What diversity this walk, the 13MoonWalk4Peace, presents for us as walkers in our continuing journey across America. From the west side of Lansing to the center of Detroit we are living in and walking through areas that will break your heart. Areas whose heart and soul have already been broken and hopelessness is seeping in all too fast. What then, as walkers for peace and healing in our communities, do we do? How do we bring voice and visibility to what we are seeing.

When we planted a peace pole in Lansing, a young lady at the ceremony said, "Thank you for coming and for putting this peace pole here. You came to our community and stayed. There are not too many people who would even drive through here, but you all stayed and you talked with us... that means something."

This morning we walk down Grand River Rd to downtown Detroit. We were speachless. There were so many abandoned buildings and homes. It looked like a war had taken place. The only businesses along the walk  that appeared to be able to survive amidst the rubble were liquor stores (I heard in the news that there are 400 liquor stores in Detroit but only 8 supermarkets), small night clubs, auto repair shops, and churches. 

Of course we were in beautiful downtown Detroit as well, but throughout Detroit there are abandoned homes and businesses to such a degree that the citizens are crying out for demolition serves in their communities. In the last decade Detroit has lost nearly half of it's population. The path ahead is complex and challenges the leadership of the city and the country.

The people of America and the world need our conscious engagement in the pursuit of solutions that will uplift humanity by ensuring access, freedom, and opportunity for all to live a quality life. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in his Vietnam speech, "When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

I do not know how much longer our communities can weather the plight of financial neglect, while resources are being diverted from our needs at home to support wars and questionable development pursuits globally. I do not know how many more young people can be sacrificed to maintain the current stream of violence against humanity, the violence of irresponsible stewardship of our country and the world.

This is the time for us to transform senseless acts of violence, whether from a gun shot or from political decision making that places a higher value on profit and greed than on the quality of life of people and/or Mother Earth, into a beacon of hope and freedom, into jobs, housing, quality healthcare for all, access to education and opportunity,and into sustainable practices that guarantee the sustainability of Mother Earth for generations to come.

A reminder from Dr. King,  True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

This morning I woke up with so much gratitude for the Divine Grace that has held us on this walk, 13 Moon Walk 4 Peace. We are coming into the home stretch now, only 5 more months to go. We have been in so many diverse communities and celebrated community through sacred ceremonies, co-creating sacred spaces we call Peace Zones, sharing around the dinner table, in churches, at community gatherings, planting peace poles, walking together and visiting sacred sites.

We have seen the best. We have seen the worse. We have seen the best in the worse and the worse in the best. So we pray, a lot. We pray that God's work in us is so strong that we reflect the love of God everywhere we go. As we constantly do the work to heal ourselves, we know we are creating a healing path for humanity. We lift our voices with humility and we open our hearts to the stories of those we meet with sincere respect and gratitude.

I am still awed every morning I wake up to the beauty of Mother Earth. We have much work to do as a human species and I stand in the knowing that we are progressing and one day our humanity will RISE to end poverty and oppression, genocide, prejudice, racism and sexism, disparities of health-care, education and opportunity, pollution, the rape of Mother Earth, the protection of the rights of all human beings and Mother Earth -- ALL LIFE. And so it is...