Praying for Peace: SF's Grace Cathedral welcomes all walks of life to interfaith vigil

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A circle of music, quiet reflection, and prayers from leaders of many faiths drew people to the prayer vigil at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral Monday night.

Seated around the prayer labyrinth, they called for justice and a peaceful path out of the twisted and tumultuous cycle of violence that has impacted people in the United States and overseas.

One father, Jonah Gabriel of El Cerrito sat with his two daughters searching for help and healing for his children.

"I don't know, something to help these guys find peace because everything that's going on is really hard for them and this seemed like a really safe place to bring them," Gabriel said.

Interfaith groups from San Francisco, the East Bay and the South Bay brought faith leaders from Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and Buddhist communities together to pray for victims in Texas, Minnesota, Louisiana, and overseas.

Some also called on elected officials to respond to what one pastor calls collective community trauma.

"The marches, the protests, that's just collective trauma the double edged sword of trauma," said Rev.  Ayanna Moore, pastor of the Plymouth United Church of Christ and St. James Church.

The prayer vigil lasted more than one hour. Afterwards, people said they hope to take the messages into the wider community.

"We hope out of this gathering that we can go out and share the peace and the love and understanding that we need to have," said Doris Pummill who came from Oakland to attend the vigil.

"People from all races were acknowledging what was happening because I feel like sometimes people just ignore it," said 8-year-old Isabel Gabriel.

"There's so many things going on in the world right now that it's really important to come together and be together in a situation like this," said Ishaq Pathan of Newark.

Ameena Jandali of the Islamic Networks Group spoke at the vigil and said afterwards that they hope to show there are many voices calling for peaceful change.

"It's so important now to speak with one voice against the voices of hate, because those are the voices we're hearing, those are the voices that are dominating the scene and we know the majority of people in America and the world don't agree with those voices," Jandali said.

The vigil ended with the group singing the civil rights era anthem "We shall overcome."

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee also attended the event. He did not speak, just listened as some people did call on him and other local leaders to do what they can to fight for justice in the Bay Area.