This week a friend shared this quote from Dr. Eddie Glaude, Jr., “This is an inaugural moment. It’s a beginning; it’s not an end. I’ve said it before: justice is a practice.” It was a great reminder to me that we often set our sights on a goal – like racial justice, the end of war or a more sustainable planet – and forget that all these goals are also personal practices that we must nurture and begin again each day.

Thirteen years ago, I made the first of three trips to Southeast Asia, and my family has hosted many students and young professionals over the years. I have also been fortunate to make many more friends through my connections with the Mike & Maureen Mansfield Center and the English Language Institute at UM – friends from Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Philippines and Myanmar.

To some peace conjures up something soft, comfortable and relaxing. But doing the work of peace is very often messy, uncomfortable, time-consuming and even dangerous. Thinking about being a peace builder in today’s world can be daunting.

If folks ages 18 to 35 voted at the same rate as people 50 and older, young folks would decide every election.  How many of you are registered to vote?

17 years ago this month, I began the job my heart told me was the work I was destined to do. That work has continued to fill my heart with wonderful friends and so many opportunities to learn and grow.

One of the most important skills we can master in our world is communication. Increasingly, our world requires us to work in teams and the ability to communicate our thoughts and listen to others are the tools of that work. In our work as advocates for a more peaceful and just world, we are exposed to many different opinions and ideas.

For many years, the Southern Poverty Law Center has published a monthly magazine called “Teaching Tolerance”. A name change to “Learning For Justice”. What a revelation – from teaching to learning and from tolerance to justice.

How many of you remember the old Missoula Peace Sign that stood in the North Hills for 18 years? In the time that I have been at the Peace Center, it has been the subject of many conversations, questions, even a movie -- and yes, hopes

We see what we want and deny the rest. We paint people, companies or governments as evil to justify our position. And I am just as guilty of using this brushstroke as anyone. As Laura Ingalls Wilder says, “Persons appear to us according to the light we throw upon them from our own minds”

Re-election depends on votes, so anyone who can influence voters is of great importance to a Congressman. If you let your Representatives and Senators know you can influence more votes that your own, it will make a difference in their attitude – and in the attitude of the people in their offices who read the mail!

If only one person would step outside this vicious cycle, space for healing could open up.

Yesterday (Jan 20, 2021) awakened hope. As we celebrate the progress we witnessed and the beauty and compassion we were party to, let us also recognize the actions we were called to take on. Whether it is finishing this nation,