"There was a time when I thought it was a nuisance to be confronted with a problem. I tried to get rid of it. I tried to get somebody else to solve it for me. But that was a long time ago . . . Problems are learning and growing experiences. A life without problems would be a barren existence, without opportunity for spiritual growth." (59-60)
Peace Pilgrim kept track of the first 25,000 miles she walked, back and forth across North America, and then she stopped counting. After a 15 year preparation period, she walked for 28 years! As she explained it, "there's a great deal of difference between being willing to give your life and actually giving your life, and for me fifteen years of preparation and inner seeking lay between." (Peace Pilgrim, 8)
She gave her life for the cause of peace at the individual, community, national, and international levels. She traveled light, never accepted money, and only accepted food and shelter if freely offered. Her writings and speeches, compiled in Peace Pilgrim, Her Life and Work in Her Own Words, are filled with direct wisdom. Direct in that this woman leaves no room for messing around. Once you know what you must do, be quick about it! Wisdom in that she lived her convictions and was the more joyful and generous for it.
I leave you with a few more tidbits from the woman who adopted the name Peace Pilgrim:
"If [life] is overcrowded, then you are doing more than is right for you to do -- more than is your job to do in the total scheme of things." (23)
"I recognized that I could only be hurt psychologically by my own wrong actions, which I have control over; by my own wrong reactions (they are tricky, but I have control over them too); or by my own inaction in some situations, like the present world situation, that need action from me." (20)
"I walk because God gives me the strength to walk, I live because God gives me the supply to live, I speak because God gives me the words to speak. All I did was to surrender my will to God's will . . . This is what I must be doing. I could not be happy doing anything else." (127)