As I approached an intersection today, I rolled down my window and extended a protein bar to the heavily bearded older man standing there with a sign. He and I made eye contact. I recognized him and even remembered his name. Our paths had crossed briefly this past January when I spent eight nights volunteering at Egan Warming Center in Springfield. It was an experience that allowed me to become familiar with several of the regulars.

“Hey, R*****! How’s it going?”

He beamed back at me, “Not bad. Not bad.”

R***** is a gentle philosopher and soft-spoken man. I won’t reveal his real name because he deserves some privacy even though much of his life is quite visible to the public.

He taught me about the importance of space. Arriving early in the evenings at Egan, he would claim his space by putting the blanket we issued to him on a carefully placed mat. As the center began to fill up, however, the empty space around him would shrink.

Those cold, cold nights in January were thick with freezing fog that cut right through to the bone. Within an hour, we had guests rolling out their mats literally wall to wall at the Warming Center leaving only a narrow pathway down the middle of the floor.

For R*****, it was just too close for comfort. After having some dinner, he let us know that it was more than he could handle and he headed back to sleep under the bridge.

Today it was warm enough that I took off my coat. R***** was still wearing a winter jacket with the hood up snug around his head. Maybe, he still remembers the chill of those January nights.

As for me? I feel so much better about myself when I am able to connect in some simple human way with a population that lives on the edge. It warmed my heart and I think it took some of the chill from R*****, too.

Susan Cundiff, Senji Kanaeda, and Gilberto Perez

Br.Senji Kanaeda and Br. Gilberto Perez traveled to California to drum, chant, walk, fast and offer support to grass roots groups who are organized to close San Onofre Nuclear Power plant. According to Nuclear Regulatory Commission data, San Onofre consistently has the worst safety and discrimination allegations compared to all other U.S. nuclear power plants.

It seems these monks are drawn to the hot spots of the nuclear industry. I like that about them.

Each summer when Senji organizes the Peace Walk for a Nuclear Free World, he schedules a day at the gates of Hanford Nuclear Site. I’ve never been there. I’ve written opinion editorials about nuclear bombs and Hanford. I’ve helped plan Hiroshima/Nagasaki Commemorations. I’ve created outfits for fashion shows that have our secretive nuclear industry as their inspiration. But, I’ve never been to Hanford.

Beautiful Handwritten Thank You Gift

My offer of a meal turned into a B & B provision instead. After driving 13 hours, Senji, Gilberto and Mira (a Seattle woman who walked with them last summer) arrived at my doorstep at 7pm. My dog, Daphne, and I opened the door to saffron colored robes, drums and chanting: Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo. You can imagine what Daphne had to say about that!

In the morning, Gilberto described his first encounter with Senji and this Buddhist religious order, Nipponzan Myohoji. The founder met Mahatma Gandhi and was inspired to work and pray for world peace. Gilberto, a Cuban, had just left the business world in disgust for its lack of moral fiber. He met Senji who came to the states from Japan to learn more about the underground railroad and the efforts to end slavery. As he came to realize that Senji knew more about U.S. history than most Americans, he asked, “What kind of a monk are you???”

I feel as if I am beginning to understand ‘what kind of monks’ these guys are. When I stand at the gates of Hanford this next summer, I want both Senji and Gilberto at my side.

]]> http://www.oregonwand.org/what-kind-of-monk-are-you/feed/ 0 http://www.oregonwand.org/where-can-the-homeless-go/ http://www.oregonwand.org/where-can-the-homeless-go/#comments Thu, 25 Oct 2012 20:01:41 +0000 Oregon WAND http://www.oregonwand.org/?p=366 This week one of our Oregon WAND members wrote a Letter to the Editor that appeared in the local newspaper. It read:

Recently, as I was leaving my building to go to dinner, there was a homeless man in my building’s outer foyer. Knowing that someone would call the police to have him evicted, I asked him to please go outside.

He almost cried and said, “Where can I go? I’m cold and tired and wet. Where can I go?” He was not drunk.

