On the lawn of the First Congregational Church UCC in Grand Marais, near the church’s entry, on a little spot of green space, stands a “Peace Pole.” The pole was put in place by church members in 1995 and it bears the words “Peace” in many languages. It is hoped that this pole, which has quietly shared the message of peace all these years, will now play a role of healing.
Inspired by a fictional story by Joe Tye called The Healing Tree, EvaLyn Carlson, pastor at First Congregational, approached church leadership with an idea to bring the gift of healing to the community following the tragedies that occurred around recent events at the Cook County courthouse.
Members of First Congregational Church have created a “healing tree” at the Peace Pole.
During the next six weeks of Lent, groups or individuals are invited to visit the healing tree, take a few moments of reflection or prayer and tie a ribbon to one of the branches of the “tree.”
Carlson explained, “The beauty of living in a small community is in the closeness of relationships. We know each other, we work together, play together, we argue and disagree sometimes and yet we share in each other’s happiness as well as sadness. We have been on an emotional roller coaster these past few weeks as we try to make sense out of what happened, how we can prevent future such tragedies, and how we can support all who have been so dramatically affected. How do we let go of the anger, pain or fear and move to a new vision of our future together?”
There is no formula or rule about visiting the healing tree. Ribbons will be available in a labeled tin by the church doors and everyone is invited at any time, day or night, to visit the tree.
“For each person this experience will be different,” said Carlson. “There will be those who choose to pray for the community or individual people. There will be others who will just want to reflect on those who have been hurt. Others may feel this is a way of releasing some of their own fears or hurts. Yet others may want to meditate or think about how we can move on to be even a better community…. together.
“As ribbons are added to the branches, the starkness of the leafless tree will become a colorful reminder of who we really are as a community of people who care,” said Carlson. “We hope that everyone will be part of the challenging but ultimately rewarding work of beginning to build a new vision for our future.”
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