 was dropped. She was two years old. And after that, she went to school and seemed to be doing well. And suddenly when she was 12 years old, she had been a star after for her school. She developed sores on her body and weakness. And it was leukemia from the radiation, which many people felt victim to that weren't among the hundred thousand who were killed immediately by the bad. While she was dying, she wished for peace and of course for life. And there was a legend in Japan that if you fold 1000 paper cranes, you will get your wish. Most stories say she did not get to the 1000, but her friends and actually the rest of the world has been making paper cranes ever since. And that was her work for peace. So we might reflect on the many ways of working for peace as we walk meditatively and Mary will say a few words about how we are walking. Once again, thanks for coming out on this very steamy evening to the 73rd anniversary of the commemoration of the dropping of the first nuclear weapon on a civilian, largely civilian population in Hiroshima in 1945. This is a silent walk. In case there are some of you that are unfamiliar with walking meditation, it's definitely a slower pace, more relaxed. We can make each step the sole of our foot as we contact the earth, the only focus of our concentration and our mindfulness, whether our steps are long or short, stable, unstable. It is possible to walk in a way where we surrender and where we offer our whole being into the earth. There's a saying from a man named A.J. Musty, there is no way to peace. Peace is the way. Peace is something we can create in the here and the now. We don't need to wait until after the next election or the end of the world. We don't. There has been no time as important as in now to work to actively create peace. And my teacher, Tick Nhat Hanh, has taught walking meditation for many, many years. There will be bells throughout the walk. Glenda at the rear, inviting a bell, a small bell, an Incan, and Kenzon at the front, inviting a bell. However, at 7.15 at the hour that the bomb was dropped, adjusted for Eastern Standard Time, both Glenda and Kenzon will invite the bell rapidly for a longer duration. And at that point, we stop. If we're meditators, want to return to the flow of our breath as a prayer to the universe, we may want to offer a prayer for the end of all war, for world peace, however, but we want to stop. And we want to stop not only our walking, our body, but also do best to stop our mind from the constant, often useless thinking that we often engage in in the 21st century. So I thank you all for coming out again. And representative, this commemoration ceremony in Hiroshima. As last I heard, the United States, who dropped the bomb, had not accepted the invitation. Precious the human life is. We're here such a short time. And to me, when I think if there isn't antidote to war, it's to awaken that love of life, that sense of how precious it is to walk onto peace. Everyone shall live in peace. All the baby bloomers or everything get to it can feel your opponent that you're beginning the path to reconciliation. And I would see many times at Bruce Temple's Buddha and each side of the Buddha was an armed warrior. And I remember hitting them. But that is what the military should be for, to protect the weak, to protect the, to protect the Buddha's in us. And it was just a metaphor in Japan that struck me. Maybe it doesn't fit the motion of the day, but I think I think the metaphors still go there. If there's strength, it should be used to support the weak. Where's this have we got? I'm going to shake hands around the world. The Japanese invite back their departed relatives, the festivities for feasts and dancing and then into the spirit world, put into the river, candlelit lanterns sent down the river is sending them the relatives back. And perhaps with these cannibals, we can be launching our intention. What is our, our intention perhaps for peace in the world? How do we want to cultivate that ground of peace within ourselves? So to encourage this atmosphere of prayerful intention, then we'll, we'll have a chant that we'll do as we head down the path and launch these cannibals. This chant is a Buddhist chant that's often used in peace walks, in walks for nuclear disarmament. And the chant goes Nam-myo-ho-ren-ge-kyo and we'll do it as call and response. So please join in.