My husband and I will take a bus from Madison, Wisconsin to New York City this weekend to be part of the Peoples Climate March. Arriving, we will meet and walk with others in Thich Nhat Hanh’s global Sangha, a group of spiritual brothers and sisters uniting from around the world, to transform the climate crisis. When it is our turn, our small community will step peacefully through the streets of NY to ask with our bodies for effective climate protection policies. Happily, we will walk shoulder to shoulder with people from all faith traditions. Or…this is at least the plan.

     I must admit, I am a bit jittery about the whole thing: the l-o-n-g bus ride, the chaos of NY with an infusion of a half-million activists (or more), navigating a big and strange city, the possibility of danger to my body caused by the fear and anger of strangers. But my personal discomforts and worries are far less important to me than ethical actions rooted in wisdom and insight.

     I am stepping up because I can and so many cannot. I am walking for my ancestors who could not have understood how their actions would lead to planetary crisis. I am walking for this generation who is either unconscious to or overwhelmed by suffering we intensify. I am walking for future generations who will struggle to survive in a dramatically altered world. I am walking for my daughter who turns 26 on the day of the event. I am walking for myself so I can sleep at night knowing who I am and what I stand for.

     I will write again as events unfold. Please, stay tuned–