For All the Pilgrims

You have much more power when you are working for the right thing than when you are working against the wrong thing.
- Peace Pilgrim (1908-1981)

I wonder why I never heard of Peace Pilgrim until this Daily Peace Quote came into my inbox? It could be because she died in 1981, a busy year for me, what with a 4-year-old daughter to raise on my own while attending college. I wasn't really into the "peace movement" then. Other kinds of movements were capturing my attention: I came out that year.

I had been fairly active in the anti-war movement of the 60s and 70s, but that's not the same as working for peace. I had to discover that on my own, and not very long ago at that. Peace Pilgrim was a woman who knew it much sooner, and she set off on foot in 1953 to spread the word. What an incredible journey it must have been.

Today's poem honors Peace Pilgrim and also the birthday of Kobayashi Issa, born in Japan in 1763, a master of Haiku.

Toward Peace

To move toward Peace
Study the ways of Nature
The wisest teacher.

June 15, 2009
Seattle