From the Office of the Moderator
Metropolitan Community Churches
For Immediate Release: 10 December 2009
Today, as the world marks International Human Rights Day and the anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, a document laying the foundation for the pursuits of human rights law around the globe, we of the Christian faith also mark the second week of Advent and reflect on the promise of the prophet Baruch that God will give a new name to the people of God, "Peace-through-Justice."

As political leaders and advocates for justice gather to demand an end to discrimination and violence against human beings marginalized because of diversities, Baruch's promise meets the world's cry for "peace on earth, good will among all."

Baruch's promise comes to a world where people from every nation, creed and culture need the kind of peace that passes all understanding and that can end our conflicts internally and externally. It comes to a world and its people in need of the inner peace of the soul --- the peace inside that will and can manifest itself outside, and that holds the possibility of ending the suffering of so many who live under the ravages of war, hatred, greed and violence.

Our challenges, as people of faith, remain many, I know. As we mark this time dedicated to ending discrimination and bringing peace, however, I am particularly mindful of the recent announcement by the President of the United States, Barack Obama, to escalate troop deployments to Afghanistan in the hope of ending eight years of violence and bloodshed in that part of our world.

I am also mindful of the widespread skeptism about this strategy, and believe that the uneasiness many of us share may in fact be a sign of hope that people who long for peace and who believe in the promise of universal good will are coming to doubt the efficacy of war or the promises of violence. I am hoping that the unsettled feeling many of us share, is a sign of our developing belief that violence on all levels --- interpersonal, communal and global --- can and must end. And I am praying that the violence Jesus was born into and that continues to claim so many victims --- poverty --- will become our collective battlefront. I am praying today that, as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has urged, we will join hands around the globe and commit to living together in equity and peace.

I am mindful and grateful for the fact that there are more organizations and individuals engaged in serious peacemaking than ever in the history of the world. More people give more time and money and resources to pursuing peace than ever before.

Many of us no longer believe that war or its resulting devastation and impoverishment are inevitable.

Many of us have hope for a new day, a new world.

We have hope for the promise of Advent --- "peace on earth, good will among all" --- coming to birth in our lifetimes.
It is with that hope in mind, on this day dedicated to the pursuit of universal human rights, that I ask all MCCers and people of faith around the globe to join me in praying for:

+ An end to the wars in Iraq, Afhanistan and Pakistan, and for the safety
of all in harm's way.

+ An increase in justice and the extension of human rights for all people,
especially LGBT people, those living with HIV/AIDS, those living in
poverty, refugees, and all whose lives have been torn apart by wars. May
just and right relationships bring the world to peace.

Join me in praying today that:

+ Every leader around the globe who is charged with making decisions
that promise to impact all of us, will do so with the pursuit of peace as
their ultimate goal.

+ Every person and nation trapped in the cycles of violence and counter-
violence, from Israel to Palestine to the Congo and Uganda, will find a
new way, a more promising path for sharing life together.

+ Every human being will use each moment as the moment to speak up
for and take risks for, and live and act for peace.

I call on MCCers around the globe and people of faith everywhere to pray with me today and every day of this Advent Season, as we honor the one crowned "Prince of Peace," for an end to the violence, terrorism and suffering so many know as their daily reality. Pray with me for that a new day of hope and promise will dawn on this earth and all its peoples.

+ The Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, Moderator
Metropolitan Community Churches