This poignant song based on a line from the Sufi poet Rumi was shared with the MMC community by Ana Hernández. The intuitive melodic shape makes it easy to teach, and groups are quick to sing and harmonize.
Ana suggests using the piece for centering and meditation practice. She also blogged about her experiences using the song in a 12-step community.
It can be sung unaccompanied or with guitar or keyboard.
"There is some kiss we want with our whole lives.
The touch of spirit on the body."
Here is a recording of the song by Ana:
This "peace" was written by Benjamin and Tamika Jancewitz who teach it in the video at an MMC event in Baltimore 2015.
This song is originally from Ghana, and the version we've sung at many MMC events is from a setting by Marty Haugen and Marc Anderson. You can find the sheet music and a recording of the song at GIA Music.
Peace, Salaam, Shalom was written by Emma's Revolution (activists and singers Pat Humphries and Sandy Opatow) after September 11, 2001 and it quickly became an anthem of the peace movement. It sets the word 'peace' in English, Arabic, and Hebrew, offering a powerful interfaith message that has been shared at protests, religious services, and in other community contexts.
"We were moving from NYC to the Washington DC area over September 11th, 2001. When the only response from the government and the corporate media was “war and retribution,” we wrote “Peace, Salaam, Shalom” and sang it at an impromptu peace march in DC that week. Less than a month later, we led the song at the first peace rally in NYC after 9/11, where over 10,000 people sang with us for the three hour march, all the way from Union Square to Times Square."
Emma's Revolution asks groups, organizations, schools, churches, etc., that use their music to pay a one-time, sliding scale fee of $75-150 for use of the song in perpetuity. See their website for more information.
Sheet music can be found in Singing In Community, our latest songbook published by Augsburg Fortress. You can also purchase a lead sheet from their website.
Here is a recording of the song by Emma's Revolution:
Here's a clip of AnnaMarie Hoos teaching it at our MMC Leader's Retreat at Holy Cross Monastery in September 2015: