Category: Uncategorized
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A single drop
Manal Al-Sharif was put in prison in Saudi Arabia when she dared to drive in 2011. It was seven years later, in 2018, when women finally were allowed to drive in the country. As Manal Al-Sharif says in her book Daring to Drive, “The rain begins with a single drop.”
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Prostitution and pornography
In 2011, after Manal Al-Sharif was went to prison for driving in Saudi Arabia, the country’s highest religious council presented a report warning of the dire consequences if women were allowed to drive. Prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce would “surge,” they declared. What’s more, “within 10 years, there would be no more virgins” in Saudi…
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Daring to drive
It was 2011 when Manal Al-Sharif dared to drive. A woman driving wasn’t illegal in Saudi Arabia. One scholar Al Albani even suggested that in Muhammad’s time women could ride a donkey; so, why not drive a car? However, women driving was considered by many to be an assault on the country’s patriarchal culture. They…
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Keep swimming–and keep singing
My friend whose husband has brain cancer visited me. What can we do when something bad happens? Sometimes you can take action to find a solution, but sometimes there is no solution. These words are from a poem from How Beautiful the Beloved by Gregory Orr. One of the best kinds of friends are friends…
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Joy and sorrow
Lots of sorrow and a little joy. Lots of joy and only a bit Of sorrow. Who can know The formula beforehand? These are words from How Beautiful the Beloved by Gregory Orr. One of the best kinds of friends are friends who give you a book—a book you never would have read if…
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Poems from a friend
Friends who give you a book are some of the best kinds of friends—especially when it is a book you never would have read if it wasn’t a gift. One of my special friends gave me a book of poems How Beautiful the Beloved by Gregory Orr. Orr writes about appreciating the world you live…
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Lunch with a friend
I had lunch with a friend—a friend I hadn’t had lunch with since before the pandemic. The lunch was a reminder that it’s wonderful to have friends—friends we see often and also friends we don’t see so often. It is special to have friends who are friends and remain friends even when we don’t see…
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One year of war
February 24, 2023, marks one year of war for Ukraine’s people. One year ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Russia that the consequences would be “an abundance of pain, filth, blood and death….War is a huge calamity. This calamity carries a huge cost—in every meaning of this world.” Say a prayer for the people of…
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The small gesture
Nina Totenberg explains her friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her book Dinners with Ruth. Friendship is about supporting and helping, Tontenberg says. “It is not always about the grand gesture, but rather the small one. It is about extending the invitation, making space at the table, picking up the phone and also remembering….It can…
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Happy Valentine’s Day
Wishing you a little chocolate and a lot of love on Valentine’s Day! As Charles Schulz once said, “All you need is love—but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”