Free the Captives: Witness Against Illegal Detention and Torture

This time of year, many letters go out with holiday wishes and glad tidings, but one letter expresses our concerns very well: "My wishes for this Christmas season include the release of my four friends and other captives in Iraq, that troops stationed here will be reunited with their families soon, and that Iraqis will be able to find the peace that has eluded their country for so long." As the air is shaken by voices singing "Peace on earth and mercy mild" we turn to a reflection on the Peaceable Realm written by our friend Tom Fox on the day before he was abducted:

... Why are we here?

If I understand the message of God, his response to that question is that we are to take part in the creation of the Peaceable Realm of God. Again, if I understand the message of God, how we take part in the creation of this realm is to love God with all our heart, our mind and our strength and to love our neighbors and enemies as we love God and ourselves. In its essential form, different aspects of love bring about the creation of the realm. [...]

Why are we here? We are here to root out all aspects of dehumanization that exist within us. We are here to stand with those being dehumanized by oppressors and stand firm against that dehumanization. We are here to stop people, including ourselves, from dehumanizing any of God's children, no matter how much they dehumanize their own souls.

Tom's home meeting is inaugurating the Christmas season with a series of interfaith prayer vigils to support Tom Fox, CPT, and peacemakers around the world. Other public vigils are listed here; if you know of other prayer services focusing on this concern, please add it to the directory so that others may attend.