STONEWALK 2004: BOSTON, MA to NEW YORK, NY.

DAY 4: July 28th St. Pauls Brookline
By David Potorti

After speaking with the local Fox affiliate as well as the Japanese press, we pulled out from Old South Church on our way to St. Paul's in Brookline. "There are usually more people here at four in the morning than there are right now." It was 10am this morning, and the local who was on the Stonewalk pull bar was remarking about the curious absence of people and traffic as a result of the Democratic National Convention. The disappearing traffic was soon replaced by the drama of pulling the stone over consecutive hills on our way to the church, our struggle captured by a reporter from the Associated Press. We were greeted by St. Paul's Father George Chapman and had the good fortune of encountering a departing class from he church's day school. Together we put our hands on the stone-- a custom every time we leave, arrive, or move the stone--and tried to put its significance into words. Tonight, Terry Rockefeller and I spoke at the Boston Shambhala Center, where after a meal we and a group of members and newcomers did a 20-minute sitting, eyes-open meditation. It was no small feat for me, with details of Stonewalk swirling in my head, to experience the practice of being in the present, my mind cleared of thoughts, even for a short time. Cynthia Schroer, our host at the Center, had an exceptional understanding of the history and work of Peaceful Tomorrows, and her remarks about locating and speaking from "the soft spot" of openness and vulnerability was a perfect lead-in to a discussion and question and answer session about our work.