Wonderbringers Newsletter with Monica Parker
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Hello Wonderseekers,
The new year has begun and yet the short days and long nights of gloomy winter persist. The twinkly season of December bestows a brightness and buoyancy on the final days of the year, but when sombre January arrives, the twinkles dim, the colour retreats, and we are left with lanky shadows in a greyscale world. Of course, we are still blessed with the occasional bluebird day of thready winter sun and cerulean skies, but I find the next sixty days of the year the toughest. A period when we cognitively recognise the days are getting longer, but emotionally, still feel captive to their bleakness.
This is why I resist making New Year's resolutions. As I shared last week, I find this season is not conducive to resoluteness but rather finds its purpose in reflection. And then, when the spring gives birth to new life, we can give birth to new visions of ourselves.
There is a lot to reflect on. Our good fortune and feats, our fears and our failures (past, present, and future). The state of the world and our role in it. One point of deep reflection for me has been the monks walking for peace across the US, and even more so, their faithful companion, Aloka the Peace Dog (who has his own Insta!)
The group of 19 monks started their journey in Fort Worth, Texas, and are walking 2,300 miles to Washington, D.C. Their pilgrimage to promote world peace will take them across 10 states and, at their pace of about 20 to 30 miles per day, is expected to take 120 days to complete. There are so many layers of learning I am taking away from this quiet group of peripatetic peace seekers.
Seeing the response in the communities the monks pass through has taught me about the gift of presence. I am certain that for many in these small towns in the Deep South, this is their first interaction with a Buddhist monk. It may even be their first interaction with someone of a different faith. But watching the interplay between a monk and a homeless woman or a monk and a police officer, I see such gratitude in both faces. Gratitude for being heard and seen. Gratitude for not being judged. And I also see a beatitude, a holy grace that seems to settle into each of them — monk and community member — as they are truly present with and for one another.
I’ve also learned about fierceness in the face of fear. Very early into the walk, their support vehicle was hit by a truck, causing a chain reaction that ended with one monk being severely injured and losing his leg. The remaining walkers continued their journey and were reunited with the recovering monk in Georgia. Despite this life-changing injury, the Venerable Maha Dam Phommasan says he has no regrets and is ‘willing to sacrifice’ because his injury ‘sparked a lot of interest’ in their mission and message of peace.
Lastly, I’ve learned about commitment by watching their dog Aloka (which means ‘light’ in Pali) faithfully trotting beside the monks. Aloka was a stray who joined the monks on a walk across India. During that journey, Aloka fell ill, but consistently refused the support vehicle, choosing instead to walk with his pack. At the end of that trek, the monks were so inspired by his commitment that they brought him back to the States. He still refuses the support vehicle, howling until he is reunited with his monks, demonstrating a kind of faithful allegiance that reminds us we don’t deserve dogs.
The monks are about halfway through their journey. I will continue to track their progress and be uplifted by their prayer in motion. By the time they arrive in DC, we may start seeing glimpses of spring’s hopeful offerings. And perhaps our hearts—hardened by noise, greed, and violence—will thaw alongside the frozen terrain they have been treading. And in that more fertile ground, we can plant the intentions for our coming year.
I’ll close this week with their benediction: May you and all beings be well, happy and at peace.
Some wonderbringers for me this week:
Good conversations don’t require everybody to agree: Brain imaging is illuminating the patterns linked to productive, positive dialogue, and those insights could help people connect with others.
People prefer human empathy: Even when AI says the same thing.
A new view into the universe: At the summit of Cerro Pachón, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory has started its work.
If you’d like to support the monks and their walk for peace, you can donate here.
With wonder,
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