During the day there are places homeless people can slip into for a few hours, but at night?

I need an answer for the next time that happens.

Where can he go?

Carol Lavery

Eugene Register Guard Letters to the Editor, October 24, 2012

Homelessness is an issue that touches us all in one way or another. The answers are complex and poignant, and often just out of reach.

If only he had known about WAND . . .  a veritable treasure trove of amazing women!  And the national office is in Massachusetts, no less.

At the national board meeting in September, we welcomed new members to both the Education Fund Board and WAND, Inc. (the 501 c4 branch of WAND).  It was a room full of amazing and competent women. Of the thirteen new members, ten are state legislators.

The energy of these new women was electric. They know first hand the challenge of campaigning and they brought their knowledge to the discussion of the WAND PAC. Our PAC has a small treasury but we are able to connect women with other funders and arrange briefings with experts on security issues and training on the media.

If I were to create a binder,  here’s a thumbnail sketch about just a few of our new members:

Rep. Karen Camper of TN   Karen was influential in helping both of Tennessee’s Republican senators, Corker and Alexander to see the importance of New START and vote for its ratification.

Sen. Lena Taylor of WI   Lena was one of the Wisconsin 14 – the senators who left the state to prevent a quorum for a vote on a union busting bill.

Asm. Maggie Carlton of NV    Maggie introduced legislation to protect renters who had paid rent and then found themselves evicted because the out-of-state landlords were being foreclosed.

Dianne Valentin, President of Georgia WAND   Dianne is a political scientist with training in international affairs and national defense.  She is a consultant for small businesses.  Georgia WAND is very active in voter registration and education.

Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez of MD   Ana is an IT Systems Engineer who worked for NASA for 10 years. Some of her code is on the Hubble!  She is the first Salvadoran ever elected to state office.

Next time you are in a bind, Mitt, call on WAND.  We’ve got an incredible array of talented, competent, dynamic women for the job.

Here we are determining how to divide our small amount of PAC money among so many worthy candidates.

The Peace Train has appeared in the Eugene Celebration Parade for the past seven years. The car Oregon WAND created originally admonished that we Free All Beings From Nuclear Threat. WAND is still working on that issue, of course, but this year we converted our car to focus on a growing threat to our security . . . drone warfare.

We draped our car in black plastic with bright yellow letters proclaiming, No Drone Warfare. Mini-drones bounced along with the car while those holding the Play Station joysticks chased after them to keep them under control.

Don’t those terms sound out of place when talking about warfare? Play Station! Joystick! The controls for drones are designed to look and operate exactly like those earlier ‘toys’ but the consequences are not imaginary.

I wondered how many of Eugene’s parade watchers would know about drones and their dark side of ‘collateral damage’, ‘mistaken targets’, and missile attacks in countries where we are not at war. Would they understand the spying eyes that poked through the windows of our car?

The reaction of the crowd was very positive. You could see folks puzzle at the sign, ‘Drones Kill. Diplomacy, Not Dronacy’. Then, they looked beyond to the car and the model planes bouncing over their heads. They began to nod, then clap and give us a ‘thumbs up’.

I think this relatively new development in warfare has been troubling and confusing to many people. It is time to shine some bright lights on this remote control form of killing.

Oregon WAND has begun to do just that in meetings with our senators and representative. Today we worked on raising awareness of Eugene’s citizens, too.

As we finished the parade route and turned into the parking lot where we had assembled the car earlier in the day, a wheel fell off! I hope it is not an omen!

I think it is a reminder – pushing for peace is not easy. Sometimes we even get derailed, but we pick up the parts and go back at it.

Oh I’ve been smiling lately,
dreaming about the world as one
and I believe it could be,
some day it’s going to come

Cause out on the edge of darkness,
there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country,
come take me home again.

The Peace Train has become a fixture of the Eugene Celebration Parade.  The WAND car focused on a nuclear free world in its past appearances.  This year it has been retooled to highlight a new threat to peace – drone warfare.