Journeys
Peace pilgrim...
We first heard about a woman named the Peace Pilgrim in an article from The Hindu that was sent over an Asian wire service. The article informed us that she had walked more than 20,000 miles for peace. The article also described a troubled young woman who had met the Peace Pilgrim. When asked, this young woman told the Peace Pilgrim she loved flowers, swimming and singing, although she wasn’t that good at singing. After the conversation, the young woman got a job as a florist, began to swim three times a week for exercise and sang once a week for fun.
What is needed in life, according to the Peace Pilgrim, is an avenue of work as a way to earn a living, an avenue of exercise to keep the body fit and an avenue of service to others. The Peace Pilgrim, in fact, was Mildred Lisette Norman who walked across the United States for 28 years. Born in 1908, she began her journey on the first day of the year in 1953 in Pasadena, California. She wore a blue tunic with the words “Peace Pilgrim” on the front and carried no money. She intended to “remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food.” In all her years on the road, she found her needs met. “Aren’t people good?” she would say. She died in 1981, but left behind this message:
This is the way of peace:
Overcome evil with good,
and falsehood with truth,
and hatred with love.
For more about Ms. Norman, go to www.peacepilgrim.com.
Sweet Life notes
(Source: “School and after,” The Hindu, July 18, 1999, FT Asia Intelligence Wire ---- Peace Map by Karli)
