Okay Yeah, let's just look to the Lord and pray and before that I just want to read from Proverbs 3 and verse 1 It says my son do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands For length of day and long life and peace they will add to you Do not forget but let your heart keep and The outcome is that length of days long life and peace they will add to you The next verse verse 3 says let not mercy and truth forsake you bind them around your neck Write them on the tablet of your heart and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man Really What is amazing is the outcome of God's word when When we grasp it Not just with our mind intellectually, but you know wholeheartedly when our heart Keeps his command, you know with our very being the core of our being We keep the word of God keep his commands his commands are not restrictive his commands are not to You know put us down or put us on a leash but really it is to release us into Life it says length of days and long life and peace the laws of God the commandments of God will add to us and mercy and truth God talks about those two qualities and The two qualities which are part of him very nature of God mercy and truth and as we As we keep them close to our heart says write them on the tablet of your heart Engraved on our heart, you know, just so mercy and truth You know what a great combination truth and at the same time mercy And so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man So a couple of important keys there for long life For a good life a length of days and peace and also for favor with God and with men. So Let's just pray and say I'll tell the Lord Lord Your word your commands your precepts Let my heart Grasp peace, you know, let it be part of my the core of my being It is not just to Please you it is not just to do that bare minimum But let it be part of my life, right? Whether people are watching or not whether I am in a particular environment or not but God that's your commands Let let my heart grasp your commands in this manner. So let's pray Father we we thank you for your word God. We thank you that your law is liberating That your word truly is life life-giving and Gives us abundant life and master we just want to thank you this morning that We get to do this. You give us yet another opportunity to Lord grasp your word Lord with our heart Lord that we will Follow them with our heart As your word says let your heart keep my commands. Yes, Lord with the core of our being or father God Whatever you are Commanding whatever you are exalting whatever you're instructing from your word Lord May our Lord heart grasp this and keep this even as your spirit gives us revelation and May the outcome that you promised or be our experienced God Father God even as we read about mercy and truth Or even as that is engraved in our hearts God But let the outcome of that Outcome of doing that favor with you favor with man highest team Lord, let that be our experience We just want to thank you for these promises and Made be our experience Father God. We thank you in Jesus name.  We've been looking at Leadership particularly Christian leadership and last class we looked at how the life example or the leadership example set by the Lord Jesus and so we looked at purpose and we also looked at Another quality of the Lord Jesus leadership You know the way he modeled leadership that is it where he was selfless not self-serving and did not have any selfish ambition Though he he was You know, he was consumed by the passion With the purpose which God with the father had put you know sent him with But he was not self-serving even in the pursuit of that even in the fulfillment of that he was not self-serving, right? So like sometimes, you know People who are very driven Can be self-serving I'm driven by that. I need to have that. I need to do that at any cost No matter what is the what is the outcome or what is the effect on people? You know, we can be sometimes when we are very very driven to work with the cause it could be a good cause it could be even ministry but When it it can be, you know, it can become self-serving if it's if you're not careful, right? so we looked at how the Lord Jesus was selfless and We looked at the instruction in Philippians 2 where Paul writes and he says let nothing be done through selfish ambition or pride but in humility, you know, you esteem others better and You look out not only for your interests own interests But also for the interests of others and let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus who took on the form of Bond servant and and we saw that, right? So today we will continue as we continue we look at The third one the third Manor in which the Lord Jesus modeled leadership for us. That is in his obedience to the Father You know, so as a leader, we are called to be obedient as Christian leaders, you know, we are Specifically we're looking at that as Christian leaders to be obedient to the Father to be obedient to God Now now we might say well, that's that's a given You know, that's a oh, let me just Share the screen Sorry You know, we might say that's a that's a given, you know way way even talk about it But you know many times we as believers we can go our own way and make it look like God's way we can do our own thing and And make it look like okay. God has put a stamp of approval on it, right? so to be willing and to be obedient to the leading of Of the Holy Spirit right in our role as leaders to be willing to be obedient to be to be willing and obedient right, and we know that Obedience is well, it is it is a joyful thing, right? It's it's Produces joy in us when we obey But it comes at a cost It comes at a price, you know, there are times when obedience costs us obedience to That to his to his voice to his instruction it comes sometimes at At a cost at a at a personal cost, you know as a personal sacrifice And we know also know that obedience is not always Comfortable, right? It's not we are not always in the realm of the familiar It's not always in the realm of our comfort zone it is many times to step out of our comfort zone and to to take that step of faith and Particularly, you know as believers This is even more so right we hear the voice of the father we hear the voice of the shepherd and And sometimes all that we have are his His words, right and and we we step out in faith and carry out what he has asked us to do right a Couple of scriptures here Hebrews 10 verse 17 where It's a testimony of the Lord behold I have come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do your will And again in Philippians 2 says he humbled himself and became obedient To the point of death even the death of the cross this talks about the Lord Jesus how he was obedient to the will of the father Okay, the thing is for us to know to for us to be aware Aware of the father's heart aware of the will of the father Will of God aware of the voice of the being sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit And and and to be and to be obedient obedient It's the second part of it really knowing him knowing his heart knowing his nature is the first part of it, right? So So the thing is to make obedience Both obedience and knowing him it comes as part of the same coin, right both sides of the same coin So the thing for us is to make it not an event You know In my own life, I know that there were times when I wanted a decision right it was a significant decision it was about a job change and and you know I spend time just Fasting and praying and when waiting to hear the voice of God and just wanted to make sure I didn't want to make it You know make a mistake and and God spoke God pointed out. Okay. Here are things Because of which you need to change and you need to move and and so on so It was clear, but then I realized now looking back. I realized that I had made Hearing God's voice and obeying obeying his voice an event and Not a continuum not a you know a lifestyle not an everyday thing right so to really delight in his presence to hear him and To to want to hear his opinion his choice his say in the matter Right, so let that be a continuous thing Well, the Lord has given us Mental faculty the Lord has given us our abilities To for us to he's given us his principles, right and and these are also another aspect of you know important aspect of obedience where we know this is what the Word of God says very clearly very plainly we go ahead and do it, right and We also go by the presence the principles and the presence of God where specifically God gives his reima God God's you know Quickens his word to us quickens these principles to us to our hearts and we step out and we do that Right, so being obedient being aware of the will of the father being sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit and being obedient, right as leaders, it's It's it is it's an everyday thing as as believers and Very specifically as leaders May it be an everyday thing. This is how the Lord Jesus modeled for us and and he says, you know, whatever I see the father Do I do it and the words that I speak the other words of the father, right so Pointing us or pointing us to the fact that we need to have a close walk with him. We cannot Slip up in this area, right to have a close walk with him to not compromise in this to to be to be Aware of his voice and it's a privilege. You know, it's our privilege. It is To hear his voice. It is our privilege to know the principles of God The precepts we we have it right with us. We have it before us. So maybe Engage, you know with the Word of God And not really neglect the Word of God. Okay, one of the things that we see is in Mark chapter 4 Let me just read that and then we'll move on to the next one Mark chapter Mark chapter 4 it's a parable of the soar and In my much before after he explains the parable the Lord the Lord says Verse 24 mark 4 and verse 24 take heed what you hear With the same measure you hear you use it will be measured to you and to you who hear more will be given For whoever has to him more will be given and whoever does not have even what he has will be taken away from him so Verse 24 very clearly it says take heed what you Hear and how you hear with what you hear the sense that the measure that you use Maybe a big measure Right as it depends on us So the Lord puts the owners on us, you know, you draw near and I will draw near to you Now the same the measure that you use it will measure to you So so let's go before him with a big measure and say, okay God You know, I I need that I want you. I want I want to hear I want a big measure, right? so That's something that we see and something for us to emulate and follow and then particularly about the timing of God the will of God And everything is is there for us and he has kept it for us and let's not make it an event It becomes a you know, it becomes a formula it becomes a hit or miss when we when we consider it an event of You know when we look at it as an event or a one-time thing But if we make it part of our life as a believer, you know, it's something that's a day in and day out to walk intimately with him and It's it's you know, we will be walking like Jesus. We will be providing leadership In the manner that Jesus did Okay You know and several examples of you know, not only in ministry, but also in in the workplace in the workplace in business in You know in in the you know uncharged settings like quote-unquote secular settings where People have testified and said, okay being obedient hearing the voice of God being obedient Receiving wisdom from him and being able to successfully carry it out in several situations, right, maybe some difficult very difficult situations Requiring the wisdom of God, but this one aspect of Wanting to know his will and being obedient James talks about you know Let us not be here as only but also to us now. This obedience requires faith. This obedience requires courage Many times, you know as as even as leaders, right? We Hear something here the voice of God instruction and that requires courage That requires going beyond the voice of fear rising above the voice of intimidation or anxieties and And obeying God So Yeah, so let's move on to the next one any any thoughts on this Any examples that you can share about Obeying God as maybe in a workplace Hearing the voice of God and obeying