Todays was the opening of Women's Division meeting. We were up at the Interchurch Center, a beautiful building and a sister to my supervised ministry site, the CCUN. When I got there, I was told that in the same building, Leymah Gbowee was doing a book signing and to promote a new PBS series called Women, War, and Peace.
Leymah Gbowee was one of three women who won a Nobel Peace Prize this morning.
We were changing the schedule of the meetings so everyone could attending the signing. Of course, it quickly moved from a signing to an event with press and her talking and a lot more than the 35 people they'd originally expected. So we entered the chapel at 3pm and waited for her to enter the room. She came in to a sustained standing ovation, and then took to the mic. She talked for a few minutes and then took questions. It was pretty incredible. I've put all the quotes below that I could write down, I'll try to provide context if needed, but hopefully some of her words of wisdom will inspire you. I left the room glowing, it was amazing to be with someone who has such a powerful presence.
I found out later how she found about winning. She was on a flight to New York for the book signing event when her publicist emailed her that she'd won. The people around her were asleep or engrossed in their own books. She tapped a guy near her and said "hey, I just won the Nobel Peace Prize." Someone near them googled it, held up the iPad and said "it IS her."
Here are some bits of her talk to us this afternoon. None of it was prepared. She's hilarious, warm and brilliant. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to be in her presence on such a huge day for her:
