July 2020 FEATURE #2: “Let Us Walk With Each Other”By Kathy Juline pg 78

This second feature this month honors the journey of Peace Pilgrim and her timeless teachings.

Juline begins with a quote from Ernest Holmes: “Only peace can enter the gates of Reality and sit at the table of love.” She tells us that Peace Pilgrim’s greatest teaching was peace among people, peace among nations, and inner peace.

Peace Pilgrim walked more than 25,000 miles during a span of 28 years. It may sound unusual today but it was actually an ancient tradition of spiritual practice to which many have been called, it may resonate.

(Q1) After you read Holmes quote, how important do you think Holmes thought peace was? What about your daily life? What about the news on tv and the world? Do you see the importance of spiritual principles and tools to keep your inner peace alive?

Through Juline we hear Peace Pilgrim’s story of a powerful wind and dust storm. When offered assistance by a police officer, she declined his help with these words, “God is my shield, and I have nothing to fear.” “At that precise moment, the wind died down, the dust settled and the sun broke through the clouds. From then on, I felt spiritually lifted above all hardship.”

(Q2) I would like your comments on her walking ministry. Speaking the truth through storms is exactly what we teach in Science of Mind. Have you ever had something like that happen to you and use an affirmation response? What happened after?

“Her basic message was both simple and profound: ‘Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth and hatred with love.”

Becoming an Instrument of Peace

After reading about Peace Pilgrim, were you surprised that she had no formal religious training? She used the Golden Rule as her spiritual standard.

What is the Golden Rule? “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”

“As an adult, she prospered in her business career but the problems observed in the experience of so many people disturbed her. She felt a strong call to alleviate their pain. ‘In desperation and out of a very deep seeking for a meaningful way of life,' she says, ‘I walked all one night through the woods. I came to a glade and prayed to God, “Please use me!” And a great peace came over me.’ “

(Q3) Were you raised knowing the Golden rule? Did any of you have any formal religious training? How did your past instruction influence you? Has your pain or suffering caused you to reach out or turn away from Spirit? Have any of you had a spiritual experience such as Peace Pilgrim?

Steps to Inner Peace

After that spiritual experience, Peace Pilgrim knew that was a turning point for her. She prepared for her pilgrimage by practicing steps to inner peace.

1. She asks us to face life and look further, beneath the surface. Every problem has purpose and contributes to our growth. She recommends that we always view from the highest truth.

2. She suggests living in harmony with universal laws such as evil must be overcome by good and that only good results in good. She reminds us that we hurt ourselves spiritually any time we do unloving things. We are to live the good in which we believe.

3. We must understand that we all have our own special place in the pattern of life. Inner guidance will direct us to our purpose. We are to follow this guidance when we recognize it.

4. Purify yourself in body, mind, and spirit by using healthy, wholesome foods and positive thoughts. Use forgiveness to uplift your energy and uplift others, always.

5. Let go of attitudes that do not serve the greater good. Let go of attachment to material goods and possessions and choose freedom. Let go of trying to control others and allow them to run their own lives. Have the welfare of others as your desire.

3. (Q5) Do any of you feel like you have some special purpose? The older you get does it come clearer? Have any of you dedicated yourself to anything? Were you given spiritual guidance and if yes, how did you respond?

4.(Q6) All 5 of Peace Pilgrim’s steps to inner peace demand a great deal. It took her 15 years to master them in preparation of her walking ministry. Do you think you are capable of something like her commitment? Of all the 5 steps, which ones would you keep? Do you live like this today?

Pursuing Her Divine Expression

Juline describes Peace Pilgrim’s shift from vision to action. She writes, “She began to teach her message of peace, speaking to large gatherings at universities, colleges, high schools and churches. Along her pilgrimage, she collected signatures on petitions to end the Korean War, establish a U.S. Peace Department and commit to world disarmament, which she presented to officials at the White House and to the United Nations.”

These are all amazing accomplishments in anyone’s standards.

Talk about how she counseled people on a personal level, Juline explains, “Peace Pilgrim taught them to forgive, express gratitude, think positively, praise the opportunities that problems present to grow spiritually, overcome adversity through accessing inner strength and perform acts of kindness toward others.”

(Q7) Have any of you heard of Peace Pilgrim before today? Is this a miraculous ministry that impacted the world on some level? What kind of person would you have to be to reflect that sort of ministry?

Here is a list of her teachings:

1. Know that every right thing you do-every good word you say, every positive thought you think, has a good effect.

2. As long as you maintain faith in God, you will be victorious over any situation you face.

3. Live in the present and be the best you can be. The future will unfold according to the seed you plant today.

4. Speak for peace and know that peace is possible. Be an example for others.

5. Love those who are out of harmony and lift them into a higher way. Abandon fear and replace it with faith. Allow love to reign supreme in your heart.

(Q8) How many of you believe that the good you do have a positive effect even if you do not see it? Do you always feel you are a peaceful person and desire it for all around you? Do you think it possible to let go of your feelings and judgments in order to love in every circumstance?

This quote seems to describe the way she lived her life: “I do my work easily and joyously. I feel beauty all around me, and I see beauty in everyone I meet, for I see God in everything. I recognize my part in the life pattern and I find harmony through gladly and joyously living it. I recognize my oneness with all of humanity and my oneness with God. My happiness overflows in loving and giving toward everyone and everything.”

(Q9) Being students of Science of Mind, we see that her description of how she lived reads like a treatment or affirmation doesn’t it? Can you construct an affirmation that reflects your perfect life experience?

As Peace Pilgrim lived her life, she walked her talk, her words teach us how to unchain our own spirituality and live in love and oneness. Juline agrees: “Let us, then expand our awareness and maintain an openness to love, cultivating faith in the perfect life, which is God, oneness, truth. In the world now we are much need of the spiritual awakening and realization the Peace Pilgrim taught in her courageous and powerful approach. Together we can create this renewal.”

We are given the choice to align with the God that governs nature itself: “We have the free will to allow it to govern our life or not. The choice is always ours.”

What a great read in these days. What a Divine Light she was. Next week we will read Feature #3 on page 84, Live from the Glory You Are.

Affirm your greatest day is today and know it!

Love, Light, and Laughter,

Rev Lyssa