Let us be present to our God and to each other:
Look around you!
Who is the woman next to you?
Is there a woman in front of you, behind you?
Are you a woman?
Who are these valiant women?
They are women spirited by our foundresses:
- Mary Ellen Pleasant
- Maria Carrillo
- Nancy Kelsey
- Elizabeth B. Anthony
- Elizabeth Blackwell
- and Mother Baptist Russell,
whose Statue lights our way outside the North Entrance of this Capitol.
Who are these valiant women?
They are our past, present and future.
They are pioneers, empowering realities, and inexhaustible reservoirs of possibilities.
They are women who;
Believe in something,
Stand for something,
Count for something,
Labor for something,
Run for something, and
Lead others for something.
Who are these valiant women?
They are women next to you, in front of you, behind you—within you.
Living god, today we gather in and among Your Presence.
Valiant women all gathered here, raise your voices for the promise of wholeness and fullness of live for all?
This we pray in Your Name – AMEN.
