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Group Celebrates Peace Day Today

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By CHERYL BENTLEY

The Suncoast News

Published: November 22, 2008

HOLIDAY - In the midst of many-armed old oak trees, the feeling of peace is almost palpable.

The spot is the perfect site for a gathering of peacemakers, says the Rev. Mary Lou Houllis. Today, the location will ring with voices of many faiths and beliefs praying to their gods for a world of love and harmony.

Houllis and her church, New Beginning Ministries, will present a Peace Day Celebration, a gathering of peacemakers, on the nine acres of the church's grounds in Holiday.

The day will include a prayer circle for peace with representatives of many spiritual paths. Additionally, there will be meditations, a drum circle and healings from many modalities.

The various groups will hang their individual symbols on the oak trees, as a kind of blessing from the Earth.

Houllis is taken with the idea of providing a web of peace in this area. "The goal is for our community to lay down our differences and gather leaders of many spiritual paths and gather into oneness, laying our differences aside," she said.

A wide range of representatives from different faiths will attend: The Rev. Drew Willard, pastor of the Holiday United Church of Christ; the Rev. Barbara Williams, pastor of the Unity Truth Center church, Port Richey; and Lama Konchog Gyaltsen, Ratna Shri Dharma Center, Frederick, Md., will add their faith's voices to the celebration.

Also scheduled to attend are: Jean and Jim Schienle, chapter leaders of the Buddhist group Soka Gakkai International USA; Native American Grandmother June Perry, Earth Turtle Lodge in Lutz; and Cantor Deborah Jacobson, Temple Ahavat Shalom, Palm Harbor.

The high point of the day will be the dedication of the Peace Pole, which has been erected on the property. The idea of planting peace poles comes from the Wassaic, N.Y.-based World Peace Pole Society. The poles are considered ways to bring people together and inspire a web of peace consciousness. According to the Society's Web site, there are more than 200,000 peace poles in 180 countries.

World leaders, including former President Jimmy Carter, Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama have dedicated peace poles.

The Holiday peace pole will feature messages of peace in English, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Swahili and Micasuki, a Muskogee language spoken by American Indian tribes in southern Florida.

New Beginning has been in existence for seven years. For the past five years it has met on the property that for several generations has been in the family of Houllis' husband, Michael, a Tarpon Springs lawyer. Between 40 and 70 people attend weekly services on Sunday there.

Houllis teaches a metaphysical Christianity that arose from her 27 years of being a believer in fundamental Christianity and appearances on Christian Television Network for six years.

She has respect for her old religion, Houllis says, but she has moved beyond a literal interpretation of the Bible. "Heaven and hell are not places," she says. "They are states of consciousness."

The idea for Peace Day began about three years ago, when Houllis had a dream about people coming together in a circle saying, "I lay down my differences and pick up your hand in love."

Life kept reminding her of her dream, she recalls, such as the television clip she saw of religious leaders sitting together in a circle. "Everything I saw began to feed the idea of coming together in oneness and peace," she recalls.

She sees the Peace Day as not only a step for peace but also for spirit. "Jesus said that they be made perfect in one. Perfection can only come as we realize our oneness. There has to be a way to tear down the wall."

The free Peace Day Celebration, which will be open to the public, will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 4004 Bonita Road. The road is on the west side of U. S. 19, directly across the highway from Mile Stretch Drive. The world peace circle is at 2 p.m. Houllis welcomes representatives of all faiths and beliefs. For information, call Houllis at (727) 415-3600.

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