Nancy Merritt, Northern California State Coordinator of The California Peace Alliance/Campaign for U.S. Department of Peacebuilding invites you to join their "Second Monday Telephone Conference" on January 9, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. (Pacific Time) to discuss "Creative Non-Violence and Peacebuilding in 2017."

2016 was a challenging year. 2017 may be even more challenging. We are approaching Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 16, 2017. We are on the verge of a new government.

We are about to begin the Season for Nonviolence (SNV), which is the 64-day period from January 30 - April 4, 2017, memorializing the lives of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. King, Cesar Chavez, and others by focusing on their legacies 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 non-violence 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?

Dr. King said, "But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of a beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. It is this type of understanding goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of men." He said, "Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives."

On the call, Nancy Merritt will explore what it means to be a beloved community of peacebuilders in 2017, and in particular, what this means to those who are involved -- or want to be involved -- in the Peace Alliance/ Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peacebuilding and other peacebuilding communities. Nancy welcomes those who have joined on their calls in the past and is looking forward to talking with those who are new to the calls.

Call-in # 1-712-775-7031, Access Code 719-062-520#
If unable to get through on that number, dial 1-951-262-7373
If being told there is a charge, call 1-884-884-1322
This call is open to all who are interested.

"Is it 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