MarIsis

In the name of GRACE

The Middle East is about more than the fate of two peoples. If peace is achievable here then something new will have been achieved for humankind.
Dieter Duhm-
 
Shaken by the threat of a possible war against Iran, with the question “What one single person can do to stop future wars?”, Sabine Lichtenfels decides to undertake a pilgrimage. She gives away everything she owns, covers long stretches on foot and is without any money. Her driving force is the decision to uncover and change those internal structures which externally lead to war and violence. Doing this, she discovers a strength which begins to shine for ever clearer and brighter: “GRACE”, the connectedness with creation, that empowers her to follow her inner voice more precisely and more thrustingly than before. GRACE is “something that is stronger than any government or any army – because it is at home in the hearts of all human beings”.
Her journey takes her from Germany via Switzerland to Italy and Greece, and from there to Israel/Palestine. Together with Benjamin von Mendelssohn she leads a group of 40 pilgrims, Israelis, Palestinians and internationals, through the unique landscape of northern Israel and from there to the other side of the wall into the occupied territories of the West Bank, through refugee camps, a jewish settlement and onto Jerusalem.

In the name of GRACE, support actions and unusual encounters take place, walls of fear and rage, which for a long time have seemed insurmountable, begin to crumble. With strong feminine authority and directness a woman describes her steps against the war. It is a truthful and deeply humane voice that is speaking. GRACE sems to be a force that overcomes walls and effects change where ever people are committed to peace and self-change. It is also a voice that takes a stand for a global future perspective.

During her pilgrimage, on November 9th, Sabine Lichtenfels and her group held a meditation at Baqqa al Garbye in Israel/Palestine – a town divided in two by the so-called separation wall. The meditation acted as an energetic and spiritual sign claiming that we, as humanity, can no longer accept both the inner and outer walls built up on a global scale. Throughout history, the 9th of November has seen both the force of cruelty and the power of liberation: on November 9th, 1938 is known as the Kristallnacht, the beginning of one of the darkest chapter in the history of mankind. On November 9th, 1989, the Berlin wall, a separation barrier between two ideologies, finally came down.

Since this very first meditation in Baqqa al Garbye, November 9th has been called “Global Grace Day” and more and more people worldwide joined the ring of actions in the name of GRACE.

The book “Grace” has become a study book for the effectiveness of Grace in peace activism.