Dear WILPF Members: 

Every spring my spirit pushes up through the hardened layers of stories of injustice and wars, poverty and oppression, inhumanity and vitriol. Every spring hope pushes up her shoots in nicely tended gardens, through cracks and crevices in urban sidewalks, and along the banks of polluted waters. This spring was like none other I can remember. The very fact our members had a chance to vote, and real choices for National Board positions, gave a sense of exhilaration and renewed energy. What we do with that energy is up to us all.  

During our first new board meeting/phone conference, I had the Addams quote propped up on my desk as the new board members introduced themselves and their vision for the coming year(s). One phrase stood out to me as a mandate entrusted to us as a board and as members of WILPF US in general: "...to learn to use moral energy to put a new sort of force into the world..." We can learn from our fellow board members and from our members, but only if we have open minds and hearts, only if we think critically about issues and not personalities.