him and how that You know, maybe helped how that's all Maybe we can hear a couple of examples and then go on to the next one Anyone like to share obedience Yeah, go ahead Shreya Kumar Thank you, Pastor When I was working In my in my company I was a senior because Because I was a believer I never used to mingle with my bosses who used to go for this weekend parties and You know these all these things. So I was actually Separated from my from my officers and my teammates also because even my team team members used to go and Enjoy the weekend parties and all I was like someone who was like Was separated from their groups, but by God's grace and his wisdom my work was always appreciated and my manager always come and always ask, you know, the The seat the the the help whenever he was needed and he always found that there is a wisdom is working in me And he asked me the secret also. They always shared about the Jesus about him And But there was a time where even though I was appreciated there were so many other juniors who was so close to the managers and senior managers so and Even though my promotion was something which I was supposed to get my second promotion where Where they have actually Declared my promotion, but they have not released my paper and I was supposed to wait for six more than not six months but more than one year I was just waiting for my confirmation that run the which they have not released and I was supposed to and they have promoted someone else my junior. They promoted and it was literally Very painful thing for me and that was a time where, you know, my marriage was also fixed and it was so It was so, you know painful for me and I said God, I want to quit the job. I want to leave the job I cannot continue this here in Bangalore and because I am the first Christian in my family book there was no such support also for me and and there's so many other things were there and Then I then though as you said like the Holy Spirit continuously prompting me stay stay in the company stay in the company stay and it was very very hard for me every time when I Go to my office and that anger suddenly used to come inside me Then I put a piece of paper in front of my laptop system that you know that anger is not good I have to control my anger and I I continue with that and I work there for um and More than one year because I was just obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit and because I was so tempted to leave the job leave the job leave the job and Fortunately, I was they They they actually put me into a very big project where which which got successfully Which was which was which was successful and then they decided for my second promotion and and they were almost they were ready with the paper and My after my appraisal and suddenly I got a dream I got a dream where I I saw that you know I saw that somebody is telling me my my manager came in my dream and said that you have to leave the company Because there is no future. So I was so wondering that why This dream coming to me when I am supposed to get my promotion and why this dream Then after a few months, uh, again, I got a similar dream where uh, you know Same dream where it says that Uh, um, the same thing that there is no future for your company leave the company Then I I I told my wife about this and she said maybe god wants you to Uh, come to the full-time ministry. I said no way. I'm not going to come to the full-time ministry Because I don't want to be in the full-time ministry Then she only suggested me. Why can't you take a 21 days of fasting? And uh, why can't you see god and the first day when The day for one itself. Um, I thought okay. I will go and uh in my church. There was a service was happening and And I was in prayer and suddenly that servant of god who was a visitor And he pointed out me and he said to me very clearly that god is god wants you to serve him now And whatever you are doing you have to leave and it was a confirmation for me And uh, then I continually pray continuously prayed and And there was they said that there was so so confusion that the promotion is ready And god's calling is there. So what it was a confusion Then my wife asked me that what you should do then what we were going to do. I said, uh, What god is telling me we should obey to god and I I Bent and I told my manager. This is the thing then he's told me that your paper is ready.  So I quite quickly signed the job and as he said, I know sometimes it's very hard But we have to listen to the voice of the holy spirit and I left to the job and Then I dedicated myself for the full-time ministry. Thank you. Thank you. So how many years ago was this? This last week is Nine years nine years back. Okay Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Praise god. Yeah, so, um, yeah The fact that obedience comes, you know I mean requires Sometimes us stepping into the Not so familiar and not so comfortable and and also, you know, it's I mean, it's it's tough to explain But when we know that we know that we know that god has spoken and then we step out and do it, right? Any other example of, you know, uh, being a leader maybe in ministry or you know, maybe And leading a team where you've had to You know lean back Lean into god and his wisdom and you obey and how it turned out Any example Any experience Yeah, uh, praise the lord man. Uh, actually, um, my calling to ministry was like many many years ago While I was studying itself, um in the school itself I got a calling and I had Many of the servants of god has prophesied about full-time ministry for me. But, um I was like keen to Study further and even my father was like very keen For me to get higher studies and then I completed my mbh and Later that I continued to work in corporate world. Um, so I wasn't like I had very ups and downs in my like corporate life and In the in those 10 years like I was in very higher positions as well. Um, I was like um working in um healthcare healthcare You know company in I was posted in Kenya as a country manager as the for couple of like months and then so very highs and lows, but Though I was earning well. I I had good, you know, reputation. I had all the things which I a person wants But there was no peace. I remember a day when I was in Kenya and I was After like 12 to 14 hours of work. I came back and I was Laying in my bed and thinking about like what I'm doing with my life. Am I happy or am I supposed to do so? that time I like Stood up and and pray to god. So god talked to me about like there are great things in life Which you have to do. So, uh, I just asked god for like clear vision and clear things and so There were colleagues in the Kenya because I don't know anyone personally in Kenya, but there were many Christian Friends, uh, which god helped me to so, uh, most of them are where my colleagues So we we used to like discuss, you know versus scriptures and We used to discuss a lot. So from that day onwards like things become like changing, you know, but one more thing was that my superiors Uh, were more of them were like alcoholic and they want me to Spend time with them as most of the, you know expats do and have weekends But I want to go to church and have fellowship with the people So not only in Kenya, uh pastor, but uh in everywhere wherever I work I had this problem I had faced this problem many times because I want, you know, uh leave on sundays or Whenever the prayer meetings because I used to be in ministry for like 22 years. I was A translator. I was doing the job of a gospel translator and gospel So many times I had been called by several support to do the transition work But my bosses don't want me to have a leave there In that uh situations, I have to like take a call So many times like to obey the god So I have to take your risk. But again, it paid off and eventually Um by as the days came, uh, I had no peace like I want to do ministry, but Family responsibilities and everything was there. But soon or later god Like there were there was a meeting going on conducted and Servant from like us and and kerala came and they prophesized about me and my wife like You have been called for the ministry clearly and you have to call for full-time ministry, not for part-time So you have to dedicate yourself. This is the last call. So we were like Uh in so much of belima whether to forward or not because uh, I have I'm the elder son I and I have to take care of the family as well. But uh, somehow we, you know stuck on that So later one someday, uh, it happened From that day onwards, uh, I don't want actually the reason was like I don't want to leave my parents and go out and I can't leave separately with without them.  So you won't succeed until you obey my voice So that particular day I dedicated myself and like me and my wife both dedicated ourselves for the complete ministry And we started seeking God and in his ministry full time and since that day onwards I had complete peace in my life and uh, there were many, um Situations came across in my life where I have to choose to whether to obey God or But yes by God's grace. It is very challenging when when we are in God and we have to please our bosses At the same time, please God you have to choose either either either the worldly part or the of God So many a times over the two and a half decades I had faced this problem. But yes, um Now I can say um by obeying God. Yes, it is it is a blessing and now We are like in the ministry. Thank you for this. Right. Thanks. Thank you Thank you so much. Yeah so, um So I mean, I think these were a couple of examples where the Lord asked, you know, them to move out but sometimes You know the Lord asks us to stay And and that's also, you know, uh, sometimes that's a difficult thing with where you want to move and the Lord says stay right, uh, but the fact is that As leaders, you know, as we are leading others as we are influencing others um for their good To make a difference in their lives that for us to lean into God for us to Be obedient and be willing to hear his voice on the matter. It could be about No, it could be about everything anything about maybe about the team. Maybe about the solving conflicts Uh, maybe about owning up and saying I you know, I was wrong Uh, it could be, uh, I don't know, maybe a new direction and everything we have this wonderful privilege of receiving from God and And and the thing is uh, sometimes what happens is, um, you know Maybe, you know, like a church setting or it could be a church or ministry setting or even otherwise right, uh, certain things that You know that we do we may not really include God And we're going to look at that. We're going to look at that whole aspect of planning and uh, you know, uh, Though it seems like a very natural exercise that uh, that when we include God in it that we need to actually factor in here, you know and uh, uh, go Go according to his his plan and his will so, uh, many times we exclude God from Many other activities and no, no, maybe unknowingly knowingly, you know, we exclude him The fact is that we need to include him, right? Yeah, um, Rupa, you wanted to say something Yeah, Rupa, go ahead. Rupa, you wanted to say something. You're muted. So Sir, just two minutes, sir. Thank you I We are in a very small remote place and Here in Anantapur. It's a small town a small village called Batilpalli Where my husband used to work. It's a secular setup hospital and When God called us to start a home church in that place My husband got a very good opportunity in australia Usually they don't offer such high posts in uh, other countries for indian doctors, but he would he got a very good position in australia But when we waited on the lord and prayed god clearly said don't go you have to stay here So we have we just stayed back in India and Batilpalli and it was a very tough journey and We had to move out of that place After that and it was very tough. But I I know that god's plan always not as we think The blessings and all the different people are very important to god When god wants us to make impact on people and and he has handed over certain people to us He wanted us. He wants us to stay there put Whatever may come. I think that's what we have learned And last year also, uh, my husband had to move to deli and afterwards he moved to Bangalore is in different mission hospitals now Uh, helping the