A Case Study of a Global Liturgy

What a vast ocean of human suffering
spreads over the entire Earth at every moment.
Of what is this mass formed?
Of blackness, gaps and rejections?
No, let me repeat of potential energy.
In suffering, the ascending force of the world
is concealed in a very intense form.
The whole question is how to liberate it
and give it a consciousness of its significance and potentialities.
The world would leap high towards God
if all the sick together were to turn their pain into
a common desire that the kingdom of God
should come to
rapid fruition through the conquest
and organization of the Earth.
May all the sufferers of the Earth
join their sufferings
so that the world's pain
might become a great and unique act of consciousness,
elevation
and union.

~ Teilhard de Chardin

A global liturgy as a model for building global community, Celebration for the Children of the World, was created by Virginia Swain and a steering committee for the United Nations community, as her master's thesis project on 9 December 1992. As a result, she received her M.A. in Community Building in Organizations from Lesley College, Cambridge, MA., in May 1993. Her master's thesis documents this work and can be obtained at Lesley College, Cambridge, MA 02138 (May 1993).

The liturgy was inspired by Virginia's attendance at a vigil of the world's religions at the Earth Summit in June 1992 in Brazil. People of many nations, transcending their religious, cultural, and national sovereignty, came together in Brazil for an inclusive celebratory, prayerful experience of one human family of all the world's religions. The street children of Rio de Janeiro contributed to the inspiration in their clear expressions of love and joy in many celebrations of the Earth Summit, even though their immediate needs for food and shelter were not met.

In New York, Virginia organized a planning team and built a coalition of over sixty United Nations agencies, member states, non-governmental organizations, religious, environmental and peace organizations to build on the groundswell of the Earth Summit. Political support for Chapters 24-26 of Agenda 21 to strengthen the role of indigenous peoples, children, and NGO's for healing our relationship to the Earth into the 21st century was incorporated into the liturgy. 

The 1992 event included steps to global community designed to bring sovereign peoples and groups together to relieve the conflict of peoples' sovereignty as a barrier against world cooperation and unity. Techniques used included the teachings of children, an artistic, prayerful vigil and a celebration. The day-long program consisted of a morning vigil, in the Church Center Chapel, across from the United Nations, where fifty New York artists interpreted an Earth Charter written by Virginia Swain and Barbara Wheeler (1989), that offered teaching on how humanity can be reconciled to one another and the earth in partnership with the Universal Spirit of God. Then, after renewed awareness and joy from becoming part of one human family, a celebratory procession to the United Nations gave expression to the experience of global community of the morning vigil. Children welcomed celebrants to the United Nations where they sang and danced as teachers of world peace.

The planning team for the Celebration of the Children of the World created a 4-step model for relieving the conflict of national sovereignty with an experience of being part of one Universal Spirit of all the world's religions.

Briefly, the model's steps were:

1. Allow and empower adults and children by acceptance of people's strengths and limitations through an artistic celebratory improvisation of an Earth Charter (Swain and Wheeler, 1989). A safe, non-judgemental, accepting environment was created for an interactive, participatory response by both performers and audience where people could admit and accept their limits, projection, and blame for one another's past injustices that have stopped them from taking responsibility for their actions as well as allow a shift in consciousness to take place and stronger, more committed relationships for the common good to be developed. Celebration allows an experience of unity and empowerment when people are open. Artists have a key role as facilitators of a shift in consciousness. The Dalai Lama says that people need an experience where they can find a "vivid sense of altruism" is possible in the celebratory experience. (1991, p.14)

2. Recognize our powerlessness to resolve the world's problems and and find unsuspected power in unity that has resulted from praying to the Universal Spirit of God. Then the Universal Spirit of all the world's religions allows "a divine movement of reconciling love" (Gallagher, 1982, p. 2) to be invoked to help people move beyond national loyalty to loyalty to world order and global community.

3. Encourage participants to take risks in their growth in a safe, accepting and inclusive environment. Personal risktaking includes a willingness to look at one another to acknowledge and feel our oneness, daring to feel and claim negative feelings without blaming others; letting go of control to trust others outside of one's national loyalty.

4. Foster relationships to form global community for political action. The follow-up planning group for the next implementation project included people whose identity was expanded beyond their individual role and national affiliation for the common good to continue political action towards world order and cooperation between sovereign nations.

Results of the Global Liturgy

Many people experienced a shift from their own sovereign consciousness to a personal experience of global community. This was shown by the following changes: attitudes of love and acceptance, removal of over-protective barriers of national and religious loyalties, validation of the common good of global community, a renewed way to listen to children and each other, and an expansion of identity beyond individual needs. As Michael Collins, Consultant for Global and Domestic Resources for Economic Transition, said about the Celebration for the Children of the World implementation of the Global Liturgy: “Political power grows from collaborative changemaking and peaceful evolution. The politician is servant and instrument of peace.”

Donald Clark, a United Nations non-governmental organization (NGO) representative from the Network of Environmental and Economic Responsibility of the United Church of Christ said: "A fantastic, moving breathtaking Earth Summit followup... executed with grace without a perceived hitch... A sensitive extravaganza, embracing many traditions..."

The Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Golliher, environmental representative of the Anglican Observer (NGO) to the United Nations, wrote, "...following the Earth Summit's spirit of hope, this very successful celebration brought together artists, spiritual leaders and children — reminding UN delegates of the importance of Agenda 21 and honoring the role of indigenous peoples for the future of the Earth..."

References

Robert A. Gallagher, Power from on High: A Model for Parish Life and Development, Philadelphia: Ascension Press, 1982.

Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, “Universal Responsibility and Our Global Environment”, Address to Non-governmental Organizations, The Global Forum, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1991.

Virginia Swain and Barbara Wheeler, The Gift of Peace: How One Person Can Make a Difference Towards World Peace, Old Lyme, CT: By the Authors, 1989.