“ …I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.” — Henry D. Thoreau
On August 11th after worship, Tree of Life is hosting a community opportunity to create ceramic seeds of hope as a memorial to all those who have died by violence in their places of worship or while practicing their faith. The Charleston AME Church, the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue and the two mosques (Al Noor and Linwood Islamic Centre) in Christchurch are recent survivors of this kind of wounding. But even our own faith has been challenged in this way with the 2008 Knoxville UU attack . We will be joined by Laura McLuckie-Khandan, a local artist and member of the Baha’i community, as she leads us in creating these seeds as a gesture of hope and a commitment to promoting understanding.
The project is designed for both families and individuals and lasts about 1 ½ hours. We encourage you to pack a sandwich for after worship and we’ll begin the project a little after 12:00. Seeds will be created in clay with individual messages of hope written on them and then they’ll be fired. The intention is for the seeds to be shared as a rotating exhibit to places of worship and then ultimately to be “planted” in a sustainable garden.
As with participation in a vigil, creating these seeds is a visible act of love and of community dedication to overcoming environments of fear and separation. Projects such as this, support our own UU commitment to Side of Love. We hope you can join in.
If you have questions please contact Janet Burns 847.542 .7678, M. E. Tanabe 815. 337. 9895, or Laura McLuckie-Khandan 224.339.4739