From the very beginning of The Walk folks and friends regularly expressed their deep & sincere concern for my well-being; avidly extolling me both regularly & repeatedly to “be extremely careful” &/or “watch out” &/or “take care of yourself” … While I believe these wishes were all well-intended, they all flagrantly missed the ultimate point of the entire Adventure, and inspired the following response (written in my travel journal during Day 02 of The Walk, and regularly reaffirmed to any who would listen throughout the remainder of my trek):

“Many have expressed a heartfelt concern about the seemingly dangerous nature of my current Mission, and in response I will simply say — If becoming gravely injured (&/or even dying) on a Peace Pilgrimage is what it takes to inspire you to treat all your sentient cousins with the Respect & Decency they deserve (i.e. to Go Vegan), and to abandon the double-sided ruse that is politics & religion in favor of establishing & maintaining self-sustainable & compassion-based Community in your neighborhood, and to Care courageously for all those who are seemingly least deserving of the same, then I will meet that tragic end joyfully and with not even the slightest hesitancy or reservation … So to all of you out there who are worrying similarly, if I do happen to become gravely injured (or even die) on this current Journey, I would earnestly ask that you choose to honor my sacrifice by enlivening these three things. And if I don’t happen to suffer either of such fates, I would humbly and just as earnestly ask that you enliven them all anyway … Thank you.”

Filed under: Peace Pilgrimage #02: Walking HOME (2019) by Scaughdt