Outside of the box thinking

From a part of the world where war, drug trade and a confounding political and geographical situation have had to change our country's definition of "winning" for over eight years, there's a story about soldiers making a difference without weapons, hand to hand combat or plans for battle.

Even if the outreach is to two, three or four at a time, it seems some of our female soldiers in Afghanistan are making progress by connecting with women in that country's villages and encouraging them to push past their fear. At the same time, these soldiers are "winning the war", not by destruction or brute force, but by using their (and their translators') words and making connections.

What a wonderful way to change the way we begin to think about war, especially with tomorrow being Memorial Day in our country. It reminded me a little of the story which helped to begin the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and the revolution that's quietly spread around the world in the past 34 years, empowering women in villages through creating connections and promoting basic commerce as a means of lifting people out of desperate poverty.

Peace be with us all this weekend.