Planting Seeds of Peace

Just before Easter, the Rosa Parks Youth Program held a special Holy Week Prayer Service called “Planting Seeds of Peace in the Gardens of Detroit.” Different speakers stressed the idea that we as a Detroit Community need to take responsibility for each other. We need to plant seeds of peace in our families and in our neighborhoods.  After small group conversations, wonderful ideas emerged.

• Mothers talking to the young men of the area.
• Various adults offering to take senior citizens in the area to their various doctor appointments.
• Teens offering to help plant a garden for a neighbor.
• Moms thinking about a block picnic—and with no liquor allowed.
• Some Eighth Graders thinking about a summer reading camp for the younger ones on their street.

All participants in the prayer service were given a double set of plants and a double set of seeds—one set to use and one set to give away to someone in the neighborhood. Thus, reaching out to another is a consistent way to build community and thus, plant seeds of peace. Here’s hoping thousands of neighborhoods plant seeds of peace.

Author: Sister Nancyann Turner, Adrian Dominican Sister
Capuchin Soup Kitchen Rosa Parks Children Program Manager