Ho Ho Ho and a Merry Christmas to you, you, and you, oh yes you and of course you.  Well my dear friends here we are again.  As I sit here in the little town of Elk City, Oklahoma (where there are no Elk) I reflect on the last six months of my Peace Walk.  I think it is like anything in life that starts out as an idea and as the experiences happen, things change and morph into something  entirely different, such has been the case with this walk.

Allow me to give you the longer, deeper version.  The version that has all the Wisdom attached. REALLY? NO,NOT REALLY....

When I first started my journey to save the Earth from itself,  I had all these ideas of doing talks, walks, seminars, yoga events, make a movie, write a book, and ultimately bring peace to the Universe, and oh did I mention I would do all this in ten months or less or your money back.

Well I know its crazy to say but it has not happened that way.  I know what your thinking, WHY THE CABBAGES NOT?, Dear Paddy.  I don't have an answer,  all the ideas sounded great to me at the time,  but of course we make plans and God laughs.  So that's what the walk was about then, so the questioney (I meant to write it like that, it sounds more Italian) my Earthling friends is what is it like now?   Well I have achieved enlightenment so thats good. One less thing to worry about, so that's nice.  REALLY? NO, NOT REALLY!!

Now that I am 1533 miles (half way) into the walk my ideas have become more grounded in experience and from experience comes wisdom.  I have met so many wonderfull people on this walk, people who have invited me into their homes and fed me, people who bought me a box of groceries with their weekly food stamps, people who stop on the road and ask me if I need anything.  I have talked to most of them about peace, not as a sermon, but simply by asking them how do you experience peace?  How do you feel about the war and what do you think you can do as an individual to create more peace in your life and in the World?   It is more a conversation between two people meeting for a moment on the road of life and then going their separate ways.  Some of these meetings were so incredible that words fail me.
I have learned that there is goodness in everyone If I choose to look for it and there are many people doing many things to help this Planet.  By far the greatest lesson I am learning since beginning this walk is that there is a Divine Power, God, call it what you will running the show.  When I put my Faith in it, then all things are possible and Miracles happen.  I have had many personal challenges on this journey, some have made me laugh, some have made me cry in utter frustration, but I CHOOSE daily to focus on this walk now as an act of Service and Peace.  The results are out of my hands but action is within my reach always.  Peace takes Action.  As the Dalai Lama said, "I do not wish for Peace, I work for it."

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas with lots of laughs with good friends and lots of hugs from complete strangers. Peace and Truth, Dermot

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