Peace and harmony in Wassaic

WASSAIC — Residents and volunteers associated with the World Peace Sanctuary welcome the community to celebrate peace all year long. On Saturday, Sept. 21, they celebrated the International Day of Peace.

More than 30 attended, many of whom brought a favorite dish for the afternoon’s potluck meal. They were blessed with ideal weather to host the World Peace Flag Ceremony on the patio. Among the ceremony’s featured Peace Poles, one held a bright yellow banner that proclaimed, “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” while the other was the centerpiece for guests to lay their offerings.

Acting as the master of ceremonies, the Peace Sanctuary’s Ann Marie Robustelli, welcomed guests and spoke of the meaning of the International Day of Peace. She read a message on the Climate Smart Summit from the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

“We don’t take a political position on anything,” Robustelli said on a later date. “We’re all proactive toward peace… so we stay focused and positive in that direction. In a nutshell, we’re about spreading the message, ‘May Peace Prevail on Earth.’”

Led by Wassaic resident Tonia Shoumatoff, the ceremony opened with the “blessing to the four-directions” invocation — a custom in Native American culture — followed by the burning of tobacco and a participant blowing through a conch shell horn. The World Peace Flag Ceremony was officially set in motion with the ringing of the Sanctuary Peace Gong.

Peace Representatives Pamela Beasley and Channa Abel were voice leaders while flag bearers formed a semi-circle to carry out the ceremony’s traditions. Once Beasley finished reading the “Gratitude for All Life on Earth” list, guests joined in the ringing of the peace bells and sang “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”

“Peace is the only way, not war,” Robustelli said later, “and wouldn’t it be wonderful if people would be made to be aware to raise consciousness of humanity and all life on Earth. It would serve as a wake up call, basically.”

As guests savored the afternoon’s potluck meal, Robustelli shared information about the sanctuary’s programs, activities and workshops, inviting guests to explore the grounds of the sanctuary.