On occasion I am asked by family and friends, "Are you sure you are not ready to come home? I know it hasn't always been easy. Maybe it is time to let go and come back home?"

My response is simply, "I am committed to the walk. PEACE is work. It is engagement. It is service. It is love and selfless commitment to a vision greater than self. As we move, we seek to transmute the negative into the positive, to be the example of possibility and to provide the catalyst that will cause others to pause and consciously consider the choices they are making and the impact of these choices on the rest of the world for generations to come."

So...as long as there is a step left in us we will be moving, one step at a time, knowing in our hearts that with each step we are affecting the world in which we live in a positive way. 

I am filled this morning with pure, unconditional love for everything. What a time this has been for the entire Trail of Dreams Team. There have been so many changes and opportunities to stand in our knowing, continuing to soar  from that special place with Divine Grace as the wind beneath our wings. While facing many  challenges we have had abundant opportunities to accept offerings of pure love in every area of our lives. We are staying in a beautiful home courtesy of BGDer Merel and her family. Our medical needs are being met while we continue to raise the resources to cover Karen's operation and recovery. My niece, Siddeeqah, continues to be our guardian angel, leading us to doctors, hospitals and even dentists to get us all healed up for the continuation of our journey.

While in the midst of so much we have developed websites, written a couple of books which will appear soon on our websites for your purchase. We have written a multitude of grants and queries for funding and support. We are also seeking fellowships and sponsors for this last leg of our journey. So in the midst of challenges, the tension between the challenges and the faith, the vision, the knowing has catapulted us into higher ground. We are excited and thrilled at the potential that now awaits us for the remaining year and a half of the Trail of Dreams World Peace Walk.

What can I say as an offering of love to all of you who check in periodically to read these blogs?

How great you are! Stand in the truth of who you are discovering yourself to be. Have the courage to take risks. Be honest, kind and gentle with yourself and others. And, never give up the dream that holds you -- for this may well be the very reason you are here on this Earth. You may, in fact, be what this world needs in order to be more compassionate, loving and wise. When you come to those moments in your life that try you at every turn, know who's you are. Move, as our sister Ololodi reminds us, "by faith and not by sight", and remember, "how great you are" because you are the very spark of Divine Source sent here to ignite a powerful light to guide and be guided. 

One of the beauties of being on the Trail of Dreams World Peace Walk is that I have the privilege of  being able to observe, to see the many behaviors we can so easily slip into that places us out side of our connecting space. So often on the journey we hear from friends and family, "I have been meaning to get in touch with you before now but I have been so busy!"

It happens so often that I have finally begun to hear it. It was such a common sentiment that I hardly heard it. After all it was not so long ago that I used to use the, "I'm just sooooo busy that I . . . " mantra myself.

Now, I see how this programing isolates so many by making us lose site of the really important things in life - relationships. I have friends whose parents are in nursing homes and when I ask, "How is your mother?" The response is so often, "I haven't seen her in a while. I have just been so busy!"

I have friends who have teenagers and when I ask, "How is your son doing with his music?" I get,  "I think he is doing fine. I have been so busy that I haven't been to one of his concerts in a while, but he seems alright."

Or, "Have you noticed that Alice hasn't been to work lately?" The response, "You know, I remember wondering where she was and I meant to stop and check, but I am so busy these days. By the way, where is Alice?

"Alice died last week after going through nearly nine months of chemotherapy to fight a loosing battle with cancer."

"Oh." 

I know how busy we all are. And I know the busier we are, the busier we get. I have been there, so addicted to busy that it became my mantra and I used this mantra as though, "I am just too busy," is some kind of divine excuse for not being present for the important things: family, friends, community, even self.  

Be mindful, you will always be "too busy" if that is your choice. Taking a moment to connect with others and giving them your full attention, even when it is just a loving smile, can be so healing. Isolation is inevitable when we are all just too busy to engage, too busy to shift the priority, even for a moment, to unselfishly give of our hearts to others.

One day Jamie asked Bob, " What ever happened to Carol, she was always on the run?" Bob shook his head sadly and said, "Carol passed away last week." In shock, Jamie shook his head and responded, "I guess she was just too busy." 

Recently someone wanted to know why I didn't heal a friend who has been diagnosed with cancer based on effective healing I had performed for him. When I heard this I had to take a minute to determine the best way to answer this. The first thing that came to me was: "I am not the healer. I am the vessel through which my angels, the Grandmothers, heal. Therefore my responsibility is to stay open to their guidance and to do as I know I am being guided.'Thy will, not my will...'"

The second thing was, " Healing looks different to different people, just as disease looks different to different people. There are diseases which arise in the body in response to physical, emotional, mental, environmental and even karmic disharmony. There are also diseases which arise that are energetic in the sense that a person may be being used to filter, transform and transmute certain energies to affect global balancing. In this sense, a person may have made the agreement, consciously or unconsciously, to take on certain energies in an effort to raise the consciousness of humanity to a higher state of being. 

What then of the healer? In my heart, a healer stands open to be the vessel through which those Divinely appointed healing beings can send the purest energy to affect healing for a person, community and even the planet; and in the midst of the flow of Divine energy a healer's work never ends, for the healer's heart pours forth selfless service to humanity and Mother Earth.

So what of my dear friend? Healing is at work on many levels through her experience of the appearance of disease. The angels are at work and Divine Grace is applying its gentle touch and all is well.  

There are times on this journey, Trail of Dreams World Peace Walk, when we are met with news, events and circumstances that appear to be so counter to the purpose and intent of the Walk. In the beginning of the journey we would look at ourselves and ask, "what energy are we holding that is allowing this to occur?" The occurrences could come from opportunities related to financial challenges,  health related issues (including a diagnosis of breast cancer for one of our Walkers,) and other blockages that keep us from moving forward.

What we have come to know is that at any moment we choose the reality we want to play out and then everything seems to align to reinforce this reality. We have come to know that by shifting our perception of our possible future and creating the reality that best aligns with our higher purpose and intension, we can accelerate our advancement through whatever circumstance is presented. There are fundamental beliefs that affect our capacity to achieve this: remembering to breath, cultivating unshakable faith, walking in the knowing of the reality we wish to realize, and giving all of our energy toward that vision and not towards the appearance of lack or negativity; and not judging the experience but rather breathing into it-recognizing it and letting it go.

So many people ask me why I walk for global peace? Why do I take on something that is clearly impossible? My response is always the same, "I walk for peace because I believe in the ultimate good of humanity. I believe that the power of love is so profound that once grasped and held within it becomes the healing balm that can and will transform a world of separation into a cooperative pool of wholeness and healing; I believe we can feed every child, woman and man on this planet, I believe every human being can and will be free...when we dare to love ourselves--fearlessly and courageously!  The team that I walk with are the most heart filled beings on this planet!! The Trail of Dreams Team will endure ... beyond what you can imagine ... because for us, peace is not an option. It is the only viable state of being for the sustability of Mother Earth and humanity. Let this be our finest hour as we reach for the greatest love of ALL.

Thank you Starr for sending me the following clip of Bono at the NAACP Awards:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDueMj7RlsU