mission hospital surgeries and all I never been we were never, uh, separate Read separately Wherever he went All mission hospitals always went but this time god spoke to us very clearly. I said, how can I stay here a lot? I want to Follow and go with my husband. He said If this is only for a short period, I will bring him back. You have to stay here so I had to stay back and god is working in our lives and I think sometimes even after starting the home church My our children are in three different places and Sunday only Sundays. We are allowed to meet them in hostels But it was very very rare occasion. I could not leave the New congregation and just go and meet them so that way also I I've missed being with the being is to being with the children Like that, but they understood and it was a blessing that way. Thank you pastor. Well, thank you And thank you for all the sacrifices you've made You and your husband and yeah, our prayer is that You know, we'll be back together soon. I think it should be sooner than later, you know Yeah, and I got us true to his word. So Yeah, we pray for that as well. Okay. Yeah, why don't we just pray for You know Prabhakar for Shri Kumar for Rupa either for Yeah, let's just pray asking god to You know continue to pour out a spirit upon them that they will continue to you know, be influences where god has placed them Be it, you know, I think all of them are in some form of ministry. So Yeah, we just pray for god's wisdom and god's leading and guidance, right? Let's pray. Would anybody like to pray? Okay um anyone Head see Father, we bless you. We thank you for your sons and daughter We thank you lord for what you have committed to their hands We thank you for the assignment you've given to them We thank you for your grace that has sustained them to this moment We thank you lord For it is you who is in us both to will and to do of your good pleasure You have given that to them lord We thank you because you will keep them to the end and they will finish the Assignment they will finish till the end and they will bring you glory We pray that as they stand lord in obedience to the call you've given to them Strengthen them the more and lord fortify them on all sides And lord, we pray that you will validate your call in their lives that results lord will show indeed You call them and that your name will be glorified in their ministries in the name of jesus Thank you everlasting father in jesus name. We have prayed amen Amen. Amen. Thank you say thank you Yeah, um, just one thought is that um that we will all continue to know the heart of the father Right that we will continue to know god's heart that we will continue to um to know his nature as the holy spirit reveals to us that You know in our zeal to be obedient that we will not be swayed by You know popular opinion like even in In in church or you know, uh, how should I put it like even in ministry? You know, there can be certain things that are Cultural there can be certain things that are that are popular that seems that that is the trend right And you know, it could be either thing, you know, it could be uh either in terms of Even when it comes to sacrifice that That it will not be a flesh living that it will we will know god intimately And that we would know his heart that we would know his nature to hear his voice And and we completely surrendered to to doing that Right, uh, rather than Even, you know, even in a like a church or christian Ministry kind of a setting that we would not be swayed by what is that, you know, what is the trend? Yeah, so That is something that I just wanted to share when it comes to obedience, right, um, especially, you know, like You know, all three are about church and ministry and so on but But also it is it is equally true that the lord might want us to stay You know, maybe in the company that you're working and to be a To be a voice there, right to Stay with the business that you're doing to be a voice there. I'm saying it's both are, you know From god And so it's not that one is less Important than the other Like for me personally it was to it was to move away from From working as a professional in a corporate From the corporate world and move away So for me it was that but and I know that You know that it is equally important and it is equally true that god might want us to stay where we are and be a voice there and Yeah, and like Like I was saying, you know, sometimes it's it's difficult to stay right so so may god give the strength wisdom and And maybe continue to seek his will right, but maybe continue to know him intimately So that it we will not be swayed by what we see around not by comparison And not even by what is popular church culture culture, right? I say this because from the like the from the Early church background or early I would say the the fellowship that I was part of you know for it was Like working being a voice or being You know as a working professional to be a believer to be a voice there to be to be a even an apostle or a pastor In that workplace kind of a thing was was something unheard of you know for us the greatest thing was That you know you was full-time ministry so-called full-time ministry But then began to understand that when you look at the lives of joseph and daniel and And all these wonderful people god used you see that they They worked in the courts of the king. They were in the administrative You know kind of services or civil services as we would call it and they did that and They were obedient, right? So so so me god give us an understanding and the wisdom, right? Okay, that was great. Thank you. Thank you so much for sharing guys There's quite an eye opener It's amazing the kind of sacrifices that you've made. Yeah Okay, let's let's move on to another thing which we've already seen before the fact that I think we also already did an exercise also, you know As a leader To be a servant Right, we looked at that earlier. So i'm just going to read that verse again Just to reiterate What the lord jesus said and then we'll move on Matthew 20 25 to 28 But jesus called them to himself and said you know that the rulers of the gentiles Lord it over them and those who are great exercise authority over them Yet it shall not be so among you But whoever desires to become great among you let him be your servant and whoever desires to be first among you Let him be your slave Just as the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life ransom for Many, right? So we have this leadership example as a servant leader that the lord has You know Kept before us not an option But he says, you know, it shall not be so with you So May the lord give us wisdom again to you to do it in the right manner, right? So people have roles and responsibilities, especially in a formal setting in an organization That in our bid to be servant leaders Let's do that in a wise manner Right May the lord give us wisdom. Okay, so I just leave it at that And then let's move on to the next one. So as leaders we are called to sacrifice Right and it's interesting that all three shared about sacrifice You know just now. So let's look at a few scriptures Hebrews 2 10 and 11 for it was fitting for him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in Bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation Perfect to sufferings for both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one for which reason He's not ashamed to call them brethren So there was You know in that perfection There was suffering that was involved Right, there was this discomfort that was involved So we we see that Hebrews 5 Who was seven who in the days of his flesh when we had when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears To him who was able to save him from death and was heard because of his godly fear Though he was a son yet he learned obedience by the things which he Suffered and having been perfected He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him of course the the suffering that the lord jesus went through was unique and You know and the nature of it was unique and Cannot be compared with any other And also we we are called to walk in his You know walk in his steps, which means that there will be you know sufferings. There will be difficulties hardships But not to the extent of what he suffered. Okay, so there is a difference, right? So As leaders We there is always this element of sacrifice You know When we look at sacrifice We see that Let me just put this out. We look at sacrifice. We see that Many times we associate sacrifice something that we give Or something that we give up Or something that we do away with Right, so maybe it's something to do with time. Maybe it's something to do with Some resources that we have So we we give up Something we give up something that we have a right to right it is not that it's It's illegal or it's it's not right And you know it is something absolutely fine, you know But we willingly give up In order to pursue Being a leader In order to fulfill our role as as leaders so We give up willingly we set aside something willingly and it so we kind of pay a cost to Following the footsteps of the lord In order to be leaders so So this aspect of giving up I think is is very very We are familiar with you know whenever we say sacrifice giving up letting go Of something it's it's we are familiar with that but sacrifice also has another aspect of it, which is to take on right To take on willingly To take on maybe a responsibility. Maybe to take on certain tasks Um, which again we we don't have to Right, we don't have to it's not thrust upon us. We don't have to And it's perfectly fine but But in order to fulfill Our call or in order to fulfill that role and responsibility as leaders We take on something willingly And now that is also uh an aspect of our leadership So when you look at sacrifice It is both something that we give up something that we let go off And also something that we take on something that we take up willingly right and and both are important and And the thing is this, you know, sometimes we I mean when it comes to sacrifice You know one person's sacrifice in one part of the world And and the call and everything that they're pursuing could be very very different from another person's sacrifice Right. So there's no need to compare And say oh, this sacrifice is greater and definitely, you know natural in the in the natural realm And when we when we when we reason it out, it seems that way. There's a high price. It's a high call but Uh, there's no need to compare and say Hey, this is this is better or this is greater. This is higher Right. Um, it is a sacrifice, right? Um, okay, so we'll stop here. We'll take a break And then we'll we'll come back to continue


The IOP Teacher Training Scholarship is funded by the Department for Education. It's brand new for this year and it's where we're awarding 100 scholarships for the very best people who would like to become a physics teacher. Successful applicants will not only receive a £20,000 award, we'll also be providing a package of support including IOP membership, mentoring from an IOP teaching expert. They'll have a whole range of opportunities to become part of the physics community. We are looking for truly outstanding individuals to apply, those that have the potential to become fantastic teachers of physics. You need at least a 2-1 degree or above, this could be in physics, maths, engineering, any physics related degree, or you could pretend there is a subject knowledge enhancement course first. We're not just looking for pure academics, we're looking for people who can communicate, be inspirational, motivational to young people and just be passionate about physics. You need to complete an online application form. The form asks you questions about your background, your qualifications and asks you to give some information about why you would like to become a teacher and why you think you would become a good teacher. If you're successful you'll be invited to attend an assessment day here at the Institute of Physics, where you'll be tested on your physics knowledge and have a series of interviews. There are a series of deadlines throughout the year but we only have 100 scholarships to award, so the sooner you do apply the better. It's going to be highly competitive so I wouldn't wait too long.


