Join Standing Women, a group of women who are literally taking a stand on Mother’s Day. And they are asking others to stand with them for five minutes of silence at 1 p.m. local time on May 13th, 2007. Check out the Standing Women website where there’s more information, a blog, a video, translations of their message into many languages, and more.

We are standing for the world’s children and grandchildren and for the seven generations beyond them. We dream of a world where all children have safe drinking water, clean air to breathe and enough food to eat.  A world where they have access to a basic education to develop their minds and healthcare to nurture  their growing bodies. A world where they have a warm, safe and loving place to call home. A world where they don’t live in fear of violence — in their home, their neighborhood, their school or in their world. This is the world of which we dream. This is the cause for which we stand.

Please stand with us for five minutes of silence at 1 p.m. your local time on May 13, 2007, in your local park, school yard, gathering place, or any place you deem appropriate, to signify your agreement with the statement below. 

We ask you to invite the men who you care about to join you.  We ask that you bring bells to ring at 1 p.m. to signify the beginning of the five minutes of silence and to ring again to signify the end of the period of silence. 

During the silence, please think about what you individually and we collectively can do to attain this world.  If you need to sit rather than stand, please feel free to do so.  Afterwards, hopefully you and your loved ones can talk together about how we can bring about this world.