Young hearts, be free!

We woke up early at the Martin House to see our brother Patrick off on his crazy journey. He is walking from Columbus to NYC as an act of peace and repentance and to stand against the war. His letter to the community...

hello fellow peacemakers,

recently i have been wrestling with how i--as a military veteran who has bent his sword into a plowshare--might publically speak against the u.s.-led wars in iraq and afghanistan and advocate for peace. in the process, i came across some material for the “yes we can” campaign. this is an intense four-month national campaign by an organization called united for peace & justice (www.unitedforpeace.org). the campaign--which marks the sixth anniversary of the iraq war (march 19th) and is centered on martin luther king, jr's speech "beyond vietnam"--calls for both an end to the wars in iraq and afghanistan and the redistribution of military funds for housing, healthcare, education, jobs, and environmental stewardship initiatives. the campaign culminates, in part, on april 4th with a national peace march in new york city. at that time hundreds of thousands will convene at the heart of that city's financial district in order to call for peace and the reinvestment of funds into the nation's communities.

after some reflection, i not only feel compelled to participate in the march on april 4^th, but also to walk to the event as an extended witness for peace. on this journey i will walk approximately 550 miles over a fifteen-day period, relying solely on the hospitality of others along the way. i will arrive in the new york city area on april 3rd, with the journey coming to its climax the following day with the peace march itself.

while this walk, in and of itself, will not bring peace in iraq, afghanistan, or any other violent part of the world, i believe that God can use small, foolish acts such as this in order to highlight the ugly realities of violence and awaken people's imagination to the transformative power of love.

karen and the kids plan on accompanying me by car for the first couple days of the walk. they will then return home until it is time to meet up with me in new york city for the march. i would love to have others from the community join me as well--whether along the way or for the march. please join us on sunday, 3:00pm in order to conspire further.

peace,

patrick

We joined at 6 this morning... 11 of us from the community... j meier read some scripture of the disciples going out like this which was encouraging to hear... we all took (emotional) turns to anoint his head with oil and say a blessing over him. Then we laid hands on him and prayed for his journey and together sang a hymn and set out to watch him walk off.

Pray for Patrick, his feet, his soul, and for hospitality for him.