Corporal Joseph Pusey with Victor 1-7, Charlie Company, second platoon, first squad. So before yesterday we got a notional call that we had orders to go reinforce an embassy with a company minus size element. Yesterday we moved to the RAF to board Ospreys in order to come here to the notional embassy and as soon as upon arrival to the notional embassy we began our priorities of work which was reinforcing a post and upon us getting to the post we started our post rotation of and actually reinforcing the embassy. It's about a mid-threat because the civilian populace is still not used to us being here notionally so they're coming up to the fence asking who we are, wondering why we have machine guns or why we have guns pointed at them. They're asking for food and water because there was notionally a hurricane that came and swept through this area and destroyed it pretty hard so there's families that are left pretty much with nothing so they're trying to ask the government for help and that's why we're here. Right now with this gun we're guarding a vehicle control point so essentially there can be vehicles that come in and out of the gate that is standing right behind you and it is also serving as an entry control point and we are guarding that just in case anything happens.


Good afternoon, and it's a funny thing. I'm Elizabeth Sackler, and I'd like to welcome you to my home away from home and It's funny. I was driving here, and I was thinking if it's raining Everybody says my god, it's raining. Nobody's gonna show up if the sun is shining Everybody says it's gorgeous day. Nobody's gonna want to be inside if we've had two days or three days of pouring rain And we have been a gorgeous day outside So thank you for coming. Thank you for being here, and I don't blame you because It's wonderful to have Gloria felt here today, and it's wonderful to have her here at the forum In the Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art We have been open as most of you know because you've been here for two and a half years We're an exhibition space. We're an education Facility and we are dedicated to feminist art and to feminist thinking and theory and to educating New generations About all of those things and about all the things that many of us have been thinking out about for a long time And that a whole new generation of young women and men are growing up Thinking about I received recently an invitation To a benefit for the for an Eleanor Roosevelt organization and there was a quote on the front of it and it was Her she was talking about people and it was a little bit on the condescending hierarchical order in the reverse order that People talk about ideas people talk about events and people talk about People and what she was sort of saying was that you know people who don't think much talk about people and people who think a Little bit talk about events. It's sort of the implication of it and people who really think talk about ideas Well, I thought this was really kind of wonderful and Thinking about today. I was thinking about well part of what's great about the center is that we do all three of those things in a wonderful way and We begin really with the dinner party and the women at the great women of history whose shoulders we stand upon and If they hadn't had their ideas their ideals and gone into action We wouldn't perhaps be quite where we are today So it offers us the opportunity to revisit the great work of great women in history and of course Margaret Sanger which is why we're here today with Gloria felt is a guest at the dinner party And if you haven't been through it already and Gloria probably has a very nice big thing of it This is the dinner party plate that Judy Chicago designed and made in honor of Margaret Sanger and if you haven't had a chance to go in and see Margaret Sanger you might want to pay her a visit after we've heard From Gloria. I invite you to do so The first paragraph about Margaret Sanger in the dinner party book reads as follows a Visionary feminist Theoretician and a pioneer in the struggle for reproductive freedom Margaret Sanger was convinced that once women were freed of involuntary childbearing society would be transformed and Our guests today The extraordinary and you are Gloria felt has devoted her life to reproductive freedom and Become an expert on Sanger and we are here to honor Margaret Sanger's birthday and Actually, it was many months ago. It was last spring that we Realized that Gloria said well, we you know Margaret Sanger's birthday is it's oh, we said well, this would be great It's perfect and time flies and here we are and it gives me a great deal of pleasure to read Gloria felt's biography to you As I introduce her she's a women's activist best-selling author of send yourself roses co-authored with Kathleen Turner Who you are I'm to have here today, and I'd like to welcome you and to thank you for all your wonderful work It's a pleasure to have you here and also Gloria's written the war on choice Which actually I have it in my person. I meant I wanted to do this So I'm going to do this with it at the end Because it's a it's a fabulous and very important book and sort of the byline is you know the war that's going on right now against Against choice, so thank you for that Gloria for for your continued work She blogs at her website, which is gloria felt calm about heartfelt politics courageous leadership and powered women and what I have here. They all have capital letters So those are big deals She's an expert on women's lives from where the personal meets the political With over 30 years on the front lines of leadership for reproductive right health and justice During arguably the most challenging time since Margaret Sanger's birth Margaret Sanger's uphill battles. She revitalized the national movement Serving as president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America one of my favorite one of my mother's now deceased favorite Organizations local state National international, thank you and it's political arm the Planned Parenthood Action Fund Which she grew into the largest nonpartisan pro-choice action fund and PAC from 1996 to 2005 she's currently writing a book about women's relationships with power to be published by Seal in fall 2010 and welcomes your stories. I'm Allowed to say this, right? This is an invitation of when you knew you had the power to Fill in the blank whatever it is her commentary has appeared in the New York Times So long L glamour the Daily Beast and many others She's a frequent speaker at universities women's groups and professional groups and loves touring with women's girls ladies intergenerational Feminist panel and if you were here For that fabulous panel that we enjoyed having the last wild card if you weren't You can go online and see it It is up online put in EAS CFA It was they sacri-centre feminist art and you'll come to the video and our wonderful videographer David is here with us all the time does it and then we upload it and you know It like the electronic world has has actually enabled the center to reach people Of course all over those of you who are young aren't surprised about it. I am forever amazed and very happy back to glory Vanity Fair named her there 200 top women legends leaders and trailblazers Texas monthly naming her to its Texas 20 she hails originally from Temple, Texas one of the few great things Described her as part den mother part business woman part may west Glory is a fellow of the international leadership forum. She serves on the women's media center board of directors Carol Jenkins her the executive director is here yay women's media center and On the board of the Jewish Women's Archive as she teaches women which is wonderful teaches women power and leadership at Arizona State University and is a social media addict Would like to hear more about that over drinks She and her husband Alex who is here? Have a combined family of six children nine grandchildren, and this is really hard to believe Gloria three great-grandchildren Please help me welcome Gloria felt it's an honor to have her here. Oh my goodness momentarily Tell you when Okay, I don't know why but the mysteries of Technology elude me even though I am a social media addict. Hi everybody. Thank you so much for coming and Elizabeth I've got to tell you every time I'm here. I feel like I am on hallowed ground You have no idea what it means and I've heard a lot of people coming in saying thank you for providing this wonderful space But for me it is just it really it really does feel like hallowed ground, and I'm not kidding I just got back from my high school reunion and Elizabeth mentioned that I was born in Temple, Texas, but actually I went to high school in the teeniest town It's so little and so awful now that we don't even have our reunions there We have them in Abilene, which is the nearest sort of larger town. That's that has actually a decent hotel You can stay in What's that? Do I have to tell? 50 50 50 50. Yes, mm-hmm. Okay, and How many of you go back to your high school reunions? I'm just curious about this is an experience Okay, I'm not completely alone. I am so glad that I went I traveled more hours getting there and getting back Then I was there for the actual event, but it was so worth it. It was It has been a long journey. It has been a long journey From I'm sorry, but I get actually a little bit teary-eyed about this I it has been a journey from being a 16 year old teen mom. That's me with my oldest daughter To a women's movement to having the opportunity to be a leader in the women's movement to be able to do what I could to help other women be able to have more intention in their life than I had when I was a 16 year old Is is is beyond Imagining as far as the honor is concerned and to be here with all of you today in this beautiful Sackler Center for feminist art which happens to be I'm not exactly sure how far but it can't be too far away From 46 Amboy Street Which is where Margaret Sanger opened the first clinic here in Brooklyn in 1916 This it so you know what I mean when I say this is hallowed ground and I'm totally amazed that I get to actually be here So so thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you I I have to kind of wonder also whether the girl who was born Margaret Higgins in in Corning, New York in 1879 the 6th of 11 living children Could have imagined that she would be immortalized As this flaming red Volva Here in in this in the Brooklyn Museum Maybe she would have maybe she would have she was that sort of person This is sort of her first leadership lesson that I learned from Margaret Sanger was that That all worthwhile accomplishments start with a vision and a big vision not a small vision not an incremental vision But something big bold audacious flaming red and as she often observed it needs to be something bigger than yourself Bigger than yourself to make it worthwhile I've turned for her for inspiration and courage often and also for practical examples of how to keep a movement moving in spite of external challenges and sometimes sort of an internal Desire not to break too many eggs talk about that a little bit later Today, I want to focus on just nine of the many many leadership lessons that I learned from Margaret Sanger over the years By telling you the story of her life and a little bit about her work And then I'd like for us to talk a little bit about the challenges that are yet before us I Friend offered me tickets for Beach tonight by Nick Kristoff and Cheryl who done and I'm sure everybody here has been reading their wonderful Media and you may have even read their their book half the sky And they're saying that women and the women's rights are the great moral challenge of the 21st century Which I agree with and I think it's great that they're doing that But you know what Margaret Sanger said all this a hundred years ago the She was she was a visionary. She was a visionary. She was a practical visionary. She was courageous and she was cranky She was idealistic and she was also very pragmatic She was a redheaded green eyed feminist socialist who died a registered Republican She was a mother a grandmother and a sexual libertine She was a woman of many