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With all the chaos in the world today, how can we possibly have peace of mind? I answered that question for myself and then shared it in a unique way with thousands of people across America.
For the seven months since I received the vision, the journey has been just an idea – an intangible dream. Now it was beginning to feel real. It was 6:10 am, July 4, 2002, and already 100 degrees in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. My wife, Lyn, and I walked up the sidewalk toward the stairs leading to the Phoenix Civic Plaza. As we made it around the building, we could see a crowd of about thirty people gathered for our send-off.
As we climbed the steps onto the plaza to greet those who had come to support us, a local television news reporter pulled us aside. Camera rolling, the reporter teed up our interview, “We are at the Civic Plaza in Phoenix on this 4th of July where a Valley man and his wife are about to begin a unique trip across America. Ray is going to bicycle over 3,000 miles in 70 days from Phoenix to Ground Zero, New York City, to arrive in time for the year anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Lyn will be joining him, following in a support vehicle.” The reporter turned to me and asked, “Why have you decided to take on such a feat?”
I told him, “As a result of the 9-11 events, there are so many positive lessons that we all have learned about how to treat each other. We need to remember what we learned and keep building on the positives. With the ensuing war on terrorism, I felt the need to share a message of possibility across the United States. We will be holding public seminars in fire stations across the nation to honor the public servants who modeled exemplary character and selfless service in the wake of the 9-11 event.”
“What positive things came out of 9-11?” he asked.
I replied, “Many people have reassessed what is important in life. We have realized just how precious life is – that there are no guarantees of what tomorrow will bring – so we need to live life more fully today.” The cameras continued to capture the launch celebration.
You may be asking yourself, ‘What would possess a 45-year-old, not-so-spring chicken, to get on a bicycle and ride across America? Was it a mid-life crisis, or was it something else?’ I like to say that I was out of my mind – and into my heart.
It all began with the 9-11-01 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. As I watched the chaos unfold on television that day and the days that followed, I first experienced utter disbelief. I was in shock. I grieved for those who lost their lives and for those loved ones left behind. I also felt anxious and fearful about what would happen next. Then, in the next moments, I watched a paradox unfold. Selfish interests and desires yielded to selfless service. Firefighters, police and other emergency rescue workers sprang into action. I saw people risk their own lives in hopes of saving the lives of strangers. I was moved by the extraordinary courage and selfless service they showed. My fear dissipated, and my heart opened with love and compassion.
Other amazing events began to unfold in the weeks that followed. Ordinary people did extraordinary things. Young and old people across the nation and the world, put their own lives and ambitions on hold for a brief period of time to help in any way they could. People stood in lines for hours to give blood. People drove across the country with supplies that they had collected through the generosity of people in their own communities. Children drew pictures, wrote cards and raised money to send to the New York rescue workers and to the rescue workers from their own hometowns. People from around the world expressed their emotional support, prayer support and good wishes.
People shared their own unique talents, skills and abilities to help ease the pain of other human beings. For a moment in time, no one cared about the color of a person’s skin or the name of his or her god. Christians, Muslims, and Jews put aside their holy war to pray together. People of all colors and creeds worked together side by side. People simply wanted to help.
A few days after the event, the Dalai Lama shared this wisdom: “Any violence will only increase the cycle of violence…Any problem with humanity should be solved in a humanitarian way, and nonviolence is the human way of approaching a target.… I think all religions have the same potential to strengthen human values and to develop general harmony.”
Pope Paul II delivered a prayer on September 16, 2001, in Frosinone, Italy, to a crowd of 40,000 people: “…all the children of this great nation (America)…do not fall into the temptation of hatred and violence but rather to commit themselves to justice and peace.”
Newspapers, television and radio stations covered human-interest stories about kind and generous acts of people giving of themselves. I received a barrage of email of inspiring stories, prayers, poems and possibilities generated from around the planet. Suddenly the world seemed to be very small as people reached out to one another in this time of need.
President George W. Bush and New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani became healers of a nation in need as they offered prayers and emotional support during a time of great madness and confusion. I had a feeling of connection with humanity unlike any that I had ever experienced in my lifetime.
Whatever your personal experience with the events of 9-11 and the ensuing war on terrorism, at the heart of it are universal truths that can help us through tragedies like these – truths that we can invoke in all areas of our lives to create the peace and happiness that we desire. These simple truths are revealed throughout this book.
Cycling for 70 days on country roads at an average speed of 13 miles per hour was a very rich experience for me. Because there is no way to fully appreciate the beauty of America behind the windshield of a car traveling at 75 miles per hour on interstate highways, I gained a whole new appreciation for the beauty and diversity of America and its peoples. Also, spending five to six hours a day in the saddle cycling across the country gave me precious time to be alone with my thoughts – time that I rarely allow myself in the everyday busy-ness of life. While I was riding, I gained extraordinary insight and clarity into what each of us can do to achieve peace of mind even in turbulent times. I received a glimpse of the types of insights that Einstein must have received as he ran his “thought experiments,” or that Buddha received while he was sitting under the bodhi tree contemplating the nature of suffering, or that Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., received while they were thinking deeply about our divine nature and right to equality; or that Jesus received in the wilderness. In times of prolonged silence and deep contemplation, pure and simple answers eventually come.
Ray of Hope for Peace: Insights on Chaos and Consciousness While Cycling Across America is the first book to present practical solutions for creating unshakeable peace of mind and peace in the world, by applying proven universal scientific and spiritual principles, in an easy-to-understand, conversational way.
Ray of Hope for Peace will:
· Define in simple terms a clear picture of what both science and spirituality have identified as timeless laws and principles that govern our lives and the universe as a whole.
· Demonstrate how and why the principles work.
· Provide thoughts to ponder and/or practical action steps to practice in order to experience the principles working in everyday life.
Pieces of a magnificent puzzle will be revealed mile by mile as I share about events along the route. At the end of your journey through the book, the pieces will be assembled into a beautiful mosaic that identifies and connects all the practical, essential principles learned for creating peace and happiness in your life.
I promise to stimulate your mind and warm your heart as you join me on this extraordinary journey. As a side benefit, if you have never experienced heartland America on a bicycle, now’s your chance to enjoy a real treat. Many blessings on your journey. |