Becoming a Pilgrim for PEACE …

Over the last nine+ years of my life, after telling folks what I have chosen to do, the most common question asked of me has been “So, what is a Peace Pilgrim anyway?”, and the answer I would give today is probably not what many of you would expect — even for those of you who have known me for quite some time …

*For some folks, who happen to be aware of the “original” Peace Pilgrim, they think that a Peace Pilgrim is someone who has given away all of their material possessions and who has chosen to live “Home-Free”; walking the world while spreading a message of Love & Peace.

*For others — including many of my “friends”, being a Peace Pilgrim means going through some strange (and relatively unproductive) “life phase”; having cut all ties with “the real world” in the hopes of living some unrealizable utopian dream.

*For others — including many close friends & a few relatives, being a Peace Pilgrim looks like playing around every day on Facebook.

*For more than a few folks involved with the government (or the military, or “big business”), a Peace Pilgrim looks like some sort of revolutionary anarchist.

And I must admit, there is indeed a hint of Truth to each of those beliefs:

*I HAVE given away almost all of my material possessions, and I DO give away over 90% of every paycheck a few days after receiving them.

*And I DO believe that all human beings can awaken to a MUCH better way of living with each other; a much better way of cherishing their planet and a much better way of interacting with all their sentient animal cousins.

*And I DO choose to relay as much of my personal Truth as possible, to as many people as possible, in as many ways as possible — and this DOES include posting quite a few quips & musings on Facebook.

*And I DO believe that the time to rely on governmental assistance for the solving of our societal problems has long since past — that we are simply not going to find political solutions to problems that politics & our politicians created in the first place.

Of course, there is also MUCH MORE to being a Peace Pilgrim than all of that; much more that is just accessible to each & every one of you as it is to me.

Yes, I do wish that I were regularly speaking to larger crowds about the practical effectiveness of “radical Kindness” — about how powerful & effective it is to reach out with gentleness & compassion to those “least deserving” of the same. AND YET that has not been happening much of late. No matter how wonderful it would be for me to spread my message of “radical Kindness” with more & more people, this is a river that seems useless to push.

And this is perfectly OK with me.

You see, just like the rest of you, I can only do what I am given to do; I can only extend my own personal Kindness in the situations & the interactions that I am given each day. And what I am here to remind all of you is the Truth that … THIS IS MORE THAN ENOUGH!

Because every time I choose to extend Kindness to a co-worker who is gossiping negatively about me, I engender Peace in my workplace …

And every time I choose to be Caring towards my partner or my child or my parent or my sibling when he or he is treating me poorly, I engender Peace in my family …

And every time I choose to respond with gentleness to an enemy who is attacking me in public, I engender Peace in my community.

And it is THIS profound Peace brought into my own small circle of Life that ripples out into my greater World …

It is THIS profound Peace enlivened in my current township that ultimately sends clear echoes of Peace out into the greater corners of our Universe …

It is THIS profound Peace that makes my life Meaning-full and most brilliant.

Yes, it is this very Peace that makes me a Peace Pilgrim,
and it is this very Peace that could make you a Peace Pilgrim too.

Filed under: The War on WAR by Scaughdt