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- LOS
ANGELES, (Reuters) -
Leaders of the "New
Age" spiritual development movement are calling
for
"wave" of prayer around the world on New Year's Eve -- with
prayers spoken, sung, chanted or even typed into the electronic realm of
Cyberspace.
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- Best-selling author James Redfield, whose "Celestine
Prophesy" series created numerous spiritual support groups, says the
aim of the mass prayer is to do nothing less than "heal the
world."
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- Redfield, in a telephone interview with Reuters on Friday,
said
he hopes the moment of prayer that he and other spiritually concerned
people are calling for will turn into the biggest ecumenical prayer vigil
ever.
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- "We're calling for a moment of prayer for the new
millennium right before that millennium arrives," he said,
adding:
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- "In the last moments of 1999, just as everybody
focuses on
the clock no matter where they are, we're just asking that everybody
join with everyone else and pray in their own way for a better world in
the next century and millennium, for an increase in peace and freedom,
and a general uplifting in the human race."
-
- The new millennium does not
actually begin until Jan.
1, 2001 but most of the globe is intent on
marking its arrival a year earlier,
with a raft of celebrations planned
around the world to welcome in 2000.
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- Redfield said the worldwide
call for a global moment
of prayer would begin Dec. 31 at 11:59 p.m. in
the South Pacific and roll
across the Earth as people welcome in the
new millennium, Redfield said.
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- "Every hour a new group in their time zone will
hold a moment of prayer. There will be a wave of prayer that encircles
the globe," Redfield said. "It's a way to connect everybody with
everyone else in their time zone."
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- Celebrities such as actor LeVar
Burton and Marianne Williamson,
the founder of Detroit-based Church of
Today will lead prayer groups at
various spots around the country which
will be broadcast live on the Internet
via Redfield's Web site,
<http://www.celestinevison.comwww.celestinevison.com.
Burton will be
broadcasting live from Walt Disney World in Orlando, Redfield
said.
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- From
next Monday, the site will also contain information
and chat rooms
relating to the vigil, Redfield said. People will be asked
to download
flyers from the site to pass to friends and family members
who want to
participate in the worldwide prayer.
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- "The opportunity to
envelop the planet in a blanket
of prayer, has the power to literally
intercept the processes of history.
We can interrupt the fear-based
mind-set that literally threatens the human
race," Williamson told
Reuters.
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- "A moment of powerful prayer when millions of people
are
already in a state of hope and expectation could literally tip the
scales toward a more compassionate future," she added.
-
- Many celebrities and
spiritual leaders are coming on
board as sponsors, said
Redfield.
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- He is starting on Monday promotion of his newest book,
"The Secret of Shambhala," the third in a runaway bestselling
series of novels about an ongoing quest.
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