Sabine Lichtenfels - in the Name of Grace
To all Peaceworkers,
Over the past five years the Global GRACE Day of November 9th has become an important memorial day at Tamera. Repeatedly the Global GRACE Day coincided with the end of our pilgrimages, last in 2007 in Bethlehem next to the Wall. This year the GRACE Pilgrimage ended earlier for the occasion of a global future show, the launch of the Testfield for the planned SolarVillage. Nevertheless we want and will continue to celebrate November 9th in the spirit of a global day of reflection. Particularly as Germans the day reminds us of two important historic events:
In the night from November 9th to November 10th in 1938 the first big hit of the Nazis against the German Jews occured. Hundreds of synagogues were burnt down, many Jewish citizens murdered and already at that time more than 30.000 people were carried off to concentration camps. Our grandparents and parent took part in this, human beings whom we had loved and respected. It makes no sense to look the other way. It only makes sense to understand and to earnestly ask the question: How is this worldwide war to be ended?
On November 9th 1989 the concrete wall or wire fence of four to five meters heights and reinfored by deep ditches, trip wires, watch dogs and signal- and watchtowers was opened due to the pressure of non-violent mass protests by the inhabitants of the GDR. I happened to be in Berlin that day to give a talk at the UFA-Factory having come from the South of Germany. I experiences the opening of the Wall at "Checkpoint Charly", one of the best known transfer points between the East and the West of Berlin. That night we wrote and designed a flyer writen mostly by Dieter Duhm who was travelling with me.
"The revolution in the East must be followed by a revolution in the West", the text said, witten in the hope and the belief that this enormous force of upraise from the East would be joined by the most courageous spirits in the West in order to mutually - with the friends from the East - elucitade, understand and overcome the walls and atrocities of capitalist systems. How current this appeal still is today shows the present situation in the western world. The thought of a global revolution is now being taken up by more and mor revolutionary and courageous spirits. May the global force and peace vision find its anchor and power of realization and may outer resistance not be able to stop it any longer, since at its core it is carried by a powerful peace vision. May the Global GRACE Day, celebrated worldwide, be a contribution to plant the seed for this. Committed people will celebrate this day in many places around the world with musical and meditative events and vigils in order to focus their attention with community power of vision on the healing of the future.
Text of Empowerment: The Wall
(Flyer of the MEIGA Movement. On November 10th, 1989, on the occasion of the opening of the Berlin Wall, we distributed 100.000 copies of it.)
The wall falls. The wall had served as the symbol of the fight between two systems. We thank all the friends in the GDR (German Democratic Republic) and those in the FRG (Federal Republic of Germany) who now ended this fight. We all partake in the joy that has arisen in our country. This joy expresses itself in an all-embracing feeling of human togetherness, rather than in a feeling of triumphant victory. Sofar it is no ones victory, victorious we shall be when all systemes and all walls will be overcome.
No one will find the much longed for happiness by switching over from one system to another. The question of human freedom lies beyond all existing political systems. In either place it remains unresolved. The West enjoyes more brightness, more livelyness and more riches, but the West too has no real answers to the hopes of the hundredthousands who are now coming to us after having been condemned to live behind walls for such a long time. In this context we wish to thank the Neue Forum (New Forum) of the GDR for the earnesty of their observations. Humans have always built walls. They are built for protection - built around peoples, around political systems and around faiths. Even around elementary human realms, like Eros, love and partnership walls have been built. Finally, protective walls, ideologies and laws have been drawn around each piece of knowlege and insight, each piece of truth and each piece of love that could be found in this difficult world. On the outside this appeared to be a demonstration of strength, although it served as mere protection against fear. Freedom lies in understanding and solidarity, in friendship and truth between human beings who no longer need to protect themselves from anything since they share these same values. Protecting truth, humaneness and freedom by walls is a contradiction in itself. Hence, human existance in the world can only be truely free where there is no more need for fences and walls. Loyalty to a "system" that amounts to more than paying lip service, will only emerge from understanding and recognition of other systems. This is true for politics as much as for love; "You can only be faithful if you are allowed to love others, too". (....) in the name of all that wants to life in the future.
Sentence of Empowerment: You can only be faithful if you are allowed to love others, too.
With kind regards
Sabine Lichtenfels