1/9/17 CA Call - Creative Nonviolence & Peacebuilding 2017 - Caller Dialogue

01/04/16 @ 8pm Draft

CALIFORNIA PEACE ALLIANCE/

CAMPAIGN FOR A U.S. DEPARTMENT OF PEACEBUILDING

Invites You to Join Our Free

Second Monday Telephone Conference on 1/9/17

Guest Speakers

ALL OF US
For a Caller Dialogue 

To Discuss

CREATIVE NONVIOLENCE & WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A PEACEBUILDER IN 2017?

January 9, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. (Pacific Time)

Call-in Number 1-712-775-7031 - Access Code 719-062-520#

If being told there are charges, call 844-844-1322

This call is open to all who are interested.

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“It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual.

The next Buddha may take the form of a community –

A community practicing understanding and loving kindness,

A community practicing mindful living.

This may be the most important thing we can do for the earth.

-- Thich Nhat Hahn (Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poet and peace activist)

2016 was a challenging year.  2017 may be even more challenging.

We are approaching Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  We are on the verge of a new government.  We are about to begin the Season for Nonviolence (SNV). SNV is the 64-day period from January 30 - April 4 memorializing the lives of Mahatma  Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez,  and others by focusing on their legacy of peace and nonviolence. 

In his New Year’s message, Pope Francis cited more that 50 countries that are involved in armed conflict and said, “Violence is not the cure for our broken world.”  In addition to Gandhi and Dr. King, Pope Francis referred to nonviolent examples such as Leymah Gbowee and the thousands of Liberian women who organized pray-ins and nonviolent protests that resulted in high-level peaceful talks to end the second civil war in Liberia.  He talked about building peace through active and creative nonviolence.

This is a time to look inward at what nonviolence means to each of us and to look outward at building what Dr. King called the beloved community.  As we begin 2017, how can we act in creative nonviolence to be peace?  On our call, we will explore what it means to be a beloved community of peacebuilders in 2017.

Nancy Merritt

California State Coordinator/ Northern CA

The Peace Alliance

Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peacebuilding