March 23, 2003
It was an evening in early spring and 200 people gathered on the shores of the Georgia Strait. Gilbert Joe, an elder from the Sechelt Indian band, welcomed us as we formed a circle below the Totem poles. There were no anti-war speeches this night, only prayers from Anglican minister Mark Lemon and the drum of Sechelt Indian band member, Lois Vader.
Our 2km silent walk from Sechelt band lands to the Labyrinth in front of Saint-Hilda's Anglican Church was a walking prayer for peace. There were people from many backgrounds, bringing together political, religious and social differences to walk together in silence. There were fathers and mothers with children on their shoulders, teachers, elders, Sechelt nation members, teens, business folks and many life-long activists. Love shone from faces reflected in candlelight. I believe the gentle sound of our footsteps echoed around the world that night.
As my wife Lin and I held hands looking at the ocean and the stars and feeling the earth below us, I reflected on my life of a peace walker who has walked over 20,000 km in seventeen countries. I would like to share some of these thoughts.
I asked myself, “What is this word peace, that I have walked for since 1986?” The words flow and are endless. It is love, harmony, compassion, human dignity and justice. Peace is not a cause for me to win or lose. Nor is it what I do. It is who I am. It is life.
Am I hurt and disappointed with the insane war in Iraq? Yes, deeply. Am I defeated and discouraged? Definitely not, for Peace is a journey - a never-ending process. We now live in a world in which isolation is no longer possible. It is a time of unprecedented mobility of peoples and the intermingling of cultures. We are all interdependent and share an inescapable responsibility for the well-being of the entire world.
These intense times have opened a space for change. Yes, I still protest and am willing to be arrested, but to be honest I have known for a long time that it is not enough to just be against something. “No" only defines our being one against the other; "Yes" embraces the whole of our interrelated identity and reality. It is our ability to handle our conflicts peacefully - our happiness at home, our performance at work, the livability of our communities, and, in this age of mass destruction, the survival of our species.
As the old African proverb goes, "When spider webs unite, they can halt even a lion."
Walk in Beauty,
Derek W Youngs