Recipe for Soft Heart Marinade

From the time I can remember, I've simply loved baking.  Aside from my grandma's birthday cake ala floor at seven years old, I have had some pretty good success.  The kitchen was a good classroom for life lessons like 
"clean up as you go,"  
"start with good ingredients if you expect a good result,"  
"you can't get apple pies from bananas," and a jewel: "directions weren't written down to squash your fun -- they're written to make you your squash taste good!"  So between our AAA TripTik book, the Bible and family blue recipe book, I learned early on that there are some pretty good tools to help you get to where you want to go.  Just for fun: Check out these really bad recipes.  Someone asked me today "How did your heart get soft and sensitive to the needs of others?" At the risk of being too transparent, I'll share with you what I believe were some of the key ingredients for the Stephanie Smith "Soft-Heart" Marinade recipe.

Debridement of a Wound in order to Heal

"A society without memory will obediently play into the hands of any demagogue; people in such a society are no better than nuts and bolts in the state machine.  They are worthless slaves to an inhumane ideology that promises everyone happiness.  However horrible the past may have been, forgetting it would make the future even worse."   Memorial website

Beginning in 1987, Memorial has led the struggle for full rehabilitation of victims of political repression in the USSR; Memorial's human rights work includes the public recognition of innocent persons and a public apology to them from the state.   Memorial and its founder Svetlana Gannushkina have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize... and some believe that this will be the winner for 2011.

100,000 children sign petition for Sir Nicholas Winton

Sir Nicholas Winton saved a total of 669 Jewish  Czechoslovakian children by securing a permit from Germany for each child to leave the country, a British family for each child, and the appropriate British entry permits...and this loved man, now 101 years old, is a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. This January Czech Senate deputy chairman Premysl Sobotka announced that he had nominated Sir Winton.   At the ceremony, which was held at the release of the documentary, Sobotka handed the letter nominating Sir Winton for the prize to Jens Eikaas, Norwegian Ambassador to the Czech Republic.  British Ambassador to Prague, Sian MacLeod, was present to the event as Sir Winton is a British citizen.
The nomination was accompanied by a petition signed by more than 100,000 Czech children to supports Sir Winton´s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.

"It is a great honour for me to hand this nomination letter," Sobotka said. "Actions of people like him prove to us that an individual may do a great deal for peace, freedom and democracy and that an active life with a clean sheet is meaningful."

If Neutral Mediators ruled the world...

Congrats to my classmates at Hamline University this week who completed training to be listed as a "Rule 114 Qualified Neutral Mediator."   After receiving a certificate suitable for framing, a very helpful textbook and great networking contacts, we participated in a closing circle.  Now we return to our professional lives.  I must admit that this process really stretched me because I've been away from full time grad school this long... but I hit my stride again thanks to some awesome instructors and colleagues.
   I'm planning to go off line for  a couple days as I take some time to reflect and regroup.  It's been a very packed month.  But here's what I gleaned from this week...

Question: Mom, am I 'Country' ?

This innocent question arose from my son after he listened to "Grandma Deer's" copy of John Denver.  Next came the line of questions:  "Am I a country boy?  Can I be country if I live in a suburb?   What's a feather bed and where can I get one? Mom, because I eat pancakes hot off the griddle, am I country? What's the difference between a fiddle and a violin anyway?"  I heard myself respond: "Well, we have relatives who live in cabins year round, I make homemade corn bread, we try to follow the Good Book, your relatives own cows and tractors, Grandpa grew up on a farm, we go fishing for fun...so yeah...it's in your DNA even if you live in a large metro area. It's not about where you live but it's your values.  But if you're country in your heart, you just know..."

Inspiration for the Day: MacGyver Soccer Kids

Introducing the Panyee Football (Soccer) Team  in Thailand...  Did I mention they live on floating village in the middle of the sea with not an inch of soil for a  field?  Watch a  short film with subtitles based on a true 1986 story of a bunch of boys off a little island in the south of Thailand called "Koh Panyee" who loved watching soccer on TV and who just wanted to play.

Their flotilla really impressed me and it got me smiling, thinking of the forts and the projects my big brother enticed me to help build.  My dad has trained him to use power tools and that took our ideas to a whole new level!  At ten or eleven he actually made a secret passage way / trap door in our childhood home after being inspired by a Hardy Boys' mystery show & book series in the 1970's.  Later the MacGyver series would provide inspiration for many other projects...

