about

This blog is part of a project about peace & justice.

The main idea of the project is to open up a space to talk about war and peace, social justice and suffering and give room to express our own fears and hopes, helplessness and ideas for change, educate ourselves and others about the topics and hopefully find a way to come to action in one way or the other.

The blogs role is primarily to collect ideas and information to keep the conversation going.

The other part of the project the ’Martinivesper - Gebet für Frieden & Gerechtigkeit‘ (Martini Vespers - Prayer for peace & justice) is a monthly prayer at Rheinberg War Cemetery - a WW II graveyard which is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The goal of the prayer is to bring people together that care about peace & justice, bring our concerns and wishes before God and talk about our fears and hopes, ideas and actions.

For the future another part is planned: a little Zine publication primarily in German that brings thoughts and ideas around war and peace, social issues and our role in the world together. ’Der Mantel - Blättchen für Frieden & Gerechtigkeit‘ (The Cloak - Leaflets for peace & justice) will have a more local focus.

The whole project has some roots that it takes inspirations from:

The first and namesake is Saint Martin, a Christian saint that lived in the 4th century and is quiet popular in some European areas in regional customs especially among children. The most famous story is about Martin (a Roman soldier) giving half of his coat to a freezing beggar.

Another inspiration is the Catholic Worker Movement with its mixture of spirituality, education and information, communal living and direct action.

Closely connected and somewhere in between Martin and the Catholic Workers is the monastic (especially Benedictine) tradition that always tried to bring a spiritual live and pro existence for others closely together with the tasks of everyday life.

If you want to contact me, sent me a mail under: a.laschet@me.com