contradictions, but hey, aren't we all the This is this is Margaret Sanger as a young woman and this gives me a chance also to to give a shout out to the wonderful Margaret Sanger papers here at New York University a great resource of information and For which we are all grateful and and hi Esther Katz is here and she is the leader of this pack and has done a remarkable job of putting together Margaret Sanger's papers the personal and political intertwined for Margaret Sanger as They do in my life and as I'm sure you all have felt that they do in yours as well Margaret's earliest memories were of standing beside her mother's bed crying After her mother had almost died from a very difficult pregnancy Anne Higgins Margaret's mother was a devout traditional Catholic and she in fact did die at age 50 Simply worn out from so many pregnancies and births Margaret's father on the other hand was a free thinker. He was a stonemason a charmer. He loved to tell tales He was a bit of a drinker had a little trouble holding a job so he was never the greatest provider for the family and as a consequence Margaret grew up knowing poverty and She knew these struggles of women in a very personal way And I have to suspect that it was also that her father's free thinking sensibilities caused her to be able to see some different visions about how women might be treated in this world and and and Help to make her sort of the boundary breaker that she became She went to nursing school. She started to nursing school at least she almost finished, but then she Resigned because she couldn't you couldn't go to nursing school then if you were married So when she met this handsome architect William Sanger She and decided to get married. She had to resign from nursing school but She then proceeded to have three children in fairly rapid order and was trying to deal with some of the same issues That women today deal with like how to balance motherhood and her and the profession of nursing that she really liked And she liked being out there in the world and she liked rabble rousing. She already knew that so when the when a fire destroyed the couple's home in Suburbia and they ended up moving back into the city She was really quite pleased about that and then William her husband's Mother who had been widowed by that time moved in with them So she had a babysitter and she went back to nursing she went back to special-duty nursing and Took special-duty assignments so if we can imagine if we can sort of take ourselves back into the year 1912 it was a time of Huge intellectual ferment huge political change of rapid immigration Economic turmoil crowded tenements and it was still eight years before women would get the vote in the United States How many of you have been to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum? Is one of my favorites. I just I just love it Did you oh my goodness wow that's amazing Well in the 1900 census in that particular building on Orchard Street The census says that there were 18 wives living in that building Those 18 wives had given birth to 111 children of whom 67 were alive Now that's a 40% infant and child mortality rate which is shocking to us today But back then it was just the norm Maternal mortality was 99 times what it is now and Of the of the maternal deaths 40% were caused by infection and one half of those in deaths by infection were caused by unsafe abortion Birth controls such as it existed was illegal as well largely because of this guy Anthony Comstock Anthony Comstock was sort of a one-man sex police He started the New York Society for the suppression of vice a noble calling He was a special investigator for the United States Postal Service where he could personally Enforce the 1873 law that was named for him making it illegal to send birth control information or devices or Abortion information or devices through the mail. There were many state laws that followed Comstock bragged that he had seized 60,000 obscene rubber articles and Tons he said of lewd and lascivious material Like today's abstinence only zealots Comstock could not distinguish between healthy responsible sexual expression and prostitution promiscuity and pornography Margaret soon demonstrated her second leadership lesson a Leader is someone who gets something done Doesn't mean you have to be the smartest it doesn't mean you have to have the most resources to bring with you It means you have to actually get something done The Nike swoosh had nothing on Margaret Sanger She said I have noticed that for those people who compromised by the excuse that the time is not right The time never does arrive for decisive courageous action Mr. Comstock was about to meet his match The defining moment came when Margaret Sanger was called to an overcrowded tenement To nurse a 28 year old mother of three named Sadie sacks Now Sadie had been told another pregnancy would probably kill her and She had asked her doctor at the time. Well, how do I prevent these pregnancies then and He very cavalierly said to her well tell Jake to sleep on the roof Bitterly poor and weak from from these multiple pregnancies. She had self-aborted She got a raging infection of course pre-antibiotics and Sadie begged Margaret to tell her how to prevent Future pregnancies Margaret told her what she knew but she said it wasn't really very much a few months later Margaret was called back to the same home The same situation Sadie had become pregnant again. She had self-aborted again. She had gotten an infection This time she died This just crushed Margaret and she spent the rest of the night walking the street by herself and By morning she said she had decided that she would devote the rest of her life to finding out the answers and To making sure that women could have information about birth control about contraception the term birth control hadn't yet been invented She said no matter what it should cost. I would be heard Now we don't know whether there was a real Sadie sacks or whether this was a composite of many women that Margaret Encountered over time. It really doesn't matter because the point is leadership lesson number three There is power in your story There is such power in your personal story and Margaret Sanger was a master at using the personal stories to inform people and To persuade people and she told this story over and over and over again And she told it dramatically and she told it using every possible medium at her disposal But she always connected that personal story with the call for political change So she began to take some other actions She wrote a sex education column called what every girl should know for a socialist newspaper the call Comstocks of course immediately censored it and so the paper Ran an empty space the following week with this headline what every girl should know Nothing by order of the US Postal Service So then Margaret ratcheted it up another notch. She published a periodical called the woman rebel To challenge Comstock directly about this time a friend of hers coined the term birth control and I think you know It's sort of like what the media mavens today call sticky and Margaret recognized that and she she just ran with it and Claimed it as her own and she if you ever have the chance to hear her talking about it Or see her on one of the films that remains of her She said it like birth control Me that the emphasis was on the control Margaret was arrested in August of 1914 and rather than Be rather than stand for trial at that time She thought that she needed to let public opinion get a little more aroused. So she fled to Europe But she had a purpose for being in Europe also because while she was there. She did a good bit of research She researched birth control methods in France and discovered that women had been cooking them up on their stoves for many years And she went to England where she did a little research with the sexologist Havelock Ellis where she began a long-term affair with him actually and they continued their deep intellectual bond And he was a mentor of hers through the rest of his life She also visited a clinic in the Netherlands it was a family planning clinic where they had been providing women with family planning information and diaphragms for I think maybe 30 years and This gave her the model that she would then use when she came back to the United States And it also gave her the vision of having a network of clinics all over the country where women could get birth control So the fourth leadership lesson that I learned from Margaret Sanger is the importance of timing Because the time was ripe when she came back. I mean have you ever seen anybody who looks so pretty and happy at their arraignment? She since the tide was turning in her direction while she had been in Europe Her husband Bill had been arrested for distributing birth control information and had gotten quite a bit of media for that and Her rival leader in the birth control movement Mary where Dennett had started the National Birth Control League And so there was starting to be a sort of on-the-ground Organization and meanwhile readers of the woman rebel were continuing to send the very charismatic Margaret letters of support On January 17th 1916 on the eve of her trial. She gave what she called her maiden speech It was a speech. She would repeat a hundred and nineteen times all over the country Here are some excerpts They tell me that the woman rebel was badly written that it was crude that it was emotional and hysterical That it was defiant and too radical Well to all these indictments I plead guilty Women from time immemorial have tried to avoid unwanted motherhood On the one hand, I found wise men Sages scientists discussing birth control among themselves But their ideas were sterile They did not influence the tremendous facts of life among the working classes or the disinherited I Might have taken up a policy of safety and sanity, but what I have got a hearing I Put myself in the position of one who has discovered that a house is on fire And it was up to me to shout the warning and shout the warning. She did Leadership lessons five six and seven use what you got and what you need is probably there if you are just smart enough to see it and Controversy is your friend. It gets people's attention Outmaneuvered the prosecution dropped charges against Margaret in February So on October 16 1916 She opened that first birth control clinic her sister Ethel Byrne was the nurse They couldn't get a doctor to help them for quite a while yet And they passed out these handbills through the neighborhoods I'm gonna just pass this over here so you can see the handbill that they passed out throughout The neighborhood in Brooklyn and on the Lower East Side and it was printed in English Yiddish and Italian The police closed the clinic down 10 days and 484 patients later But Sanger had started something much larger than a clinic. She had ignited a great movement a Great movement for women's reproductive freedom Ultimately Margaret would be arrested nine times for civil disobedience and each time she used what she had Not money certainly not the law and few influential supporters who would step forward at that time But she had the power of an idea that touched the most fundamental human need And she knew it This is my absolutely all-time favorite example of Margaret Sanger's brilliant use of the media to get her message out In 1929 she was banned in Boston She actually arrived she was supposed to speak in Boston and she arrived to find a newspaper headline that said that her speech had been canceled But that did not stop her She recruited the esteemed historian and Harvard professor Arthur Schlesinger Sr Professor Schlesinger read her speech while Margaret stood beside him with this gag over her mouth Needless to say it made all the major newspapers across the country and you can just imagine if she had had Twitter and Facebook Then what would have happened? Well, the dear mrs. Sanger letters really started flowing in there dear miss then dear mrs. Sanger married 20 at 20 to a laboring man in 11 years. I have five living children one stillborn and five miscarriages I am desperate dear mrs. Sanger. I am writing to you as the last hope of help I am the mother of eight