In 1991, the Center for Women’s Global Leadership convened the first
Women’s Global Leadership Institute (WGLI).
The 23 participants came from different countries.
They established the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign as
one strategy to build awareness about gender-based violence and facilitate networking among women leaders working in this area, choosing to symbolically link
November 25th (International Day Against Violence Against Women) and
December 10th (International Human Rights Day).
Grace and Peace to you …
Today is the first Sunday of Advent – the season of patient, prayerful and persistent preparation for the coming of Jesus. We prepare for Jesus by living life in the way Jesus lived life: gently and generously; truthfully and justly; mercifully and joyfully.
To help us live life the Jesus way we need to pray. And so to prayerfully prepare I invite you to journey with Paul’s prayer for the people of Thessalonica which is one of the set readings for us today:
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith. 11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. 13 And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Grace, Alan
Read – Reflect – Renew
Under Ideal Conditions
say in the flattest part of North Dakota
on a starless moonless night
no breath of wind
a man could light a candle
then walk away
every now and then
he could turn and see
the candle burning
seventeen miles later
provided conditions remained ideal
he could still see the flame
somewhere between the seventeenth and eighteenth mile
he would lose the light
if he were walking backwards
he would know the exact moment
when he lost the flame
he could step forward and find it again
back and forth
dark to light light to dark
what’s the place where the light disappears?
where the light reappears?
don’t tell me about photons
and eyeballs
reflection and refraction
don’t tell me about one hundred and eighty-six thousand
miles per second and the theory of relativity
all I know is that place
where the light appears and disappears
that’s the place where we live
~ Al Zolynas
