Time seems to slow down whenever we see Amish families serenely cruising down these country roads.

It was a quiet day with no scheduled ceremonies which is unusual considering all the activity we have had lately. Probably the calm before the storm as we charge into the last week from Albany through New England and back to New York City where we started way back on April 16.

There were a few personally significant experiences today that may be of noteworthy value though. Briju, a novice runner who had just joined our team less than a week ago, had a transcendent experience today.

Jeremy tries his best to free those ” poor little critters” trapped inside this one-of-a- kind vending machine.

He says, “Running was never my forte. If someone had told me a year ago that I would be running across America next summer, I would have laughed at him for a few days. But working for a month and a half on the 3100 mile race in Queens, New York changed my attitude. Seeing those runners show up every morning at 6am after 5 hours sleep to pound out another 60 odd miles as they fought mind and matter was something else.

So I started out my first couple of days on the World Harmony Run doing about 3 or 4 miles per day and then after a day off yesterday, I was determined to do 10 miles today. I had never, ever run this distance before, but I knew I had it in me. Of course, I had to pick a day of long up hills to do my first 10 mile run! But the country side was so beautiful and the temperature just right.

First 3 miles, I was just getting loose, and the next three were great, but the last 4 miles were the real challenge. My mind wanted to stop, but heart kept going. Just when I wanted to collapse, I would get a honk from an enthusiastic passing car that would keep me going for another quarter mile, or a quick flash across my mind of a face of one of the hundreds of kids I’d met in the last four days alone would make my heart smile and my feet light.

My teammates pleaded with me to take it slow, but I was born for speed. The Torch and I clipped through the 10 miles at a pace that blew me and my team mates away. Carrying the Torch can be an amazing experience if you allow it to be. Allowing myself to believe in its power to inspire others and myself took a new, physical and measurable leap forward today.”

Dreamers

This world is a very big place

Blessed with an abundance of His grace

More than enough to put a smile on every face.

Oh Lord, why are we are such a disgrace?

So caught-up in the material race

Always wanting more than all the rest,

Human greed at it’s nastiest!

We better start to do our very best

To share it all, to pass the test.

We are dreamers

Yes we dream everyday

For a free world

Full of Peace, here to stay.

Yes we pray, everyday

For Peace to stay, and never, ever go away.

Everywhere we go

People want to know

Where do we get that glow

That in our face it shows.

All we say is go within

Let go, let Him!

And then you will know

In His Peace you will swim!

We are dreamers

Yes we dream everyday

For a free world

Full of Peace, here to stay.

Yes we pray, everyday

For Peace to stay, and never, ever go away.

On the other hand, I had just the opposite experience. Where Briju has had almost no previous experience at long distance running, I have had thirty years of long distance running including hundreds of races at marathon distances and longer. But today, as Briju was running his ten miles with the courage of a warrior, my team had been running our miles to where his team was to start. By the time my two teammates, Vladmir and Runar, ran their miles, there was not much left to run. I was hoping to do at least two miles, but after five minutes or less, we reached Briju’s team at their starting point. So I ran a big half mile today, not complaining, of course. Knowing that in some indirect ways I have inspired a previous non-runner like Briju to run ten miles, I felt good about having an easy day.

During his twelve miles of running, my teammate Vladmir noticed a local runner running in the other direction. The runner stopped and turned around to join Vladmir for a few miles. Simon Hurley, an Englishman who herds sheep here near Cazenovia, was thrilled to divert his run this morning and carry the Harmony torch with us.

One funny experience that our Italian member Francesco had was as follows: “I was waiting for Banshidhar to finish his run and I was in the car with the door open in front of a house. All of a sudden a cat came out of the house and jumped into the car, onto the seat and walked on the atlas next to me until the owner came out to retrieve him. I then gave the owner some information about our Run. It was as if the cat came out of the house searching for harmony even though his human owner never noticed us there.”

Later in the day, the same team, with Jeromy, noticed a nice fountain with some beautiful swans swimming nearby. They stopped the car, turned back and went up closer to take some photos. Upon closer examination they noticed that the swans were not real. They were fake statues that definitely drew the attention of passersby.

Tracy Travers came out to greet us as we passed by her beautiful upstate New York home. She received heart-felt inspiration from our message of the importance of inner harmony in our personal lives.

At one stop, a woman named Tracey Travers came out of her house to see what these runners were doing as they stopped to wait for the Torch runner. She had just been diagnosed with a very serious ailment and was looking for ways to bring more harmony into her life. She was thrilled to talk with our runners there about our experiences and background in bringing harmony into our own personal lives and sharing this with others. It really made her day and added something meaningful to her life.

Simple things give us great joy; like finishing the days run right where a crystal mountain stream flows by.

We tend to have experiences like this everyday as we travel almost 100 miles per day, stopping frequently. We usually just report the bigger events that are directly related to bringing the Torch to others. But in this case, on a day with no ceremonies, we were happy to share some of the more personal, intimate experiences we had. Harmony comes in many forms, and in most cases it is the subtle, personal experiences that really offer meaning and joy to those who seek to share their harmony with others.

Arpan and Team Harmony

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