If you’ve walked in Lafayette
Park in front of the White House you couldn’t have missed the anti-nuclear
activist and her display in the sweltering sun, downpours or heavy snowstorms.
Wearing a helmet and a scarf she maintained a 24/7 presence handing out
pamphlets promoting nonviolence and carrying protest signs with photos of the
hibakusha-survivors of Hiroshima-Nagasaki. A permanent fixture on Pennsylvania Avenue,
she educated tourists and police alike, witnessing to the immorality and
insanity of nuclear weapons. She wanted a safe and gentle world for everyone’s
children.
On Saturday morning, February 27, 2016, at Luther Place
Memorial Church in Washington, D.C., peace activists held a Memorial Service for
this outspoken activist, Concepcion Picciotto (January 15, 1936 to January 25,
2016). Called “Conchita” or “Connie” by her friends, she was the co-founder and
keeper of the White House Anti-nuclear Vigil for 35 years, the longest protest
in U.S. history. Often referred to as the closest neighbor to the President (she
lived through five) none came to visit her. At times she was taken into custody
by the police and prosecuted. (The intent was to rid the Park of this
“anti-nuclear eyesore.”)
Longtime friend Kathy Boylan of
Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in D.C. invited me to write and give the Invocation
and Opening Prayer. Supporters and
friends gave testimony and Senior Pastor Karen Blau, a moving homily. After Concepcion’s ashes were poured into the
memorial garden, we sang the worker’s anthem, “The Internacionale,” and began
marching to the White House, close to a mile away. Max and I carried our ARCWP banner. Enroute we
came upon a Bernie Sanders rally and they cheered us on. At the White House more people offered their
remembrances and praise for Concepcion while Sr. Megan Rice helped hold up the
banner with us.
Invocation
Loving God, Holy Mystery,
Who sparked the dawn of
Creation
The Light that shines through
us…
YOU, from whom we come…and
go
We celebrate the life
of your holy one,
Concepcion
The
Word was made flesh
And
pitched her tent
Among
us.
John
1: 14
Like
Sophia Wisdom,
a
people loving Spirit,
Concepcion
Pitched a Tent.
For
35 years,
with
her tent and her presence,
Concepcion
Upset
The Order of Things.
In
front of the White House,
The
Seat of The Empire,
she
challenged The Powers.
In
front of the White House,
she
engaged the world’s visitors
giving
An Alternative Way
(to
look at things)
Pay
attention to my warning
Now
I will pour out my heart to you
And
tell you what I have to say.
Proverbs
1: 23
She and her tent rose up from
the landscape…
She Did Not– She Would Not go
away.
She Would Not Be Silenced…
In her threatening and
transformative way…
SHE
remained…
She
insisted we remember our incinerated
Hiroshima
and Nagasaki.
Sisters
and brothers…(pause)
Our
passion for violence
expressed
in our warmongering. (pause)
She
RE-taught us
how
to grieve,
to
stop pretending and denying
what
our world is facing:
Y-12 Oak Ridge, Livermore, Los
Alamos, Yucca Mountain, Kansas City, Savannah River, Pantex
She RAGED against nuclear
weapons
And celebrated Megan, Greg and
Mike…
Concepcion
Kept Death Alive
No
Numbness of Death with her around
Pregnant
Womb-Love-Mother-Mercy
For
the sake of the neighborhood.
Concepcion
gave herself away
Bold
and energizing…
Disruptive
Prophetic Force…
Life-giving
Concepcion
You
Broke Open Hope…
Concepcion
calls aloud in the streets
She
raises her voice in the public squares
She
calls out at the street corners
She
delivers her message at the city gate
Proverbs
1: 20-21
Opening
Prayer
Creator
God,
We
your peace community are gathered here this morning. May our sister, Concepcion,
remain with us, inspire us along our journey as we work, pray and live for
peace. Amen.
=
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