at war with myself in some ways — asking how to regenerate the natural harmony we are capable of. Ultimately, the challenge leads to peace in my own heart — because I choose peace.

The child’s question about making and sending Peace Flags to so many conflicted areas stirred me to think about the vast number of places where disharmony and war are happening. But it’s a finite number of places. And we have infinite hearts that are bigger than the conflicts. Making peace in ourselves happens first. With our simultaneous emphasis on compassion for others, making peace flags wakes up the infinite heart. The peace we are putting into the making of it, the act of making it, and what is made blend in a continuum of peacefulness. And playfulness. We can’t let ourselves get too serious.

We need light hearts for the huge task. But we have started.

And every day we awaken with the knowledge that we all rise or fall on the same river. Your tranquility affects me. My equanimity reaches out to you. Our shared future in this sea of vibration can be full of more sharing and caring and less greed and violence. If you’re reading this, I imagine you’ve already started in your own powerful way.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, World!

EXHIBIT & BLESSING OF PEACE FLAGS
108 Original Banners plus new Arrays for UKRAINE & UVALDE

WHEN: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2022, 10 – 11:30 AM
WHERE: At the NEW THOUGHT CENTER OF HAWAII
Pualani Terrace, 81-6587 Mamalahoa Hwy. Building C302 in Kealakekua
Details and Directions: www.newthoughtcenterofhawaii.com
OR FROM ANYWHERE: Or from anywhere: tune in from wherever you are and share in the quantum magic of our shared hearts! Your intentions and insights matter!

SUNDAY’S TALK STORY BY MARYA:
“CHILDREN OF THE RAINBOW, ARTWAVES, & the RIPPLE EFFECT”

Come together in service to a more beautiful world. Manifest your intentions for peace.
The Hawaiian Legend of the Children of the Rainbow and the Power of 108 are both very old and brand-new concepts, living now inside us and always awakening deeper levels of our awareness. These themes and the colorful silk art of children and adults committed to peace will stir our creative juices.

Please bring your smile, gratitude, and creative spirit! Optional gifts for the Blessing: Gratitude, flowers, dances, and songs will be among the offerings for a Ritual Blessing of our two new Peace Flag arrays made as gifts for the children of Ukraine and Uvalde.

Please spread the good word by sending this brief video to friends!
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The change comes from within and involves a commitment to be a conscious creator rather than an unconscious consumer.

From one creator to another, Mahalo for being YOU!

Namaste,
Marya Mann
For Pacific ArtWavEs