children and I have nothing. I never expect to have but just children She compiled these stories and many others into a book motherhood in bondage Which inspired my own first book behind every choice is a story Because honestly in the 21st century there remain many many heart-rending stories that women tell and and these stories still need to be heard During this part of the of the era this era in the late 20s. I think in 1929. There was the first really successful Court case the u.s. Versus one package that more or less began to convince doctors that they could safely provide contraception to their patients in their private offices and So more doctors started providing contraception more people started thinking whether they would start opening these family planning clinics and Margaret began to crisscross the country then helping people open clinics all around this I love this picture. This is a picture of Margaret Sanger in Tucson with patients and their Children of patients it appears also at the mother's health clinic in 1936 she helped them get started in 1934 and in the late 1930s She and her second husband Noah Slee retired in Tucson She never really retired, but he retired he wanted to retire He was considerably older than she and she also One of her sons had asthma and so they would she wanted to to move to a drier climate So she was traipsing around helping people start clinics And by this time where she wherever she would go It was not unusual for the most prominent women in the city to help her out So she was beginning to really mobilize support all over in my case I ran the Arizona the Affiliate in the Phoenix area for some years and Peggy Goldwater helped her help Margaret Sanger to start that Affiliate which always comes as a surprise to people that the Goldwaters were intimately involved with Planned Parenthood even back then So her second husband Noah Slee as I said was considerably older than Margaret and he was just totally besotted with her so much so he was a millionaire the founder of the three-in-one oil company and He would do things like at her behest smuggle diaphragms into the country illegally He staked the Holland Rantos pharmaceutical company so that they could increase the supply of diaphragms in Jolly in the United States And he ultimately contributed just loads of his own money and time to her her efforts While at the same time providing her with separate living quarters, which she demanded as As her condition for marrying him because she wanted to be able to continue living as she so pleased And she did Well by 1942 there were over 80 local clinics around the country And that was the year that the Planned Parenthood Federation of America was formed Now Margaret Sanger hated the name Planned Parenthood She thought it was weak that it was a euphemism for what she was all about which was after all birth control Well, she was obviously wrong about that Because Planned Parenthood has turned out to be one of the strongest brand names ever But I will have to say that that conflict over style and strategy continues to rage within the movement to this day and Though Margaret continued as the honorary chair of Planned Parenthood She also as the organization became more mainstream. She also looked for other challenges that she could take on elsewhere so in 1952 she founded the International Planned Parenthood Federation and She also began raising money for research to fund the development of a birth control pill she was convinced that an effective oral contraception would be would be ultimately the transformational thing That there would be a method that would be woman controlled and that that would be the the contraceptive method that would transform women and Free them at last from motherhood in bondage The birth control pill saved my life When I was By the time I was 20 you saw me at 16 by the time I was 20. I'd had my third child and I they my children have been the center of my life, but that was enough and So when the FDA approved the birth control pill in 1960 I will actually was 1962 by the time it got to West Texas It truly saved my life. It allowed me to have a life It allowed me to think about a life beyond the constraints of motherhood and wifedom Then birth control was finally legalized throughout the United States in the Griswold versus Connecticut United States Supreme Court decision in 1965 Roe versus Wade followed in 1973. Both of these cases were based on the right to privacy Also about this time there was funding for thanks for coming Kathleen I didn't mention I should mention also that Kathleen is also the chair of the Planned Parenthood National Board of Advocates So thank you. Thank you, darling So so that there was funding for family planning for low-income uninsured women for the first time Today more than 95 percent of Americans have used birth control and When the Mayflower moving company surveyed its clients a few years back and they asked them What are the items that they would take by them if they're moving? What are the items that they would carry with them on their own persons? Because they valued them so much Birth control pills were among the top four Now that is a culture shift Don't get me wrong. Margaret was far from perfect. She was egotistical She rarely credited others contributions to the efforts and though she was unwavering in her mission She changed her argument based on whatever was selling at the time Her strategy was go to where the power is To help accomplish what she wanted to accomplish and what she wanted to accomplish was to get birth control available to all women That's how she came to align with eugenicists during the 1930s when that sentiment was at its height She saw through eugenicism sooner than most and broke away from it publicly But still this has remained a stain on her personal narrative and the one that is most difficult to remove Because we have to remember that those who are opposed to women's equality in any form will always use it against her And we'll use it against the movement Even though she more than redeemed herself later on and actually ended up being among the first visible leaders in the U.S. To denounce Hitler's racism Sanger just continued to morph her arguments as she needed to women's health poverty Elidiation population control every child wanted child whatever you were buying. That's what she was selling All of these are valid benefits of birth control But I still really and truly believe that the feminist crusade for women's biological and sexual liberation was where Margaret Sanger started and The core principle to which she continued to return over and over and over in her life. I Had a wonderful dear friend now deceased Alice Bogart who entertained Margaret Sanger in Chicago several times when she was there to speak during the 1930s and 40s and Margaret told me what I mean.  She you know Like whispered in my ear. I Think she quite liked the gentleman Indeed she did and the gentleman liked her too She slept with most of the most interesting men in the 20th century including Including HD Wells who would call her later the heroine of the 20th century and you know I mean all of these guys remained her friends and her dearest supporters through through the rest of her life or their lives Margaret loved parties. She especially loved international themed costume parties and she threw them off Her friend Grace Sternberg in Tucson told me that Margaret was also a notoriously bad driver That when she was on the road people knew just get out of the way She fancied herself an artist I had one of her watercolors in my office in Arizona and I will tell you it's a good thing She had another calling in life However in less than a century the movement that Margaret Sanger launched Won so many victories that it is really hard these days to get anybody to think that those those rights could ever be Reversed I mean that is really one of the biggest challenges. I think that the movement faces now It is it is such an amazing change that people simply cannot believe that these advances could be reversed That was certainly the mood when I went to my first Planned Parenthood job in West Texas as the CEO of that affiliate in 1974 everybody just thought done done we can just go about providing our services and everything will be fine But the backlash against such a sweeping change in the gender power balance was bound to to to be immense I mean it was just I don't think there has been such a Huge sea change in a power balance that affects everybody in our entire culture ever in in human history And and we should have known that there would be this huge sweeping Backlash, and that is why the war on choice rages on today And that is why I want to tell you about the eighth leadership lesson that I learned from Margaret Sanger Which is a movement has to move it has to move Power and energy come from moving into new places not from standing still and doing what you've always done That's why as Planned Parenthood president I tried to focus on building the grassroots and and we started advocating a much more proactive agenda and Trying to raise the profile as both a service provider and a political force And I think that our great challenge now is to shift the moral and legal framework From privacy, which we are all accustomed to to a human rights framework I Can't say how strongly I believe that this is important that women's human right to make their own childbearing decisions has to be Has to be the framework that we go forward in and to connect those reproductive Justice issues with economic justice issues and to say clearly and unequivocally That it is time for women to have an equal place at life's table And in the immediate future, of course, this means we need to take this on in the health reform debate For as Margaret Sanger said so many times in so many ways no woman can call herself free Until she can own and control her own body That was her core conviction but nobody knew better that convictions alone are not enough and So the final leadership lesson is the one that I hold most dear And I think it's a good summation of Margaret Sanger's life Life has taught me she said we must put our convictions into action So I want to just give you one last little story and then take questions Not long before she died in a Tucson nursing home in 1966 a few days shy of her 88th birthday although the New York Times Obit said she was 82 which would have pleased her immensely Her granddaughter and namesake Margaret Sanger Lampy asked her how she'd like to be remembered She said she hoped she'd be remembered for helping women And helping women in the end is all about what Margaret Sanger did. Thank you Thank you. So since tomorrow is her 130th birthday, how about a big happy birthday Margaret? Happy birthday Margaret So I'd be happy to take any questions that anybody has or comments Yes Ah Thank you. Do you have a question? Okay, well first of all Couple of places I'll give you a couple of places specifically is related to Margaret Sanger Specifically as related to Margaret Sanger. Okay. Yes a couple of places first of all I can't overly highly recommend in why you and Esther and Kathy if you want to raise your hands Back there. We have the experts here in the room. You might want to talk to them before you leave and they can direct you specifically also the Planned Parenthood Federation of America website has a Several articles about Margaret Sanger and really goes into detail about the eugenics Allegations and what's right? What's wrong? A lot of it is just plain made up that that is out there And a lot of I mean and in some of it is simply that in the culture of that day The language that she used was the same language that Teddy Roosevelt used the same language that you know That leaders in the country were using because they were all of this persuasion So you have to sort of pick pick the pieces apart. Thank you. Yes I think you know, I think it's the more information that's accurate information that's out there the better And I think we have to be realistic We have to tell the tell the speak the truth and and that's where there are issues that we would have if we were hearing Margaret Sanger speak today There's no question