Dec31

walking into the new year with peace.

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Why a quiet walk across America

is becoming a collective call to practice peace

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The Walk for Peace began with a simple, radical question: what would happen if a small group of Buddhist monks crossed an entire country on foot, carrying nothing but presence, prayer, and a willingness to suffer just enough to remind the rest of us what peace feels like?

This year, about twenty monks set out from the Huong Dao temple in Fort Worth, Texas, beginning a 2,300-mile pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. that will take roughly 120 days and carry them through ten states. As the monks moved steadily forward, their arrival in Georgia drew quiet attention not because of spectacle, but because of stillness. They walk in sandals. They often eat one meal a day. They sleep wherever kindness allows. They rely entirely on strangers.

Wherever they pass, people respond in the same way. In LaGrange, Georgia, hundreds gathered at a local church after word spread that the monks had arrived. A community organizer described the visit as “inspiring hope” in a divided time. The monks didn’t argue. They didn’t persuade. They walked, bowed, and listened. That was enough.

In Peachtree City, residents, business owners, and city leaders turned out on a gray morning to greet a quiet line of orange robes moving slowly down an ordinary road. A city doesn’t always get to choose its symbols. In that moment, the symbol wasn’t a flag or a slogan. It was patience, made visible.

The impact shows up most clearly in small, intimate encounters. One widely shared video shows a venerable monk kneeling to hug and bless a little boy by the roadside, a moment the child’s family described as unforgettable. Another clip captures the steady rhythm of the walk itself, robes moving forward as people pause and watch, something that feels like a living meditation. Those who spend time alongside the monks often describe leaving calmer and more grounded, calling the experience “soul-touching” and deeply human, as reflected in one such account. And if you’ve seen the long, silent line advancing down the road, you understand why that image continues to travel, quietly stopping people mid-scroll.

Community leaders hosting the walk have been clear about its purpose. Messages shared along the route insist the pilgrimage “is not political. It is not divisive. It is a walk for peace, for healing, for unity, and for hope,” a sentiment echoed as towns across Georgia opened churches, sidewalks, and streets to welcome the monks, as seen in this moment of arrival. The organizers themselves describe each step as a living prayer meant to awaken the peace already inside the people they meet, a message they continue to share through videos from the road.

Watching from afar, many people sound surprised by their own emotions. Some admit they are crying as they watch the monks walk from Texas toward D.C., saying the crowds lining the roads prove people do not want hate, reflections shared among supporters in posts like these. Others keep sharing clips and reactions as the journey unfolds, part of a growing stream of responses now filling feeds and timelines, including this broader collection.

The monks are not asking us to walk 2,300 miles. They are asking something harder: to put one peaceful step in front of another in our own lives. To choose kindness when indifference feels easier. To treat our commutes, our feeds, and our neighborhoods the way they treat the open road, as places to practice compassion.

As the New Year begins, their message feels less symbolic and more practical. Peace is not a destination. It’s a daily practice. Their pilgrimage will end in Washington, but the Walk for Peace continues every time we decide, in the midst of chaos, to let our next step be a living prayer for the world.

And as they keep walking, they will keep sharing the videos and moments from their journey, not as a religious message, but as a shared human experience we can learn from, pass along, and carry into the year ahead.

As we head into a new year it feels like an offering, not a sermon. You don’t have to be religious or spiritual to connect with what’s happening here. This walk isn’t about belief. It’s about how we treat one another when no one’s keeping score.

You can continue to follow the monks’ journey as they continue walking, and think of them as small pauses in the day — reminders of what patience, kindness, and shared humanity can look like in real life.

In a loud and divided moment, this walk offers something quietly radical: people choosing presence over performance and care over contempt, one careful step at a time.

“Choose your mind every morning.

 Forgive yourself every night.

 Replace your worn-out habits with higher ones.

 And declare,

“Today will be my peaceful day.”

-the Huong Dao monks

 

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Source/story credits: DEMCAST USA AND JENNIFER CANTER

(they will continue to follow and share the journey on their substack,

click on the link above to follow them)

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(and to follow on Facebook options, click on the links below)

Walk For Peace Facebook links:

Official Facebook Pages of Walk for Peace, the 120-day, 2,300-mile journey by Buddhist monks — with loyal dog, Aloka — walking from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C. to raise awareness of peace, loving kindness, and compassion across America and the world.

https://www.facebook.com/walkforpeaceusa

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72 responses »

  7. “Walk For Peace”

    Quietly, like daylight moves across a sundial
    The monks walk for peace in a humble style

    Within myself, I wistfully smile
    And hope that all the rank and file
    Will also freely walk every single mile
    And begin the world’s peaceful stockpile

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  22. Pingback: walking into the new year with peace. – Mom With a Blog

  28. awesome! I studied for years to become a monk but it wasn’t meant to be, I did, however, become a Minister 23 years ago… I can see myself as being a part of this for the sheer joy and inner peace within and shared. Oh, the pooch in the photos? A Basenji – I married into a family who was ruled by a Basenji. (great dog) xx Wishing peace and love to you and those who mean the most to you, for the coming year and beyond. xx

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  32. Pingback: Embrace the New Year: A Peaceful Journey Forward

  35. What a beautiful thing to see. If only we could all join them and make a difference, showing up together…for peace. Love this, Beth. Happpy New Year to you, Olive and Pet, may it be filled with laughter, love, health and good fortune.❤️

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