Sunrise (RE)Commitment Ceremony
About 300 or so folks poured onto Ocean Beach this morning before the sun rose, while the beautiful full blue moon was still glowing directly above the water through porous misty clouds.
By the time we arrived from the East Bay, Dara and Gloria had already staked out the beach and claimed for us the most beautiful fire pit, opening like a giant flower, the vessel of our sunrise commitment flames.
Even though we were prepared for the typical dawn chill on the Pacific Ocean, the air was so warm, we swiftly removed down jackets, bulky wool sweaters, hot pink gloves, and lay blankets aside. Believe it or not, there was NO ocean wind so we were able to plant the banners “RESIST” and “REFUSE” right into the sand for the duration of the ceremony.
As the moon slipped into the ocean, the skies brightened even more, signaling the rising of the sun – a sun we couldn’t see but could certainly feel.
We began the (RE)Commitment Ceremony by introducing ourselves, as there were two visiting journalists from Iran: one an AP reporter, the other an amazing photojournalist, Minoosh, who has traveled with us before.
Kayla led us in an inspiring grounding ceremony and burnt white sage to cleanse, heal and restore us.
Then we all picked a log to represent those forces keeping us from working actively to END WAR, and one by one, tossed the log with our barriers into the blaze.
We then each spoke our one deepest desire to END WAR that we wanted to commit to for the New Year, and each took a turn to speak that one desire several times, out loud, using different words, to each other around the circle.
We concluded our circle singing both Om Shanti Om and “Circle Round”. We shared hot apple cider that Sousan brought, and toasted Noah’s bagels over the fire before leaving the wonderful Ocean Beach and our Sunrise (RE)Commitment Ceremony.
Most of the 300 folks were there on the beach this morning to submerge themselves in the ocean, and not in their commitment to ending war. Yet our individual commitments felt like the energy of hundreds if not thousands!
May this year be our year of resistance! Together we WILL BLOCK Funding for the SURGE!
By the time we arrived from the East Bay, Dara and Gloria had already staked out the beach and claimed for us the most beautiful fire pit, opening like a giant flower, the vessel of our sunrise commitment flames.
Even though we were prepared for the typical dawn chill on the Pacific Ocean, the air was so warm, we swiftly removed down jackets, bulky wool sweaters, hot pink gloves, and lay blankets aside. Believe it or not, there was NO ocean wind so we were able to plant the banners “RESIST” and “REFUSE” right into the sand for the duration of the ceremony.
As the moon slipped into the ocean, the skies brightened even more, signaling the rising of the sun – a sun we couldn’t see but could certainly feel.
We began the (RE)Commitment Ceremony by introducing ourselves, as there were two visiting journalists from Iran: one an AP reporter, the other an amazing photojournalist, Minoosh, who has traveled with us before.
Kayla led us in an inspiring grounding ceremony and burnt white sage to cleanse, heal and restore us.
Then we all picked a log to represent those forces keeping us from working actively to END WAR, and one by one, tossed the log with our barriers into the blaze.
We then each spoke our one deepest desire to END WAR that we wanted to commit to for the New Year, and each took a turn to speak that one desire several times, out loud, using different words, to each other around the circle.
We concluded our circle singing both Om Shanti Om and “Circle Round”. We shared hot apple cider that Sousan brought, and toasted Noah’s bagels over the fire before leaving the wonderful Ocean Beach and our Sunrise (RE)Commitment Ceremony.
Most of the 300 folks were there on the beach this morning to submerge themselves in the ocean, and not in their commitment to ending war. Yet our individual commitments felt like the energy of hundreds if not thousands!
May this year be our year of resistance! Together we WILL BLOCK Funding for the SURGE!
posted by Xan @ 10:38 AM
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