This week, I've targeted churches with some additional printed materials I developed myself: a letter to the congregation explaining that Mother's Day was originally intended as a Day of Peace (the letter ends with a call for action), and an information sheet on the biography of Julia Ward Howe with the full text of her Proclamation. The letter is meant to be displayed beside or beneath the DoP poster on the church bulletin board with the flyers on the table or rack beneath or beside the board, and the information sheet is meant for whoever will deliver the Mother's Day sermon. Both were emailed to Dot Maver, who was very appreciative and promised to distribute them on the national level.

Yesterday, I did an outreach at my chiropractor's office. I explained about the DoP bill and the services the Department would provide for all Americans, both nationally and internationally. He accepted the materials for display in his waiting room. His response was, "Who could be against THAT?" My first thought was, "He's more naive than I was," but upon reflection, my jubilant realization was that we've finally done it: We've come up with some rhetoric that nobody can counter, just like the other side has done, for example, with "Support Our Troops." We are taking back our language, our country, our ideals!

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This morning, I called on the church secretary where I pay my rent each month and showed her the poster, the flyers, and the two Mother's Day handouts. She was beyond interested - she was fascinated. Her response to the Mother's Day materials was, "He includes Julia Ward Howe in his sermon every year!" She was happy to see the biographical information and the text of the Proclamation and promised to get the flyers distributed. When I offered more flyers as needed, she assured me that she could make them herself on their copy machine.

The moral of the story is that there was no basis for my shyness and hesitation about doing this kind of face-to-face networking. I am not the only one who feels isolated in these troubled times, and people are happy to listen to me and talk to me when it's such good news we're discussing! Thank you, Dennis Kucinich, for having the courage to stand up and saying out loud what so many of us feel in our hearts. If only you were a little taller, and your name were easier to spell and pronounce, I think you would have been president!