Ode to Victor Hugo's 1862 novel

While the Dakota Indians fought the United States army and Minnesota settlers in 1862 over the right to live in their homeland, to feed their families and to worship the Creator, on the other side of the world author Victor Hugo finished penning Les Misérables (literally "The Miserable Ones"; French pronunciation: [le mizeʁabl(ə)]).  Happy 25th Anniversary to the Broadway musical!  Widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century, Les Mis follows the lives and interactions of several French characters over a seventeen-year period in the early nineteenth century, starting in 1815 and culminating in the 1832 June Rebellion.  

 One hundred and fifty years later in the summer of 1982, as a self-professed "junior high library addict," I read this historical fiction for the first time...which is what inspired me to take French in school... and to read Alexandre Dumas, (the Count of Monte Cristo is still on my favorite list)... Right on the shelf next to the "Three Musketeers" series were novels by Albert Camus, (a Nobel Laureate 1957 in literature), including "The Plague" which piqued my interest in medicine, epidemiology and disaster relief all those years ago.  My vocabulary grew by leaps and bounds as I "hung out" with these literary giants. As a teen I loved being outside during the peak of the day and curling up at night with a new library novel while the warm Saint Louis summer breeze blew through my bedroom window.

My mind was opened to a whole new world my parents couldn't take me and to new ideas that never crossed my mind before.  Three Winter Olympic experiences later I find that my high school French probably gets used more than  anything else I formally learned at Ladue High School.  And it all started with a librarian ushering me to the aisle of historical fiction.  Take home message:  Who knows how one book will influence your life.

As the world erupts in protests & regroups after disasters

Song: BRING HIM HOME    from "Les Miserables"         

God on high, Hear my prayer In my need 

You have always been there He is young. 

He's afraid. Let him rest, Heaven blessed. 

Bring him home Bring him home.   

Bring him home...  

He's like the son I might have known if God had granted me a son. 

The summers die... One by one How soon they fly... On and on 

And I am old and will be gone. 

Bring him peace. 

Bring him joy.  

 He is young. He is only a boy. 

 You can take.  

You can give.

 Let him be.  

 Let him live... Let him live.  

 Bring him home 

Bring him home

Bring him home.

Nansen Dialog: A Model to Bring Healing

Dr. Steinar Bryn is a Norwegian peace studies specialist who serves as Project Director for the Nansen Dialog Network which was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize along with Dr. Bryn.  His presentation at the Nobel Forum included plenty of nuggets that I am eager to implement as we seek ways to bring healing 150 years after the US-Dakota Indian War of 1862.   His wit and wisdom drew me to attend two of his lectures during the Forum weekend.  And the Nansen's birth as a result of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer parallels my journey to peacemaking after attending a Winter Olympics, so I felt an automatic connection.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to chat with Dr. Bryn, his lovely wife and with Orlyn Kringstad of the Oslo Center-US, dreaming of how to use this model in the next two years in Minnesota.  (Bryn received his PhD in American Studies from the University of Minnesota and Kringstad lives just a few minutes from my home in Bloomington...what are the chances of all of our lives intersecting here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes?)

Another bowl of oatmeal for my heart

Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela is a South African psychologist, born in 1955 who served on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission regarding the legacy of apartheid.  She's another hero working to bring peace and healing so I'll share her story here.  After studies at  Fort Hare University, grad school at Rhodes University and the University of Cape Town, she completed a fellowship at Harvard University and now works for the University of Cape Town.  Godobo-Madikizela's most famous book, A Human Being Died That Night; A Story of Forgiveness, recounts her experience in the TRC and the nature of forgiveness through this process.  The book received the Alan Paton Award for literature in 2004 and the Christopher Medal.  I was recently recommended this Nobel Peace Prize nominee's book and it's been a fast, good read.

