Deutsche - Global Balance

Brenda, who had joined the Peace Walkers in Australia, closed the event by sharing a beautiful
message from an Aboriginal elder.
Deborah and Monica were delighted to receive Trail of Dreams tee shirts. Deborah offered Audri
a mini-Peace Pole, and Audri said the group was invited the next day to Newark, New Jersey,
where they would plant two Peace Poles! Everyone paused for a joyful photo of the Trail of
Dreams walkers, along with URI-UN members who had been so helpful during the ceremony,
Rabbi Roger Ross and Swamini Sri Lalitambika Devi.
After a brief break for lunch, it was time for the second part of the day’s events, a monthly
meeting of the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns-NY (CSVGC-NY),
which was founded by URI-UN member Diane Williams and is currently chaired by URI-UN cofacilitator
Audrey Kitagawa. The first guests were leaders Rolf Carriere and Mel Duncan of the
Nonviolent Peaceforce, an innovative strategy to replace military interventions with a citizen
force armed only with love.
Next, the Trail of Dreams walkers were introduced, and Audri Scott Williams had a full
opportunity to describe the deep philosophy underlying her journey, connecting from heart to
heart with people of widely divergent cultures, religions and languages across the globe.
Everyone was moved by her description of what it was like to come into a community as
strangers halfway around the world and to be welcomed as family. Audri had been particularly
touched by how tenderly people treated her elderly mother in parts of the world where people
rarely live that long. She said that language was never a barrier when everyone spoke the same
language of the heart. Other members of the group, including Brenda, Karen, Tony and Alita,
also spoke, and, after questions from the audience, Sam Lackey closed with a song of peace.
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