Women’s Month: Shirin Ebadi

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[Photo from asiasociety.org]

By: Gabriela Yareliz

As we continue to celebrate women throughout the month of March, I felt the hall of fame would be entirely incomplete without Shirin Ebadi.

Ms. Ebadi is a human rights defender and the first female judge of Iran. After the 1979 revolution, she was dismissed as judge and no longer permitted to serve. She was demoted to a secretarial position. I am not kidding. She did not quit, and she continued to submit her application for the posts she desired. It wasn’t until 1993 that she was permitted to practice as an attorney, again.

She is also a winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. She was awarded the Prize for “her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children.” She is the first Iranian to ever win the prize. Talk about living #thatshahlife! Her award was also the first award to be confiscated by authorities (Iranian authorities took it away), but nothing stops this woman.

She is the founder of Defenders for Human Rights Center in Iran and Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child (SPRC).

Today, she is featured because she is a woman who has persevered and lived courageously. She has stared down fear and danger, and she continues to fight for equality and a better world.

“How can you defy fear? Fear is a human instinct, just like hunger. Whether you like it or not, you become hungry. Similarly with fear. But I have learned to train myself to live with this fear.” Shirin Ebadi

Wings

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Today was a beautiful spring-like day in NYC. Thank you, Jesus! I wasn’t outside for very long, but when I did step out, without a coat, I felt the sunshine on my arms. It was magic. I haven’t felt like that in forever. Thoughts of future warm, dark blue New York City nights filled my mind.

I got home, and I decided to listen to Delilah on the radio. (So 90s, I know). I love hearing the callers’ stories, as they share their pain, love, heartache, frustration, joy and dreams come true. (Those of you who read this blog often know Delilah is my evening guilty pleasure).

My favorite caller tonight said:

“I have been going through so much lately, Delilah. What do you do when you feel you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel? What do you do when you feel you can’t do it anymore? My faith is all I am clinging to… We are human beings; we want things done in our time, but it’s always in His time, Delilah.”

Delilah answered:

“You know what I have learned? When God asks us to put our faith in Him and there is nothing beneath us holding us up, either God will put solid ground beneath our feet or God will give us wings to fly.”

He is only one prayer away; He’ll save the day.

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.” Psalm 39:7

“Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.” Psalm 40:4-5

I hope you find rest in Him tonight. I pray you get the solid ground beneath your feet so you can stand or the wings you need to fly.

Tuesday Badinage: March 8, 2016

“¿Cómo se manifiesta el amor a Dios? Por el amor al hombre. Para encontrar la paz en los cielos, es preciso encontrar el amor en la tierra.” Paulo Coelho

“How does one manifest love toward God? By loving man. To find peace in the heavens, one must find love on Earth.” Paulo Coelho

Reflections Before Bedtime #77

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I left my house and felt something was different. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, until I reached the intersection, while I was waiting to cross. I wasn’t wearing leggings; that was it! In the winter, leggings become a second skin, if you will. I wear leggings under everything. The reason: warmth.

It felt like a spring day, and I could feel my jeans on my legs. I could feel the denim. I felt strangely free and different. It was a feeling I hadn’t felt in months. One of those feelings you can’t just describe to understand– it just has to be experienced.

It made me think about love. We have our ideas about love; not all those ideas are wrong. We have our ideas as to how love arrives, and how it will make us feel. We long for love to arrive, just as we long for spring to warm us after a long winter. Love melts us like sunshine. It doesn’t always arrive as expected, and in fact, it may take you by surprise. You just need to live it to understand it.

Love is an action word. Love frees us. There is friction, sometimes. Surprises, too. Mostly, we realize that everything has changed; not because every little thing has changed but because we are seeing the world through a different lens. We feel something is different. We can’t put our finger on it, until we can. It then hits us. Hits us hard.

Love has a way of breaking us into little pieces and then putting us back together. It makes us feel whole; fragile but strong; ideal; at peace; safe.

Maybe, love isn’t what I had expected all along. Maybe it broke me and made a mosaic. Maybe, it surprised me. Maybe, I had to realize that I had what I thought I had been waiting for.

Love. It is as real as my jeans touching my skin on a late winter day. At first, I was a bit confused, but then, when I realized what was going on, it made me feel free and everything was different.

