Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed speaker, bestselling author and co-founder of Global Renaissance Alliance, a worldwide network of peace activists. A native of Houston, Texas, she has been lecturing professionally on spirituality and new thought topics since 1983 and has been called everything from the “high priestess of pop religion,” to a “Mother Teresa for the ’ 90s.” Marianne first entered the public eye in the early 1980s when she began talking to small groups in Los Angeles about A Course in Miracles.

Published in 1975 by The Foundation for Inner Peace, A Course in Miracles came about through the collaborative effort of two professors of Medical Psychology at Columbia University who were seeking a way to improve their combative professional relationship. Although the book employs Christian terminology, A Course in Miracles deals with universal spiritual themes, emphasizing application rather than theory, and experience rather than theology. Marianne describes it as “a self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy.” Her early talks based on its tenets became enormously popular and soon attracted thousands to examine their “inner life.”

Marianne rose to the ranks of an internationally acclaimed bestselling author with the debut of her first book, A Return to Love. She has authored eight books in all, each taking on new subject matter in a spiritual frame of reference. Four of these books have reached number one on the New York Times bestsellers list.

An activist to the core, in 1998 Marianne co-founded Global Renaissance Alliance (GRA). The mission of GRA is dedicated to a “union of spiritual and political ideals.” Gandhi summed up the interconnection of these entities when he said, “People who don't think religion has anything to do with politics, don't understand the meaning of religion.” Like Gandhi, members of GRA devote their efforts to harnessing the power of non-violence as a social force for good.

We recently spent some time with Marianne discussing her dreams for the future of America and the world. When asked about the current state of politics, specifically the tone of the presidential election, Marianne told us, “In this election I am a passionately committed democrat. I think it is one of the most important elections in American history and I look forward to our government moving in a very different direction.” Regardless of her political affiliation, Marianne Williamson is emerging as one of the single most powerful and articulate voices for the new consciousness in the twenty-first century.

Marianne speaks passionately about the endeavors of the Global Renaissance Alliance. “I think we need to become as sophisticated in the ways we wage peace as we are sophisticated in the ways we now wage war.” GRA is dedicated to building a non-violent world based on the principles of Martin Luther King, Jr., and is currently promoting legislation to establish a cabinet-level Department of Peace within the Executive Branch of our government.

“The Department of Peace will be dedicated to the research and articulation of non-violent solutions to domestic as well as international conflicts,” says Marianne. “The Department will not replace the military or the Department of State; rather, it will augment them. It will represent a holistic approach to politics. This is not about alternative solutions; it is about complementary solutions,” she said. Quoting another visionary, Marianne adds, “Martin Luther King, Jr. said, ‘It is no longer a choice between violence and non-violence, it is now a choice between violence and non-existence.’ War is the great moral and spiritual as well as political challenge of our time.”

Marianne Williamson inspires hope that peaceful change is possible in our war-torn and fear-imbued world, and she has faith that we can all work together toward our only purpose in life to be “a conduit of love” to our fellow human beings. Her pervasive theme, which she returns to again and again, is the power of love and forgiveness.

When asked about what can be done to prepare our souls, our higher selves, for the enormous task of creating peace and harmony in the world, Marianne responded, “All change begins with the individual. As we pray and meditate each day, practicing whatever spiritual or religious path we are committed to, then we ourselves begin to transform. We are open to new ideas, we think in new ways, we have greater insight, we notice more that is going on around us.” She continues, “We all address the fundamental causal issue, namely the transformation of our own thinking from fear to love. Then we begin to see ourselves with a singleness of purpose. That single purpose is that we become conduits of love in a time when so much fear is all around us. This takes practice and training. That training is the purpose of our lives.”

About the Divine Feminine she shares, “The Divine Feminine is an aspect of consciousness – a nurturing, nourishing, compassionate, life-producing, inner-directed loving force in us and in the universe. The Divine Feminine is emerging as a survival impulse in [both] men and women. There is a broad awareness that our over-secularized, mechanistic, rationalistic world view has failed to lead us to universal peace and prosperity. In fact, it has diminished us as human beings. And the reclamation of our true selves, both the masculine and feminine aspects, is our only hope for salvation.”

Marianne Williamson lives out loud. Her every word and action reflects her singular purpose to bring people around to their own inner truth. And that truth is clearly expressed in the now-famous quote excerpted from her book, A Return to Love.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Marianne Williamson has re-scheduled her appearance for the ESTEEM benefit for Sunday, October 24 at 3 p.m. The location is the same, Kangesser Hall at Park Synagogue, 3300 Mayfield Rd., Cleveland Heights, Ohio. For more information, check the website at www.esteem1.addr.com or call (216) 382-1465 x2.

For more information on Marianne Williamson go online to www.Marianne.com.

To learn more about the Global Renaissance Alliance go to www.renaissancealliance.org.