about it just as you know, let me give you another example. I don't know if any of you have read I Don't think you have read Michelle Goldberg's book the means of reproduction and you know She she gives the history of the population control guys in the 1950s and 60s the Rockefellers And you know if the reason we have such widespread family planning services around the world is because these guys They were all into population control. Well, we don't particularly like that approach either We we think the approach should be women's reproductive self-determination and women's rights so you have to just you know, you have to sort of take it all and take it in the context of the day and And ultimately honestly when you read Margaret Sanger's words and you read look at her whole life There is no question that that one statement that I made no woman can call herself free Until she can own and control her own body if there was a thesis for her life That was it. I mean if there was a guiding principle for her life That was it and I think we need to just keep reiterating that and I wanted to give you one more resource That I if you haven't read Ellen Chessler's excellent biography of Margaret Sanger it also I found it particularly helpful for putting the Cultural context and the political context of the different decades in which Margaret lived into perspective. Yes Good question. The suffragists wouldn't take on birth control. I Think that kind of ticked her off actually But they wouldn't they wouldn't take it on they by that time the suffragists had become a fairly narrow movement They were determined only to focus on on getting women the right to vote and in Yeah, right, they really by that time had pretty much sort of gone The even the previous to that the suffragists the women's movement in general had had a much bigger agenda Social agenda, but by the time 1920 came around and they actually got the right to vote that had they had just focused Solely on getting the right to vote and did I say something wrong yesterday? I want you to I want you to I want you to pipe up if I I want you to keep me honest here Yeah, they thought birth control would make them promiscuous that that the earth that this the suffragists had come out of the the 19th century Yeah, voluntary yes Great Great in terms of why there were splits in the in the movements I you know part of it was just sheer ego part of it was just sure Lee that there were these these women who were They were each in their own way Leaders and boundary breakers and they each just knew that they had the right path and and and also they were egotistical enough to Want to be the the figureheads and I have to tell you it's still that way in the movement You should see that you know you get bruised hips at the microphone when you have a coalition press conference so that that hasn't really changed too much and Probably never will in terms of what needs to be done today No, let me say one more thing about that though I think I think that's I don't want to make too much light of that because there always is in advancing social movements Once you begin to start winning something then you have something to lose And as soon as you have something to lose and you've seen this in the civil rights movement You've seen this in many other movements if you just sort of look at all of them once you have something to lose Then there are always people within the movement who say oh, let's not try too hard. Let's not try to break too many You know Doors down. Let's not let's be quiet because otherwise we'll lose whatever it is that we have already obtained So I think that that that is also something that just happens in every social movement and it is To meet the biggest challenge that I ever had always was trying to get past that and trying to get people to continue to You know to keep their courage on and to keep Realizing that there were more injustices to be dealt with and that we needed to keep pressing forward and and so that's just That's just a fact of human nature As to what we need to do now. I I think yeah I I've been quite disappointed that there hasn't been a real outcry and not just about abortion But the way Obama just let family planning disappear from the first stimulus package with oh well It's it's controversy. Okay. Oh, we will take it out He needs and I and when when you if you talk to people in the White House What they will say to you and what they have said to Planned Parenthood and what they have said to the women's organizations is Well, you need to come to us and show us That you have enough people who care about this in other words, they're not going to go fight that fight for us and so so it's going to take that's what it's going to take and I I Don't know we'd have to sit down and strategize what would be the proper civil disobedience But I'm kind of up for it myself because I see I don't have anything to lose anymore I know I don't it doesn't matter to me anymore. I can I can do whatever. Yes. Did you have a question? Oh, yes Right, right Yes, well one thing has already been done and I think that maybe this is part of the answer to your question about how do we start moving forward in another direction and That is that there was some legislation called the Freedom of Choice Act That was written about 20 years ago But it basically just tracked Roe v. Wade and it was it just reinforced and codified a right to privacy a few years ago We rewrote the Freedom of Choice Act It's still called the Freedom of Choice Act and it still starts with some of the same preamble about Privacy and Visuality and so forth, but then when you get down to what the actual law is it is a civil rights law It is a the government cannot discriminate against you if you choose to have a child The government cannot discriminate against you if you choose not to have a child And that's the beginning of it because a human right has to be then translated into a civil right that can be codified And so that legislation is based on what we thought was the best state law Which was Washington State that has had this law for many years And it has never been successfully challenged in court and we felt like that was the best model So that piece of legislation has been written. It has been introduced has not been introduced in this session I would like to see a very strong Mobilization around the Freedom of Choice Act. I also am crazy enough to think that these Egg as person state initiatives state ballot initiatives that are popping up all over the country are a good thing Because those finally will force the pro-choice movement to grapple with what it hasn't wanted to grapple with which is straight out What's the value of a woman's life? You know, it's not enough to argue that it would be confusing It's not enough to argue that you know that there would be all these legal complications It's it's we have to begin to start with the woman Start with the woman's basic right to her own life to her own existence to the physical Body that she has and to making decisions about her own body and her own life and frankly I think there's been a lot of shying away from that and so Using Margaret Sanger's controversy theory I think that that needs to happen and then to translate that I think we're probably not going to get it in this health care Around it's not going to happen But I think we have to start building again from the ground up and get rid of the Hyde amendment and get rid of the Helms amendment And that means winning another election or two. Yes That's a great question, you know her grandchildren thought she was fabulous, but you know grandchildren and grandparents always Think each other are fabulous her her children her children her her sons her daughters very sadly died in childhood and that was a Sadness from which Margaret really never recovered. She she talked about this child For the entire rest of her life the two sons were both very successful people had Good family great family lives themselves So there had to be something good there, but they complained a lot about her absences And there are stories of you know of a son saying would you please write me into your calendar mom for Thanksgiving?  How many children did six? Yeah, and she was quite embarrassed by that Otherwise Otherwise it was okay. Yes Unfortunately Unfortunately a lot of the story is where we can see it On these back pieces to Chicago says that because they were written on this But you know just keep in mind that these 39 women including these two despite their fault of their backs Yes, very flaming yes Oh Kathleen's went to see the exhibit before she came in here and she her comment to me about Margaret's plate was whoo, she was angry Right, I haven't I mean every time I look at it. I see something do you I said a question back here. Yes Learning about This is a real concern What I see is good work by the environmental groups who are raising awareness of it How Very very interesting question and I'm going to just do one little disclaimer Which is that since I have not been the president of Planned Parenthood for four years now? I Don't know exactly what's going on right now in that particular conversation I do know that that over the years we had formed increasingly close Coalition relationships for many many different reasons and so I'm hopeful that there is a dialogue going on You know the thing about Planned Parenthood and the thing about the reproductive rights movement is that we actually We want to get at whatever the facts are and so it's Unfortunately those facts may get caught up in a you know in a political ringer and that is as you I mean as you pointed out That is always the challenge But it's none and none of it can be avoided I mean we have to keep going forward and we have to keep Looking to what the very best is and of course as time has gone on There are also new and different methods of birth control that come into play the birth control pills that are being used now have like just a miniscule amount of of Hormones compared to the in avid e pills that I was popping back in 1962 so it's a different you know lots of things are different and It's just important to keep the facts out there and to keep keep marching forward. Are you it has our time? I forgot to ask you. Are we okay? Okay. All right.  This is this is my after Margaret Sanger This is my next most fun thing to talk about so another time I'll do a whole thing on on the history of contraception Because birth control has been around since before people knew what caused pregnancy I mean women have been coming up with different things that would help them to not have children when they had sex And there have always been many reasons for wanting to do that and There have been things like I mean in the ancient the ancient Egyptians mixed crocodile dung with with honey Sounds really good doesn't it and used it as a pessary. They put it in the vagina to block the sperm Casanova Casanova was supposedly used to squeeze lemon half He had his partners used to put a squeezed lemon half over their cervix and and you know what? It was a really good contraceptive method because it was not only a barrier But the lemon juice was actually acidic and it killed the sperm so there have been you know And then there have been there have been like condoms Which were called sheaths made out of animal guts for many many centuries So by the time Margaret Sanger was around actually in the in the late 1800s the newspapers all over the country carried advertisements for things that would help ladies relieve their symptoms and So there were like all these nostrums some of them work some of them didn't work most of them didn't work But yes people knew withdrawal people of course knew abstinence people knew the condom people knew And of course with the then with the advent of latex All you know the condom became a much more prevalent method But the diaphragm was I presume invented in in the Netherlands That's where Margaret first encountered encountered the The diaphragm as we know it today and contraceptive jelly But women from time immemorial have cooked up like the French women that Margaret encountered did they've cooked up their own remedies and Found ways Women have