Today, I joined a monthly peace walk in the Poplar neighborhood of Philadelphia. We started the walk at Chenrezig Tibetan Buddhist Center and walked from Marshall to Girard and 7th to Poplar and back. The folks at the TBC walk for peace the second Saturday of each month, led by the Dharma in Action Committee. The walks begin with ten minutes of silent meditation and end with ten minutes of silent meditation. You can see more here.
The walk was meditative and slow, in an otherwise busy neighborhood, and peaceful despite windy and misty weather.
Each person brought their own intentions to the walk.
On my mind were the 524 homicides in Philadelphia this year, up 13% from last year, with a few weeks to go. I thought about the people who such violence directly hurt, the people who turned to violence for solutions, the weapons that people used to create such violence, and the people who are working so hard to make it stop.