"Another pile of rocks...We're going the right way"

On our trip home from Arizona's meeting with the First Nations Spiritual Elders and members of the US Government to discuss sacred sites, my family stopped at the Grand Canyon and then at Arches National Park.  My six year old son's eyes could not stretch any bigger as he tried to take in the sites.  We broke up the 28 hour drive home with some hiking: I could physically feel the excitement jumping out of Caleb's little body.As we left the Visitor's Center with his Junior Ranger book, he kept asking "how will we know when we get to where we want to go?"  I asked him back: "Where are you trying to go?"  We had no agenda, plenty of water and eager legs to stretch, so we drove through the park, stopping at rock formations that captivated us.  At one stop he pointed to the Utah license plate in the trail head parking lot and said "let's go THERE."  So we headed to the Delicate Arch trail which the pamphlet describes as strenuous 3 mile round trip hike with a steep climb with rock pile "cairns" to mark the way.

Wisdom Keepers: Plants, freedom to pursue sacredness

This week I have been personally challenged and stretched.
I started the week at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum where I heard Dr. Shirin Ebadi (Nobel Laureate 2003) talk about FREEDOM: "Americans have forgotten how to fight for freedom at home. Be careful.  Do not let them take your freedom from you... Freedom is like a flower. You can't pour a bucket of water on it and then walk away.  The flower will die.  You need to continue to fight for your freedom or you will lose it.  (When a direct threat comes we react but now Americans are lulled to sleep and have forgotten what they fought so hard to get.) Water it a little every day or you'll soon forget to water it at all.   Over time your freedom will slowly fade like the flower until it dies."

At the other book end of my week, I heard a Spiritual Elder from one of the First Nations caution about the plans to cut a new Arizona highway 202 loop through South Mountain Preserve.  The Gila River Indian Community was given an ultimatum to choose: either blow up portions of their sacred mountain or to give up some of their reservation lands.   He responded "I don't own the mountain; it has just always been a part of me. We will not choose between two bad choices in the name of progress or development.  I must answer to the Creator." 

He talked with great reverence about the plants he goes to collect for medicine on South Mountain.  "These sacred plants only grow in this area. They are found on this mountain and that's part of why we are here. You can't take the plant home and keep it alive in a bucket in your home.  It is the connection to the mountain, the dirt, the sacred water from this place that makes the plant what it is.  The outside may look like the same plant if you take it away from this place, but the special part inside that makes it special is not longer alive.  No, you must keep the sacred plant in the dirt where it belongs to keep it sacred.  Our people are like that too."

United for Prayer

Sitting atop South Mountain at Las Ramadas, I have been enjoying the warm sunshine and view over Phoenix with First Nations Elders as they shared a full day of insight with the members of the U.S. Government from Washington DC. 

One spoke of Mother Earth being sick and how we need to unite in prayer, pointing to the thick haze and mentioning the recent earthquake/ tsunami in Japan and New Zealand.  One spoke with heaviness and concern because they have not yet heard from indigenous friends they had met during previous World Peace and Prayer Day and cautioned that we must unite in prayer and make efforts to protect the earth.  One cautioned about the opportunity to change course or how our children will suffer. One shared his love for Bdote Minnesota (near Minneapolis-Saint Paul) and the difficulty getting access to sacred sites.  One offered an invitation to Bdote for World Peace and Prayer Day this June.

With one day of face to face meetings left, my heart has been stretched bigger as these spiritual elders shared their connection to the land: "I don't own it...it has just always been a part of me.  Creator gave it to all of us to protect it."  I've been challenged to think about the word consultation, about how to listen, about acknowledging the sacredness in each person and acting with respect.  This week I have served as a neutral, simply listening, writing meeting minutes and encouraging the use of the Four Way Test as a measuring stick, absorbing tremendous wisdom from these strong people of faith.  I have been struck also by the gracious leadership that has come from Washington DC who seem very eager to listen.  What a blessing to have heard from these very transparent hearts and to have united in prayer together... 

Truth-telling: First Step to Becoming Neighbors

Mr Roger's Neighborhood

"The Rotary Four Way Test is the primary tool I have used when serving as a neutral mediator; it gives hope to those who have been marginalized and it gives boundaries to those who currently have the louder voice and power.  To find the Truth we must first acknowledge the dignity in each other and invite all to share their story, even if this process is uncomfortable and offensive.  It takes courage and unhurried time to discover the actions that will lead society to fairness, to a mutually beneficial future and to restored relationships.  Then we can truly be neighbors."  Rotarian SHS
               Test #1:  Is it the TRUTH?
"Truth Telling" is an important and honorable step toward healing of individuals which enables people and Peoples to become more whole and well.  Likewise, it is a necessary step if broken relationships have any hope for mending or if new strong, healthy relationships are to be built.  Truth Telling is not only talking about events that occurred in the past  -  it is also a discussion about the present (like the meetings this week in Phoenix) and the future.  It's about bringing this discussion fully into the public forum and allowing our children seven generations from now to be the jury.

