It was a still-dark early morning when I woke in my school bus “hostel” and rose creakily from its hard & cramped floor. Back out on The Road, I soon came to this Trek’s very first Waffle House (the multi-location establishment that had been a frequent haven-stopover during the peace pilgrimage I had walked from Chattanooga to Miami back in 2011), and yet it was located across the street from my direction of travel, and so onward I flowed without stopping* … I didn’t walk too far thereafter when Thomas pulled up beside me and offered me a ride. In explained to him what I was doing and why, whereupon he gave me an orange and banana from his car, wished me well on my walk, and drove smoothly away. What bears mentioning even more is that after he drove off, Thomas drove to a nearby grocery store, bought me tons of food, and then returned to a spot further down The Way (I hadn’t walked that far in the interim) and offered me the same. Most of it was non-vegan (and as such gently yet firmly denied, with a brief explanation as to why, of course) and a lot of it was in heavy & bulky jars or cans (it seemed that Thomas didn’t quite understand the basic logistics of long-distance walking) and yet I joyfully accepted some peanut butter crackers and a few more oranges and then proceeded once more along my now-merrier Way …

*In order to keep The Walk potent and pure, I had adopted a number of guidelines to which I chose to devoutly adhere, among them 01) neither use not accept money, 02) never ask for food, 03) always walk on from any place “empty” of sustenance (i.e. no saving food gifts to eat at a later time on the Way), and 04) no crossing the street to enter any establishment – no matter how tired or thirsty, and no matter how tempting or inviting …

“We must delight in each other fully and make others’ conditions our own We must rejoice together, mourn together, labor and strive together, always having before our eyes our Commission of Service and our Community of Love, always seeing every being in our community as members of the same body … Indeed, as part of humanity, each of us is called to develop and share with all others all the unique gifts we have each been given. We must allow the way to our Great Work to be ever guided by the gentle service we provide to all we encounter on our way.” ~ inspired by John Winthrop & Mollie Marti

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