Sr. Ardeth Platte, OP writes from Danbury
Ramblings and Reflections
Newsletter 16
November, 2004
Dear friends,
You have walked with us this far; supported us during district and circuit courts trial and appeal, written to the judge and the president for clemency, shared our story on the internet, in newsprint, and media, in documentaries and TV across the world, continued actions at the missile silos and kept close to us in jails and prisons.
When you read this prayer slowly, you will experience the passion and love, the gift and gratitude in my heart and soul for you in behalf of children.
A PRAYER TO THE GOD OF ALL CHILDREN
O God of the children of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India
Of Israel, Iraq, and Iran, Jerusalem and Jericho
Of South and North Korea, Burundi and Rwanda
Of South Africa, South Carolina, San Francisco and San Antonio
Help us to love and respect and act now to protect them all.
O God of black and brown and white and albino children and those all mixed together
Of children who are rich and poor and in between
Of children who speak English and Russian and Hmong and
Spanish and Chinese and Hebrew and Arabic and languages our ears cannot discern
Help us to love and respect and act now to protect them all.
O God of the child prodigy and child prostitute,
of the child of rapture and the child of rape
Of run or thown away children who struggle every day
without parent or place or friend or future
Help us to love and respect and act now to protect them all.
O God of children who can walk and talk and hear and see
and sing and dance and jump and play
and of children who wish they could but can't
Of children who are loved and unloved, wanted and unwanted
Help us to love and respect and act now to protect them all.
O God of beggar, beaten, abused, neglected, homeless,
AIDS-, drug-, violence-, and hunger-ravaged children,
Of children who are emotionally and physically and mentally fragile, and
Of children who rebel and ridicule, torment and taunt
Help us to love and respect and act now to protect them all.
O God of children of destiny and despair, of war and peace,
Of disfigured, diseased and dying children,
Of children without hope and of children with hope to spare and share
Help us to love and respect and act now to protect them all.
Author unknown (at least to us)
The Peace Libraries: The Danbury shelves in the chapel and multipurpose room reflect an invaluable display of books that will welcome each woman for her stay. Thank you for this new set of books. We are very grateful.
1. Seeking Peace by Johann Cristoph Arnold
2. Lumen Christi Holy Wisdom by Nan C. Merill
3. The Ambushed Grand Jury by Wes McKinley and Caron Balkany
4. Having Our Say, the Delaney Sisters by Sarah L. Delaney and A. Elizabeth Delaney
5. A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines
6. Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook
7. Women of Power by Laurel King
8. Cries of the Spirit edited by Marilyn Sewell
9. Testimony, The Word Made F resh by Daniel Berrigan
10. Jihad bil Qalam edited by Marc Beaudin
11. Where God Learns by Rusty C. Moe
12. Rejoice Beloved Women by Barbara Monda
13. Earth Light Journal for Ecological and Spiritual Living
November Birthday Greetings This is our third November incarcerated so once again I re-member the Jonahs and co-defendants on their special days: Kate Berrigan Nov. 5, Liz McAlister Nov. 17, Jackie Hudson Nov. 19, Kevin Jones Nov. 20, Carol Gilbert Nov. 21, Susan Crane Nov. 22. May you be blessed continually with wisdom, courage, strength, peace, and health. Your lives inspire me. Happy Birthday!
Practicing Advent Prison is a place where I have learned waiting and preparing . The response to any basic need requires waiting in line for: meals, bathroom, laundry and laundry soap, phone, microwave use, commissary, mail, doctor and dentist appointments, visits, various counts (fog, census, standup), chapel use, recreational tapes and machines, various classes, etc.
Waiting allows time for the spiritual growing, pondering and preparing. These imply patience, alertness, renewal, soul-searching, being awake and attentive, spiritual regrouping, yearning and nourishing. Taking advantage of time, this moment, of standing with awesome wonder, of dwelling in the light is what Advent (that begins on Nov. 28 th ) is all about for me. Isaiah 2: 1-5 is the reading for that day. Blessings in Advent.
November 11 Veterans' Day At 11 A.M. on Nov. 11 in 1918, World War I ceased, at the 11 th hour of the 11 th day of the 11 th month. Originally it was known as Armistice Day, called the same by Great Britain and France. Canada called it Remembrance Day. In 1938 Congress passed a bill that each Nov. 11 shall be dedicated to the cause of world peace. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt made Armistice Day a legal holiday in the District of Columbia. For 16 years there were impressive ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, with the placing of a wreath. The American Legion in many communities held parades and religious services, taps sounded, volleys were fired, traffic stopped at 11 A.M. and tribute was paid to the dead.
After World War II, new veterans had less association with WWI. In Emporia, Kansas, on Nov. 11, 1953 instead of an Armistice Day program, there was a Veterans' Day observance and the impact occasioned an act of Congress on May 24, 1954 for a name change to Veterans' Day. (Thanks to Steve Kobasa for your history lesson.)
Some of my Yearnings
I yearn for:
· Nov. 11 to become a Peace Veterans' Day commemorating an end to all hostilities forever by mutual consent
· the Department of War to become a Department of Peace, where civilized nations come together to assure a response to every country's needs
· all the Intelligence Agencies to centralize with specific work for Economic Justice globally
· all collateral damage to be converted into collateral repair (and that human beings never be considered as such again)
· armor to become amor (love)
· pre-emptive strikes to mean turning over lands and resources to people who with their families live and work on the land
· war to be banned and relationships transformed to shalom friendship, contentment, security, health, tranquility, harmony with nature, and sufficient for living
· violence to no longer be considered acceptable and that nonviolence become the life practice and nations' policy
· arsenals to be filled with food and medicines and bunkers with potatoes
· budgets to provide basic necessities
· terms such as kill, murder, sanctions, starve, lie, steal, propaganda to become obsolete and eradicated from vocabulary
· mass transit to connect us all, environment to be protected, water kept clean, communications improved
· prisons to become communal shelters and treatment centers, the razor wire and fences torn down
· new symbols, designed by artists who create music, sculpture, paintings, poetry, mosaics, liturgies that are fitting for the children of God.
· and may our yearnings be acceptable!
Gratitude to Wangari Maathai of Kenya, Nobel Peace Prize winner!
Our Appeal decisions remain with the three Tenth Circuit Court judges. We await their word with peace.
Always grateful,
Ardeth Platte 10857-039
Federal Correction Institution
33 ½ Pembroke Station
Danbury, CT 06811