“An eye for an eye leaves everybody blind.” Gandhi

Sunday, November 17th, 2002

When women, even just a few of them, make up their minds there is no telling what might happen. When they believe that doing the right thing is not only good, but their duty, look out.

About a month ago, a few women had an idea, a dream, for a different kind of world. One in which there would be reasoned responses to and an effort made to understand those who we call enemies. It began with women who believe that it's time for women of all colors and faiths to make their voices heard in a world becoming increasingly dangerous. It began as a way of standing against violence, all kinds of violence, that permeates the very air we breathe today.

This idea, one that started with a small group of women wanting to create peace, culminated in a silent vigil last Sunday morning on the corner of Lexington and Summit Avenues in temperatures hovering a little above freezing. That Sunday their numbers swelled to around 400 women and a few dedicated men, all of them dressed in black to indicate their solidarity with women all over the world who wear black as a sign of mourning for loved ones lost to war or terrorism.

It was quite a sight- women walking silently, single file, led by another woman sounding at measured intervals a bodhran, or Irish drum, which set the pace with its doleful call. Not just for a moment or two, but from 8:30 in the morning until 12:30 in the afternoon. Two Masses at St. Luke’s Catholic Church, which sits on the corner where the vigil was held, came and went during that time.

The organizers, many of them grandmothers, are dreamers with experience and expertise at handling large crowds, like family Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Two tall, beautifully hand-made banners were erected at one end of the block near the church. These were the only signs allowed on that Sunday to indicate who these women are: WOMEN IN PEACE. Those who came with signs of their own were asked politely to leave them on the ground to be picked up later. Dignity was the order of the day.

Several weeks before one woman had flyers made telling of the event and distributed by all the others to every likely spot where they might be seen. Others designed a sign up sheet for participants to leave their names and addresses so they could be contacted for future events. Someone else brought pencils and clip boards. Another brought card tables to be placed at three corners marking off the vigil route. One woman created two hand-made signs which were placed near the St. Luke’s parking lot and which asked Women In Peace please to park on side streets. Dignity and Peace.

When all these details were taken care of, there was still one last important thing to do that Sunday morning before the vigil began. All eight of the original organizers gathered near the altar at St. Luke’s, held hands and prayed what was in their hearts: peace for God’s people everywhere. When asked why she became involved in such an improbable endeavor, one of the women, Lorraine, answered, “Because of the need in today’s world for peace, and to understand all that entails. I want to be able to share my ideas with other women who are looking for ways to create peace, too.”

Another, Hannah, explained her participation in this way, “The world is in a different belief system than I am, and it astounds me. There was this call inside me, like a river, that has become stronger and stronger during the last year. It was a call that my heart heard. This river is willing me to do what I can so that future generations may grow in peace. As I age, I look at it as pay back time for all that I’ve been given.”

Bright and early on the following Monday morning, the group met in one member’s home. She needed it to be in her home because she was baby sitting her 8-month-old granddaughter that morning; one who is being introduced early to what strong, wise women do.

We counted two hundred and fifty response cards, many of them saying “Thank You for doing this”. All the efforts that it took to bring off such an event, along with the cold that accompanied it, was forgotten in the glow of those thanks. Julie Madden, St. Joan’s Peace and Justice Coordinator, and active in SJA’s Peace Group, marched with us that day, and she thanked us for what we were doing, too. She and Jo Youngren, a member of the group and SJA parishioner, are going to be working together to share ideas from both groups so that together we can be a more powerful force for peace in the metro area..

There were some disappointments. We wished more women had come. We wished the media had taken time to report on what we were doing. A Vikings’ win took precedence over mere “women’s doings”. But these concerns didn’t get this group of women down for long.

Jo Youngren and her husband,Dave, have been members at SJA for a little over a year now. However, about 20 years ago Jo was a member and worked with Harvey Egan and Cy Speltz for 4 years. Her first husband, Jack Welch, was buried from there, and later Jo and Dave were married in what is now The Itaska, but at the time was a warehouse with a large gathering of SJA folks attending and Fred & Anna supplying the music - the church in a slightly different setting at the time giving us their blessing. Jo and Dave have been married for 19 years and back in Minnesota for the last 13. Jo can be reached at .

There is going to be another vigil, this time on the first Sunday in January, and every first Sunday after that. Already we’re planning on the warmest clothes we can find that day. We’ll distribute more flyers. We’ll make more phone calls. We’ll call the media again. There is no time for regrets. Peace is something that can’t wait for long the way the world is going now. We have work to do. Our granddaughters and grandsons are depending on us.

Jeanne Morales has been active at St. Joans for the past year. She loves working in her garden, attending the St. Joan of Arc Bible Study and sneaking off for camping trips when she has time.