Monday Inspiration: March 7, 2016

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By: Gabriela Yareliz

It’s a new week!

Diverse trials and perhaps exhaustion awaits some of us, this week. If you are already looking at your week, and your eye is twitching– here is a word for you:

“But now, says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.'” (Isaiah 43:1-2).

“Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you… fear not… for I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on dry ground; I will pour my spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. I am the first and the last; besides me there is no God. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not of any.” (Isaiah 44:2-3, 6,8).

As I have been chatting with friends about life, our struggles, and our desires– our conversation has turned to the topic of prayer. This week, if you are going through something (we all have needs and burdens that weigh heavy on our hearts), I encourage you to be as Augustine’s mother. I was reading about her, and how she prayed for God to impact the life of her son. I read that even as she did not see the answer to her prayers, she was not discouraged. Instead, what she did was she prayed God’s promises found in the Bible. She presented “before God His own words.” (5T 322). “Her deep humiliation, her earnest importunities, her unwavering faith, prevailed, and the Lord gave her the desire of her heart. Today, He is just as ready to listen to the petitions of His people. His ‘hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear…'” Id.

This week, if there is someone or something you are praying about, do not waver. Press forward, and present before God His own words.

This week, let us reflect on what is in our hearts. I keep reminding myself that it is not my job to transform the ugliness or flaws I find within me. It is my job to simply submit my heart to God, and He will cleanse me. He is that potter that molds until He sees a masterpiece.

God doesn’t make ordinary things or write plain little stories. He makes and writes masterpieces.

Here are some quotes that I found inspiring in my weekend reading. I hope you find something to hold on  to and meditate on as your life unfolds this week.

Happy week! Let’s rock.

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“It is only through Christ that Satan’s power is limited. This is a momentous truth that all should understand. Satan is busy every moment, going to and fro, walking up and down the earth, seeking whom he may devour. But the earnest prayer of faith will baffle his strongest efforts. Then take ‘the shield of faith,’ brethren, ‘wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked'” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, 294

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“He [God] orders everything in righteousness, and we are not to be dissatisfied and distrustful, but to bow in reverent submission. He will reveal to us as much of His purposes as it is for our good to know; and beyond that we must trust the hand that is omnipotent, the heart that is full of love.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, 301.

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“Those who talk faith and cultivate faith will have faith, but those who cherish and express doubts will have doubts.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, 302.

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“Do not show distrust of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Do not for a moment pain the heart of the pitying Saviour by your unbelief.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, 316.

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“[God] is pleased with the faith that takes Him at His word.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, 322.

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Go. Conquer.

[Images from Tumblr and Pinterest]

Reflections Before Bedtime #76

By: Gabriela Yareliz

And so, that is what I have learned; that when you love someone, you never give up on them. Because, “love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” 1 Corinthians 13: 7-8

Reflections Before Bedtime #75

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By: Gabriela Yareliz

[Adapted from an earlier conversation with Feliz about love and the people we choose to care about and build with…]

There’s a ‘you’ and a ‘me.’

Together, these become ‘we.’

And given the chance– I think we would be pretty amazing. 

 

[Image from Tumblr]

Women’s Month: Berta Cáceres

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Today, we mourn the assassination of a great indigenous rights and environmental rights champion and activist, Berta Cáceres.

She is known for her tireless work to bring awareness to important issues. She was co-founder of the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations in Honduras and the 2015 winner of the Goldman Prize, the most prestigious grass-roots award dedicated to those working to preserve the environment. She won this award for her work and campaign against the powerful dam builder at Agua Zarca. Her work organized and empowered the Lenca people.

Earlier today, the Honduran activist was shot in her home. She had been receiving threats, and today, her life was cut short.

She worked arduously to help protect lands and territories that belonged to the indigenous community in Honduras. She fought inequality and human rights violations.

Cáceres is a woman who embodies a lot of what I believe makes women so special. She was a woman who loved people, and she worked to better those people’s lives. She worked insatiably, with determination and passion; passion that drove her to continue her work boldly, in what is called the most dangerous country in the world (Honduras). She had the type of passion that burns fear and lights a path for those who follow.

I love the way Amazon Watch paid tribute to her, and I repeat it here: Berta Cáceres rests in power.

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