The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering book

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends;

 

The silent loving hearts and attention of mothers and grandmothers is

so very powerful. Anyone who has transcended deeply in meditation or

prayer, or who has discovered the power of their own peaceful intent

to create waves of change will understand. Others watch in wonder and

gratitude, and each of us for each other.

 

In honor of mother's day, let us take a few minutes to reflect on the

great gifts of Motherhood, whether it comes from a little girl, a

pregnant mother, a grandmother, or a mature man who serves and cares

for others from this center. http://www.grandmotherbook.com/about.html

The email brought a tear even as I opened it, before I even read the

short blurb I received this morning. Thanks for sharing, Beeara. Text

copied below from your message.

 

Much love,

Ysha

 

The women of Ohio, U.S.A., call upon the women

> >of the world, from day-old babies to our most

> >senior elders, to stand with us on May 13, 2007,

> >to save the world. Our project is based on

> >Sharon Mehdi's book The Great Silent Grandmother

> >Gathering. If you don't know the story, a

> >summary of the original version is on the

> >website www.standingwomen.org (you can also

> >read the story at the end of this email).

> >

> >If you think it is appropriate, please send this

> >message on to all of the women throughout the

> >world who you think might like to join us.

> >

> >We will be standing for the world's children and

> >grandchildren, and for the seven generations

> >beyond them. We dream of a world where all of

> >our children have safe drinking water, clean air

> >to breathe, and enough food to eat. A world

> >where they have access to a basic education to

> >develop their minds and healthcare to nurture

> >their growing bodies. A world where they have a

> >warm, safe, and loving place to call home. A

> >world where they don't live in fear of

> >violence--in their home, in their neighborhood,

> >in their school, or in their world. This is the

> >world of which we dream. This is the cause for

> >which we will stand.

> >

> >If you share this dream, please stand with us

> >for five minutes of silence at 1 p.m. your local

> >time on May 13, 2007, in your local park, school

> >yard, gathering place, or any place you deem

> >appropriate, to signify your agreement with this

> >statement. We ask you to invite the men and boys

> >who you care about to join you. We ask that you

> >bring bells to ring at 1 p.m. to signify the

> >beginning of the five minutes of silence and to

> >ring again to signify the end of the period of

> >silence. During the silence, please think about

> >what you individually and we collectively can do

> >to attain this world. If you need to sit rather

> >than stand, please feel free to do so.

> >Afterwards, hopefully you and your loved ones

> >can talk together about how we can bring about

> >this world.

> >

> >See www.standingwomen.org for more details and

> >to register your commitment to stand with us.?

> >The website is in 15 languages and links to a

> >YouTube video. We hope to see a 24 hour wave of

> >women and men all over the globe standing to

> >save the world.

> >

> >******************************

> >

> >Sharon Mehdi wrote a wonderful short story for

> >her five-year old granddaughter, The Great

> >Silent Grandmother Gathering that has inspired

> >us. A quick summary of the story is:

> >A busboy who worked in a café whose window faced

> >the public park noticed that two grandmotherly

> >looking women had been standing in the park all

> >day without moving at all and without talking.

> >They were dressed up in their Sunday best and

> >were just staring at the town hall. He asked the

> >other patrons in the café what they thought the

> >women were up to. They speculated on a variety

> >of things. Then, a five-year old year who was in

> >the café spoke up and said " One of them is my

> >grandmother and I know what they are doing. They

> >are standing there to save the world. " All of

 

> >the men in the café hooted and howled and

 

> >laughed. On his way home the busboy decided to

> >ask the women what they were doing and sure

> >enough their answer was " We are saving the

> >world. "

> >Over dinner that evening the busboy told his

> >parents and he and his father hooted and howled,

> >but his mother was totally silent. After dinner,

> >the mother called her best friends to tell them.

> >The next morning the busboy looked out the café

> >window and the two women were back, along with

> >his mother, her friends, and the women who had

> >been in the café the day before. All were

> >standing in silence staring at the town hall.

> >Again, the men hooted and howled and said things

> >like " You can't save the world by standing in

> >the park. That is what we have armies for, " and

> > " everyone knows you have to have banners and

> >slogans to save the world--you can't do it by

> >just standing in the park. "

> >The next day the women were joined by the women

> >who were in the café the day before and a number

> >of their friends. This brought the local

> >newspaper reporter to the scene. He wrote a

> >derisive article about the women. The day after

> >it appeared, hundreds of women showed up to

> >stand in the park in silence. The mayor then

> >told the police chief to make the women leave

> >because they were making the town appear to be

> >foolish. When the police chief told them they

> >would have to disperse because they didn't have

> >a permit, one of them responded that " we are

> >just individuals standing in our public park and

> >we are not giving speeches or having a

> >demonstration so why would we need a permit. "

> >The police chief thought about this and agreed

> >with them and left the park.

> >At this point 2,223 women including the mayor's

> >wife, the police chief's wife, and one five-year

> >old girl were standing in the park to save the

> >world. The news quickly spread and soon women

> >were standing all over the country. The story

> >ended with women standing in every country

> >throughout the globe, standing to save the

> >world. See www.grandmotherbook.com.