SHERBORN -

	"We the people of the world long for peace...," the scroll begins.

Consider it a commitment, not just to the world, but to yourself. So says the keeper of the Northern Ireland Peace Scroll, Holliston's Anne Hoye. A friend and colleague of the scroll's creator, Lizanne Davies, Hoye, a healing science practitioner, was asked to protect the text and bring it around the world in her travels.

The scroll, which will soon complete its month-long stay at the Sherborn Peace Abbey, sits in wait of signatures and vows. It was created in 2000, the international year for the culture of peace, as declared by the United Nations. The text took its creators, Davies and Father Simon Trafford, a Benedictine monk from Yorkshire, more than 30 hours to complete the calligraphy, the vehicle that spreads the word of their peaceful message.

"We the people of the world long for peace...," the scroll begins.

But although the 30 hours spent laying out the message far exceed the pledge that the scroll asks others to make, those who sign have as much, if not more, of a challenge ahead of them. Signing your name to the pages following the text, however, does not simply mean you adhere to a peaceful philosophy toward fellow man, but also within yourself. The scroll calls for a two-minute per day pledge of silence.

"It's interesting to me to watch people think it over," Hoye said, who grew up just outside of Belfast. "They realize they are making that commitment to two minutes of silence and they really need to consider it, because it isn't an easy thing to do.

"People really know themselves and they'll say, 'I know I'm not good at following through," Hoye added.

Seeing and hearing from people about what [signing the scroll] has meant to them and seeing the physical act has been the best part of all of this for me

Nonetheless, Hoye has amassed six pages, in addition to the one that still lies beneath the message of the scroll, of signatures from around the world. The scroll has already visited Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, South Africa and, of course, the United States."Whether people are living in Northern Ireland or Sherborn, all human beings have inner conflict," Hoye said. "There may not be a political war in their neighborhood, but how many people live lives of quiet desperation?"

Hoye is a faculty member and practitioner at the Barbara Brennan Healing Science. As stated in the brochure for her upcoming workshop at the Abbey, "Brennan Healing Science is based on the living dynamics of our human energy consciousness system and its relationship to one's self, to others and to the greater world."

Her work, she said, is closely related to the goals of the peace scroll. Hoye said trying to help people rid themselves of inner conflict by resolving the roots of those conflicts, there is, resultantly, less conflict let loose in the world.
Hoye has also worked with the Women's Coalition Political Party and on the Good Friday Peace Agreement.

" Seeing and hearing from people about what [signing the scroll] has meant to them and seeing the physical act has been the best part of all of this for me," Hoye said.

The scroll incorporates more than words; colors and symbols are also a big part of the message. It is sheathed in rich colors which represent the divine feminine, according to Hoye, regardless of which religion the viewer practices. It also includes the repeated shape patterns of circles within squares.

"The circles represent open space with a possibility for anything to happen," she said.

The cylinder, in which the scroll is carried from country to country, is also capped off with the same circular, open space atop the canister.
Before re-entering the canister and moving on, the scroll will remain at the Abbey until at least the end of July. Though Hoye will remain the keeper of the scroll, it is not yet known where it will next make its home. Talk has begun about whether the scroll should remain at the Abbey until future plans are finalized.

HISTORY

THE PEACE SCROLL was conceived by writer and community artist Lizanne Davies as a "planetary work of art" to gain support from world leaders for a two-minute wave of silence around the world on January 1st at 8:00 p.m. local time every year.

The year 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace by the United Nations. This initiative of UNESCO, adopted by the UN General Assembly is followed by The International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World from 2001-2010.

This Peace Scroll is a copy of the original text, and has been prayerfully scripted by the master calligrapher, Father Simon Trafford, a Benedictine monk from Ampleforth Abbey in Yorkshire. Father Trafford spent more than 300 hours on the piece.

The cylinder which holds the Scroll was made at Downside Abbey Bindery, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Bath, England.

Since its creation in 2000, this Peace Scroll has been placed in many countries around the world, including Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, South Africa, and the United States.

Historically, this is the time of year when violence in Northern Ireland escalates, and more families are deeply affected by the resulting trauma.

You are invited to view and sign The Northern Ireland Peace Scroll, which is in the main room of the Conference Center. The signing of the Peace Scroll is a pledge of peace and an act of commitment to incorporate two minutes of quiet reflection into each day.