PRESS RELEASE

Women Sing Peace Into the World

For Immediate Release—November 8, 2009

His Holiness the Dalai Lama made a statement last year in Dharmasala, his home in exile. He said, “Women are more compassionate and have more power to understand and feel the needs of others as compared to men.” Last month at the Vancouver Peace Summit he stunned the audience with this statement, “The world will be saved by the western woman."

In our modern world fear is prevalent everywhere. It is the driving force in government, finance, healthcare, marketing and pervades our lives in many other ways. A subtle prevailing fear is that we will not be relevant or make a difference. For some, this means notoriety, but many people are hungry to make a difference for the better. The events of 911 and daily news stories of terrorism and violence have shifted people’s priorities from gaining social status and feeding greed to following their passion and finding a meaningful expression that becomes their legacy. Women especially are beginning to find their “voice” and their feminine power to change the world for the better.

The recent news of the tragic murders of men and women at the Ft. Hood Army Deployment base in Texas has shocked our nation into another level of awareness—that war and strife are futile and senseless. Chaplain Cornell Mike Lemke shared comforting thoughts at the candlelight ceremony saying, “We are military, we want to make things happen. But now is not the time to make things happen. Now we need to listen and speak soft words.”

A movement has been sweeping across the country and has even crossed international waters in the last nine years. It began with one women sitting at the bedside of her friend who was dying of AIDS. In the morning she was busy with necessary tasks around his house—housecleaning, laundry, and dishes. But, in the afternoon she sat by his side and sang to him, noticing a marked difference in his mood and his comfort level between the morning and afternoon activities.

A few years later this same woman, Kate Munger, gathered with 15 women in Berkeley, California, and the Threshold Choir was born. Kate says that the mission of the organization, which is to sing for and with people at the thresholds of life, creates a shiver down the spine of women who are called to this volunteer work.

Currently there are more than 80 choirs across the United States, Canada, Australia and Iceland numbering more than 2000 women. These women know what it means to listen and sing softly bringing comfort and peace to those they serve. For the most part they sing at the bedsides of people who are at the end of life. This is a time when fear and pain can dominate a life day and night. The songs, which are sung in a "lullaby voice," can actually bring comfort not only to the person who is dying but also to the family members and caregivers as well.

This month 24 of these women will re-enact the tradition from the Middle Ages of making a pilgrimage to Montserrat, Spain to visit the shrine of the Black Madonna. There they will sing songs of peace and joy in the monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat, where in the Middle Ages and beyond many Jewish, Christian and Muslim pilgrims joined together in song and dance to honor their successful pilgrimage to bless Her Holiness. These women have compiled a repertoire from many traditions and languages—Hebrew, Arabic, Latin, Catalan and English, including the beautiful Libre Vermell, which they will sing in the Basilica at Montserrat.  Their prayer is that these three monotheistic religions (called "The Family of the Book" in the Qu'ran) will once again coexist in respect and peace; their prayer is for peace on earth.

They will share their experience in a documentary to be released sometime in 2010. To learn more about the Threshold Choir, visit their website at www.thresholdchoir.org.