Walk for Peace in Washington, DC

Americans are hungry for connection.

Real connection, not the ephemeral ping of likes on social media, but the experience of being with your fellow humans working together in common cause.

That is why seeing the Walk for Peace was so moving to me and thousands of others who saw the monks during their 108 day journey from Texas to Washington, DC.

I caught up with them on Embassy Row, this stretch of Massachusetts Avenue from the National Cathedral to Dupont Circle that is lined with the outposts of other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Japan and the Netherlands.

Spectators braved the icy streets to line the route. Police blocked off the traffic and instructed the crowd to stay on the sidewalk.

And then they appeared, coming down the hill from the Cathedral as they crossed Rock Creek Park. In the front, a wedge of police vehicles. The bright orange of the monks in their robes bright against the dull winter landscape. An escort of bike cops along the sides and volunteers in fluorescent vests behind them.

And then ordinary people in their thousands, stretching across all four lanes of the road and disappearing up the hill.

The monks were moving, keeping up the swift pace of people who had been walking every day for months.

Why do they walk? A Walk for Peace spokesman said:

“It’s a spiritual offering, an invitation to live peace through everyday actions, mindful steps and open hearts,” he said. “We believe when peace is cultivated within, it naturally ripples outward into society.”

With flowers in their hands and smiles on their faces, they rapidly passed me.

And then, the long parade of ordinary folks united in this common, peaceful experience. People like me. Not holy, not in robes.

It’s been a terrible year for this country. But for one moment, it seemed like a better world was possible. A better nation, not the one driven by our basest impulses, but one that is generous, kind and peaceful.

I left the curb and followed the monks, joining the vast crowd as it continued down Embassy Row. A simple action, but a mindful one, in the hope that the future will be better than the past.