Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words

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Ran across this today.. Thought others might enjoy... Free book on line to read.

Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words

http://www.peacepilgrim.org/book/index.htm

PEACE PILGRIM had an impact on people as she walked joyfully across the country that will never be adequately expressed. She awakened and inspired many thousands during her twenty-eight year pilgrimage for peace. Those she touched in a personal way carry very special memories--talking, laughing, walking together; listening to pilgrimage stories over the dinner table or while driving her to a speaking engagement; waving goodbyes as she quickly departed for her next destination. From 1953 until 1981 this silver-haired woman, with cheerful obedience to her calling, was a server in the world. As she approached each country hamlet or sprawling city she carried to all she met a message of peace expressed so simply: When enough of us find inner peace, our institutions will become more peaceful and there will be no more occasion for war. Following her death in 1981, a number of her friends from throughout the country gathered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to remember her and share our experiences of her. A small group stayed on to work on the book project, an idea which had been in our hearts individually for some time. We have attempted in this book to present Peace Pilgrim's extraordinary life and teachings in their purest form--her own words. They were assembled from her little booklet, Steps Toward Inner Peace, her nineteen Peace Pilgrim's Progress newsletters, private conversations, excerpts from her correspondence and talks taped by many individuals over the years. Other valuable resources were the thousands of newspaper articles and other printed material in the Peace Pilgrim Collection of the Swarthmore College Peace Library. Although the words are her own, this book was not written by her as an autobiography. Some material was transcribed verbatim from tapes, which gives certain passages a spoken rather than a written quality. We wish she had written her own book. People often asked if she would write her own story, and more than once she answered, "I have really written enough material for a book -- it's just not in book form." Putting it into book form has been our job. Though her basic message never changed, variety of detail and experience color each of her communications. You may find several of her concise statements of principles or aphorisms repeated, but usually in a new context.

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The simple yet profound message of Peace Pilgrim's life and words is urgently needed in humankind's search for peace. She has given us renewed hope in the future of this world--hope that enough might gain inner peace to make world peace possible. She has given us an example of a person who lived in inner peace and was filled with a boundless energy that grew rather than diminished with age. Steele wrote in the Indian journal Gandhi Marg: "Peace Pilgrim speaks with astonishing authority and confidence; she reminds one of the spokesmen of God of biblical times. However, her utterances do not sound like a fanatic or dogmatist. Instead, they sound like a deeply sincere and devoted human being who has been linked to a wise and ineffable vision..."