Tenacious Forces for Change

Grand Canyon near Flagstaff AZ

Driving cross country is a treat and to see familiar things through my six year old's eyes is priceless.  The national weather service warned about bad weather but after dodging flakes and drops in the Plains, we're  sweltering in 80+ degree Phoenix.
Three sites along our planned route this week have long been among my favorites; the sites don't seem any different than from my childhood family treks.  Much like picking up a good book and discovering new treasures in the plot, these sites are comfortable, familiar and somehow new.
The idea of the day is TENACIOUS IMPACT.

With plenty of quiet time to think with my guys fast asleep in the back seat, I started to reflect on the model for change represented by the  Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, and Arches National Park.

All Things Sacred

I have met a champion for peace, Orlyn Kringstad, a gentleman of proud Norwegian heritage, who happens to live here in Minnesota.  Outside of Norway, there is one Oslo Peace Center affiliate organization -- and what are the chances that it is literally fifteen minutes from my home.  Mr. Kingstad is the Executive Director of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights-US  located in "prestigious West Bloomington" Minnesota...  just look for the big Norwegian flag near the Bush Lake ski jump. ;-)  The Oslo Center was a sponsor for the Nobel Peace Forum last weekend and provided exquisite handmade peace rugs to the speakers.

The Oslo Center has worked with religious leaders in the Middle East to create an amazing tool called the Universal Code for Sacred Sites.  As I leave for the meeting of First Nations elders this week in Phoenix, I am so pleased to have a working document that can be the basis for dialogue, a place to start.  

Tribute to a Great Leader

Chris F. Leith  
Tasunka Wakinyan Ohitika
We share our thoughts and prayers for this family, especially for those who have traveled great distance in this current snow storm, and for those who will be going to Phoenix for the Sacred Sites meeting even with this tremendous grief in their hearts.  I join you in giving honor to this great man.  May God give each of you comfort, traveling mercies, protection and peace.

Driving home: Reflecting on Patel & Bonhoeffer

I drove home from the Nobel Peace Forum late last night after a full day of networking and "filling my emotional and spiritual tank."
 
Dr. Eboo Patel, a worthy Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, spoke with a soothing yet strong voice.  His delivery forced me to really focus on his message; his words were power-packed.  I felt compelled to this morning to check out his Washington Post blog.  I read that Shahbaz Bhatti, minister of minorities and the sole Christian in the Pakistani government, was shot to death. (He had recently campaigned to reform a blasphemy law in Pakistan, calling for the death of those who speak against the Prophet Muhammad). Dr. Pate's blog reads: "Undoubtedly, some will say this is Islam. It's not. It's murder. Plain and simple. The Prophet Muhammad made it a clear priority that people of other faiths and traditions would feel safe around him and his companions."

Through interfaith dialogue on college campuses, and through social media, Dr. Patel aims to bring people together -- and his voice is doing just that.  His speech at the Forum was a litany of cases throughout history and around the world where fear turned to hope, lies to truth and hate/apathy to love.  He ended each stanza with the refrain that through these experiences these individuals learned that "they were better together than they were apart."

First Night; Nobel Peace Forum

After a visit to the Peace Fair, I walked across the courtyard to the Opening Ceremony and Plenary Session.  The Prelude "Let us Reach for the World that Ought to Be" included a student-made video with photos and quotes of Nobel laureates.  I felt an air of expectation and awe. 
As 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi and the platform staff entered the auditorium, applause erupted and students jumped to their feet, lauding her for a long time.  Her diminutive stature reminded me of watching Mary Lou Retton accept her gold medal at the Olympics: poised, resolved and power packed.  After a greeting from Luther College President Richard Togerson, the all male Norsemen chorus performed the moving a capella anthem: "Prayer for the Children."  Gier Lundestad director of the Norwegian Noble Institute gave a warm greeting to the full, eager auditorium.  I sat next to two freshmen ladies from Augustana College, South Dakota.  They were soaking in the facial expressions of our speakers just like I was, and commented that they were similarly amazed that we were actually sitting in the front row. Here are my take-homes from the plenary session...

