What does it mean to be moral today?'YOU can plan a new world on paper; but you've got to build it with people,' said former British Ambassador Archie Mackenzie at the opening of the Initiatives of Change (IofC) USA national gathering in Allentown, Pennsylvania. His words echoed those of Frank Buchman, the founder of IofC, who also said that 'each person has a role to play in remaking re·make tr.v. re·made , re·mak·ing, re·makes To make again or anew. n. 1. The act of remaking. 2. Something in remade form, especially a new version of an earlier movie or song. the world'. A hundred people recently met in Buchman's hometown to celebrate his legacy, and through the sharing of personal stories sought to answer the question, 'What does it mean to be moral in America today?' Business executive Ruma Bose set the tone with her own story: 'Six years ago I started on this road ... and then turned away. I now have the resources and possibilities to do something effective but I know I have to go back to the basics: love of God, love for people and times of quiet in the morning. I am starting again.' Chris Fernando recalled fighting for his life in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (srē läng`kə) [Sinhalese,=resplendent land], formerly Ceylon, ancient Taprobane, officially Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, island republic (2005 est. pop. during the tsunami in December 2004. He had walked away with a new calling to create a charity to help Sri Lankan orphans. Carlos Monteagudo shared his memories of an impoverished Chicago childhood and how this led him to facilitate dialogues on how to alleviate poverty in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . Owais Bayunis, Chairman of the Islamic Center of Minnesota, explained his personal calling to educate Americans on the essence of Islam. 'I decided to make it my Jihad jihad: see Islam. jihad In Islam, the central doctrine that calls on believers to combat the enemies of their religion. According to the Qur'an and the Hadith, jihad is a duty that may be fulfilled in four ways: by the heart, the tongue, the hand, , which means my internal spiritual struggle, to make Islam known to people as it truly stands.' IofC and the City of Allentown gave 'LifeChanger Awards' to Dr Hassan Hathout and Jim Houck, who embody the spirit of Buchman's legacy by demonstrating the power of personal transformation to create societal change. Egyptian-born Hathout is a doctor of obstetrics and gynaecology Obstetrics and Gynaecology (often abbreviated to OB/GYN or O&G) are the two surgical specialties dealing with the female reproductive organs, and as such are often combined to form a single medical speciality and postgraduate training program. , author, poet and Islamic scholar. After meeting Buchman in the 1950s he concluded, 'This is how the world can be changed'. He has dedicated much of his life to interpreting Islam to the West. Houck had a major drinking problem until, in 1934, he heard Buchman's challenge to live a different life following God's guidance. He committed to never drink again. This launched a life of care for others in the docks of Baltimore, in meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), worldwide organization dedicated to the treatment of alcoholics; founded 1935 by two alcoholics, one a New York broker, the other an Ohio physician. , in churches and prisons across the country, and internationally with IofC. His 'Back to Basics' work to revive the moral foundation of AA was featured in Time magazine in 2004. John Solomij, Executive Director of the Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley or the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area is a metropolitan region in eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey, in the United States. It is the third-most populated metropolitan region in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Historical Society which co-hosted the gathering, reflected, 'I'm walking away from this weekend knowing what I'm going to have to do with to have concern, business or intercourse with; to deal with. When preceded by what, the notion is usually implied that the affair does not concern the person denoted by the subject of have. - Tillotson. See under Do, v. t. os> See also: do Have my life, what I have to change.' |
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