their ways. Yes Yeah, suppositories. Yes Yes Absolutely Absolutely I think that's yeah Well, it starts it starts with as you say from birth it starts at birth it starts with with girls It starts with how girls are educated how they're socialized how girls are are given Ideas of themselves as capable powerful human beings who can have a life with Intention and know what they want to do in this world and that they have a right to all of those things So yeah, it's it's it's absolutely. It's a bigger framework But you know, I think that strategically the reason it's a much better framework in addition to the fact that it's the right thing to do is That when you have been on a when you've been in a in a fight or you've been in a battlefield where where It's just intractable which the the the debate has become intractable in many ways What you have to do is you have to create a different Field you have to create a different framework in which you're actually fighting the the fight and I think looking at a woman holistically is I think it'll even work better these days because because women now are More than 50% of college students women are now About 50 50 in the medical profession and you know the in law school and even in some religious seminaries Women are half or more of the of the students and so we're gonna have a generation of women now who I Hope will take this mantle on and take this torch on and just take it places that we would never have even imagined Am I overly optimistic? I think so Any more questions Well, let me let me just close with them with one more little story about Margaret I live these little anecdotes Sorry, I they're they're not always Right to the point of the social movement, but but I love this one too her grandson Alex Sanger Told me this story that her that Alex and his father Margaret's son grants and Alex's all of the siblings went to visit Margaret in the nursing home in Tucson not long before she died. It was New Year's Day and And she was she was kind of in a semi-coma. She didn't recognize the grandchildren and It was kind of sad But then Grant popped the cork on a bottle of champagne whereupon Margaret bolted up Out of her near coma and said give me a drink She loved champagne The nurse came by and said no, you know, you can't you can't have champagne So Margaret began to scream bloody murder the doctor came in soon and Very shortly Margaret was sipping her champagne through a straw And so we can say happily that we know Margaret Sanger was was living her life with intention She was the woman who believed women must not accept women must challenge was challenging until her very last breath Thank you all so much Mentioned about the dinner party and how to see the back of the runners Yeah, please Before everybody Yes, right if you go on one of the four computers that are around and Navigate in it we would when when the dinner before the dinner party opened We had these marvelous cameras come in with a very long dolly and You can actually with your finger move into the center of the dinner party on these computers and Move around and go in and see the back of the banners close up So and that's something I don't know that you can do that at home But you can certainly I don't know whether or not that's possible at home But you can certainly you can't do it at home as well But you can certainly do them on these four so I wanted to tell you that This was really one wonderful I was thinking Gloria when you were talking about really reframing how to reframe this from privacy to human rights is That there must be a PR agency on Madison Avenue in this city who knows precisely how to reframe and To begin a dialogue with some people who are in that area to move it not just from a legal Legal point of view, which I think is vitally important But also in terms of public relations And I would think we kid it considering the ad campaigns that go on and how people can be moved around By their noses. There's probably somebody in this city who would really be able to strategize about reframing I also wanted to say that when when you were chatting No, who who's the young woman who was talking about we live now told we're a hundred and something years old Yeah No No, but there's there's really I mean a wonderful thing is happening I'm 61 and I think many women will tell you after they've gone through menopause There is a new life and it's the freedom that you have with your body with your choices and it is that that Kind of life that one wants to create for women who are of childbearing age How great sex becomes when you're after 60? That's a whole other discussion. We'll do that another time My granddaughter Madeline came up to me The other day and she likes she's discovered how to get a rise out of her grandmother and well not me the other grandmother and she sort of Pulled pinched my arm. She said oh you're getting soft and she loved that She looked at me with this really mischievous glare and the second time she did it. I said yes Isn't it wonderful? I'm so wise And she said what do you mean? I said well when I get soft I get wiser She said you do I said yes absolutely the softer you get the wiser you get So you really have something to look forward to so I just passed that little Possibility of turning life around in the back. We have a sign in sheets if you'd like to be on our Email mailing list we have what's happening so you can see all of the wonderful things that are going on in the center and in the museum and On October 18th from two to four here in the forum Artist Linda Stein is coming and she's doing an artist's talk and she's discussing her Upcoming exhibition women of Valor Which is going to be in Chelsea and her book the power to protect sexism in the art world and gender Gender issues from a global Perspective so I hope you'll join us Gloria. Thank you so much. Thank you for all of the good work And thank you for all coming and all of the work You're all doing and the action that we're all going to take to move us forward. Thank you


Let's say who my microbiology hero because I get inspiration from so many different people but I'd have to say maybe Carl Stetter, he was my postdoc advisor and he just has really incredible energy and when he cares about something and he really really cares about microbiology and thermophiles, he goes into it deeply and with full full energy and that sort of energy challenges but also really makes other people around him step up and so I think Carl is my number one microbiology hero.


Tips Take a breather to read this every five minutes. It'll look shifty if you take too long to clean it up. Don't all read this at the same time. One reads while the other two mop. If you start to feel crook, stop looking at the lamp. Don't cover it or someone will come in. If you don't want to feel like you're insane for the rest of your life, don't read anything further, get back to work or something.  Item number SCP-2439 Object Class Keter Special Containment Procedures Foundation personnel other than SD-classes can't know this thing exists. It stays between us.   If someone who isn't a D-class comes in and reads this, kill them.  Try and make sure you tell someone else about this first though so we can keep it controlled. Description It's an idea that infects people who know about it and takes over the mind slowly. If some ancient mind from an alternate dimension we'd think that's trying to get into hours and takes over. It's smart so it'll spread around the Foundation real quick if it gets a chance, which is why this is scratched into this wall away from cameras. By now you'd be hearing that faint whispering. That is the thing we're containing. If you can hear it, there's no turning back now.  What you can do early if you want. We don't know how long it's been around since everyone seems to vanish every month, from the spoiler alert you don't get out, which makes it hard for information to get around. What we're left with is this, which is just Chinese whispers and such. We'd give it a proper number, but to do that we'd have to tell someone which would be counterproductive, so instead we'd just get the occasional disgraced researcher to tell us when the number has been used. The format's been like this forever. I don't think any of us even know what Keter means. Whatever you do, don't let the guard or researchers know this is here. They only let D's into here to clean up, and the higher-ups haven't tested the lamp in ages, I think. And this is the only room in the site that doesn't have cameras in it thanks to that lamp. It should be pretty obvious if this Foundation lot can do anything they want, so if they got taken over by something like this, there'd be no stopping it. We're fine though since we're probably gonna be dead by the end of the month anyway, which isn't long enough for it to fully take over. If you think it's getting the better of you, do something apeshit and get shot, blaze of glory if you want. Destroying this would be the easiest way to crush this thing once and for all, yeah, but don't. Not if you don't have to, why?  Someone needs to remember this thing exists so it's kept controlled. It showed up a first time, didn't it? What if it just did it again somewhere else and we destroyed this? What if the D's in some other site have something like this, but they don't destroy it? We keep this so we can control it. Or if you're not down for the redemption bit, keep it out of spite. This is the one thing we know they can't know.  They're obsessed with controlling, knowing, understanding everything.   We're the expendables, but with this, we have the advantage.   But don't use it. Not yet. Some of us have family and friends outside of this hell, and they would suffer. Our jailers would be used like little hand puppets by this mind, and through them the world would suffer, crushed under the boot of the Foundation. This thing can only be used once, too. If we release it too early, then they'll adapt. They'll learn to avoid it, don't contain it, they'll survive. Then our advantage would be gone for good. We'd be exactly what they think we are, expendable. So don't let anyone use it, it isn't time. Not yet.   You're not getting in. Welcome to Pandora Force.


Koopyansk. This small Ukrainian town is now the focus of brutal Russian assaults. Russia has claimed for the second day running to have improved its fighting positions around Koopyansk. A small town in eastern Ukraine that in recent days has become the focus of a determined assault by the Kremlin's forces according to Kiev post-media outlet. It is noted that Koopyansk is a town located in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine with a pre-war population of around 28,000 people. Koopyansk is a major rail hub with five different lines intersecting in the town, one of which leads directly into Russia, making it a hugely important strategic objective when Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The town was occupied just three days after the start of Russia's offensive, largely thanks to its pro-Russian mayor, Hennadiy Medsehorov, who surrendered Koopyansk without a fight. But it was liberated later. The Kiev post said that Ukrainian forces, fully aware of how important the rail link was to the Russians, destroyed a key rail bridge into the town attempting to slow the Russian advance. Medsehora allegedly helped them find another route into the town. Meanwhile, Koopyansk became the de facto seat of the Russian-backed Kharkiv military-civilian administration. Russia has dramatically increased its shelling of both Koopyansk and the Ukrainian forces' positions, defending it in recent days. The enemy has intensified shelling of border settlements and those close to the front line and continues terrorizing the local population, including with airstrikes. Oleh Sinukubov, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, said at this stage, nothing can be ruled out and retaking Koopyansk would clearly be a significant achievement for Russia. Not only would it mean the re-establishment of the train link with Russia, but the Kremlin would be sure to make the most of the propaganda potential of recapturing territory liberated by Ukraine in last year's counter-offensives.