Nobel Peace Prize Forum

I'm so excited to be headed to this event for this weekend.  Luther College, along with four other colleges of Norwegian heritage in the Upper Midwest, sponsors the Annual Forum in conjunction with the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo. This event is the Nobel Institute’s only such program or academic affiliation outside of Norway. The other sponsoring colleges are Augsburg College, Augustana College (Sioux Falls), Concordia College (Moorhead) and St. Olaf.

Call me crazy but I'm also truly pumped up about the opportunity to drive three hours there and back because there is something simply special about road trips.  I readily blame this quirk on my upbringing because each summer my family we spent two weeks criss-crossing the country in our van, visiting national parks, historical markers and museums, living by the AAA triptick.  And somehow I sense that this weekend will be very special from the time I pull out of the driveway...  
Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Iranian lawyer and human rights activist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her significant and pioneering efforts in democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women and children. She is the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to receive the prize.
Dr. Eboo Patel, founder and president of the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), a Chicago-based institution building the global interfaith youth movement. He was named by U.S. News & World Report as one of America's Best Leaders of 2009 and a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Dr. Steinar Bryn, Norwegian peace studies specialist and Project Director for the Nansen Dialog Network, which focuses on inter-ethnic dialogue between strategic individuals and groups that have strong influence or decision-making power in deeply divided communities.  Dr. Bryn and the Nansen Dialog Network were nominated for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

Co-laborers for Peace, not Competition

March 1, 2011 OSLO (AP) — The Norwegian Nobel Committee says it has received a record 241 nominations for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.  Geir Lundestad, the permanent secretary of the committee, says by the Feb 1 deadline it received nominations for  188 individuals and 53 organization. The prize announcement likely will be held on October 14; the award ceremony is annually held on December 10.

I personally believe that a Nobel Peace Prize nomination represents a gift, an opportunity.
People who are working for peace are co-laborers rather than "competition."  The announcement of a nomination merely allows it to become a tool that can be used to help open doors and draw attention to worthy causes and methods.  It's about opportunity to create awareness which ideally will attract more partners.

For me, this nomination is a public affirmation that the people working on this bold vision are doing the right things in the right way, and in the right timing with the right people involved.  At the end of the day, I hope that the nomination serves as a catalyst for others to invest themselves -- that is what will move this noble collaborative goal closer to fruition.  I hope for public ownership of the finished product as we each put our own distinct finger prints onto the vision, so that we create this better world TOGETHER.

The nomination reminds me of the value and the nobleness of all our endeavors.  This project really means something to the people whom we serve.  They are not faceless statistics.  May this process also inspire us to become the best versions of ourselves...right where we live and work and play and dream.

A big bowl of "Oatmeal" : A Story from Afghanistan

Last night before bed, I sat with my six year old son who is learning to read in Kindergarten.  As he cuddled up, together we read the childhood story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  This morning I read another story that was filling, not too hot and not too cold.  It was "just right."  This is the story of a physician whose efforts have acted as an amazing catalyst in Afghanistan, becoming a leading authority on health care for Afghan women and human rights.



In 1989, Dr. Sima Samar established the Shuhada Organization which now operates medical clinics, schools and shelters for vulnerable women. What strikes me most is the catalyzing effect that began with one woman...and the story now includes the AIHRC, Afghan Human Rights Commission.

Prevention of War vs Treatment that Brings Peace

This story starts with unthinkable horror and ends with hope. Dr. Denis Mukwege is a healer -- in all senses of the word.
Raised watching his father minister to the sick and hurting, he became inspired to have additional tools to be able to minister to the body while praying that God would heal their soul.  Now working in the Congo, he specializes in the repair of women's bodies after they have been brutally raped, mutilated and left for dead.  I simply cannot fathom the details of the stories I have been reading this morning. 

Dr. Mukwege is a man who has given his professional career to aid these broken women. He has not stopped the war.  He hasn't stopped the rapes.  But he has brought hope.  A road less traveled by...and that has made all the difference.  .