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Saturday, June 05, 2004

 

Peace, Peter, me, and what's right.

A friend referred me to the Peace Pilgrim (www.peacepilgrim.org). Several years ago, I read Peter Jenkin's "A walk across America". My own journey has some similarities and some differences from both of these. Peace Pilgrim had a clear spiritual purpose and a message to share. Jenkins had some sponsorship in his travels, and was much more of a hiker, with appropriate equipment, and was on a something of journey of discovery. He also had his dog as a traveling companion, at least for the first part of his journey.

When I started this account at the beginning of the week, I mentioned that I wanted to report on what I see, both good and bad. But recently I've been reviewing the journal I kept some 25 years ago as an LDS missionary in Bolivia. I see now that although I was trying to do the right things, I was too self-centered and focused on the negative. Is that still the case? Have I learned anything? I need to focus more on what's right with America.
But I'm not so much searching for purpose and meaning in my life, as in finding ways to share mine. How I can do that without given offense I am not certain. A further purpose of my trip is that I am looking for practical education in dealing with people and things that I can't find in books or behind computer screens.

Since I'm avoiding sex, violence, drugs (including alcohol and tobacco), and theft, I'm not excessively worried about personal safety. I don't care to be associated too closely with hitchhiking for those reasons and because it goes against the grain of my ideas on self reliance. Fair exchange is not robbery: I need to be able to offer as much help as I am offered. But the digihitch site does offer some useful and practical tips on hiking along the road (rather than cross-country).

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