As School of Metaphysics students and teachers gathered together for the 24-Hour One Voice Peace Vigil at the College of Metaphysics in Windyville, Missouri, it soon became clear that the group shared a common vision for peace: a desire to heal the world; the ability to connect with the Self and others; and for all individuals of the world to understand peace on a personal level. These similar Ideals and Purposes led this group to experience healing, growth, unconditional love, and a deeper understanding of interconnectedness.

December 31, 2010 to January 1, 2011 marked the Eighth Annual One Voice Peace Vigil sponsored by the School of Metaphysics.  Students and faculty from around the Midwest gather to read the Universal Peace Covenant when a time zone moves into the New Year. Held each year in the World’s Peace Dome on the College of Metaphysics campus in southwest Missouri, USA, the One Voice Peace Vigil is an evolutionary movement in the peace consciousness of the participants.

With the One Voice Peace Vigil, the School of Metaphysics is giving space to create an inward state of peace consciousness, like living meditatively. The twenty-four hour vigil is a day dedicated to making one’s thoughts the highest and then living peaceably.

A common perspective among this year’s One Voice participants was the desire to activate stillness and open heartedness. “Within this stillness, I realized we [as a group] need to come from our hearts,” noticed Emily Ashley, College of Metaphysics student. “When I [performed the time zone ceremony], I asked everyone to take a deep breath and connect with [his or her] heart. When we consciously breathe, we bring life to whatever we are a part of,” Ashley continued. “I wanted everyone to bring life to the message of peace.” When the heart is open, what someone ‘knows by heart’ – the permanent understandings within the soul – is activated. “It allows our love to pour forth,” Ashley said. “This gives an open door to understand our true essence and whole Self, [which] is the best we have to support humanity, and it is this I wanted everyone to connect with.”

As the One Voice participants continued to read the Peace Covenant throughout the morning, the line “government and laws cannot heal the heart” surfaced in one individual’s attention. “To me this means it is not up to the government or their laws to find ways to fix our hearts, but it is up to us individually to cause healing in our hearts,” Ashley Jones, a Customer Service Representative who traveled from Des Moines, Iowa to participate, explained. “This is my first time at the One Voice Peace Vigil, and I think causing my mind to be still in order to build serenity is necessary for me to heal my heart. This is what I am striving to do at this event.”

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