If you want to change the world, where is the best place to start? With oneself, according to Moral Re-Armament (MRA), the worldwide movement launched in London in 1938 by American Frank Buchman.
Over recent years those working with MRA have perceived the need to initiate change within MRA itself. Not the core values and beliefs, which are inviolable, but the name, which for many has lost its original timeliness. So, at an international consultation this summer, the decision was taken to adopt Initiatives of Change as the name for global MRA.
Rajmohan Gandhi, former Indian senator and biographer of his grandfather Mahatma Gandhi, speaking for MRA's International Council, commented: 'With the new name, ethical and spiritual values remain the centre of our reflection and of our action. The content remains the same, although the label has changed. This new name says better what we are; an international network of people of all generations, cultures and religions, involved in personal and global initiatives.'
It now remains for MRA's national bodies to decide how to adapt the new name in a way that ensures continuity in their own countries.
Whatever name is adopted in individual countries, the heart of Initiatives of Change will continue to be the belief that there is a divine purpose for the world and that each person can discern their part through silence. Initiatives of Change will continue to propose standards of absolute honesty, purity, unselfishness and love as guidelines to private and public decision making. And it will continue its programmes aimed at bringing reconciliation and cooperation where there is conflict; tackling the root causes of corruption, poverty and social exclusion; and strengthening the moral and spiritual foundations of democracy.
'The new name reflects more adequately our initiatives for social justice in a world where the gap between rich and poor is ever widening,' said Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the Swiss Foundation for MRA and former head of the International Committee of the Red Cross. ' (Initiatives of Change) relates to our core message that the individual has power to bring change to the world as we each begin with ourselves.'
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