A Peace of My Mind

9/11

September 11, 2018 by johnnoltner

I know two names on the memorial wall. Thomas E. Burnett Jr. and Mohammad Salman Hamdani. Their names are two panels apart, on the South Memorial Pool. Thomas is from the town where I live. Bloomington, Minnesota. My children attended the same high school Thomas did. Our post office is named after him. Thomas E. Burnett Jr. helped force down Flight 93 into an empty farm field in Pennsylvania so that it couldn’t crash into another public place. Mohammad (his […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: 9-11, anniversary, Ground Zero, memorial, NYC, Salman Hamdani, Thomas Burnett

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Fear not

August 24, 2018 by johnnoltner

“It feels as if every corner of America is running on a steady diet of fear. We’re afraid of guns, of our guns being taken; we’re afraid of our enemies; of our cousins who cancelled out our votes; of brown bodies, black bodies, Muslim bodies; of police, of Democrats, of Republicans, of Christians, of non-Christians; of the fact that our Christian churches are dwindling; we are afraid of men, of women who will tell on men; we are afraid of […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: courage, faith, fear, fear not, holden village, peace, stories, storytelling, studio, washington

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Holden Village

August 20, 2018 by johnnoltner

“Every now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.” That quote by French poet Guillaume Apollinaire was posted behind the ticket counter at the ferry dock north of Chelan, Washington. We were on our way to Holden Village and it’s a journey to get there. A 1,529 mile drive west. 20 miles by boat up a wilderness lake on the edge of North Cascades National Park. 11 miles up a gravel road […]

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on the road…and why

August 2, 2018 by johnnoltner

This morning was an early start. I like to get out of the city before rush hour ramps up. Three sleepy people in a truck. Trailer hitched behind us. All headed west. In 1,529 miles we will be at Holden Village in the Washington Cascades for my fourth year running as part of the teaching staff. My social media stream will be quiet for a couple weeks. There is a lot of community at Holden Village, but not much technology. […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: connect, exhibit, holden village, peace, stories, travel

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Leah Prussia

July 13, 2018 by johnnoltner

Leah Prussia grew up in a primarily German-Norwegian family, but as an adult, she embraced her Anishinaabe heritage, as well. Leah holds a master’s degree in social work and works as a college instructor and clinical social worker. She has struggled with depression for much of her life. When she finally found the right combination of therapy, medication, and spiritual practice, she says, “it was like seeing color for the first time.” “When I’m not healthy, how can I be […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: depression, heal, healing, identity, lonlieness, mental illness, Minnesota, spirituality, sturggle, therapy

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Kerem

July 4, 2018 by johnnoltner

Last week I met Kerem. A friend of a friend, he was a Turkish photojournalist until it became unsafe to be a Turkish photojournalist. Kerem got a green card when that was easier to do. He sold all his belongings and moved to the United States with his wife and twin boys. They went first to Rochester, MN to be close to other family who had settled there and just last month moved to the Twin Cities in search of […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: book, greencard, immigrant, Istanbul, photography, refugee, Syria, Turkey

Andrea Cano

June 29, 2018 by johnnoltner

Andrea Cano trained to be a hospital chaplain in Portland, Oregon after working in journalism and nonprofit administration. She followed her passion to be with people when they are at their most vulnerable, to help them deal with their own suffering and healing. “We become so much about human doings, we forget to be human beings.” We’ve got to stop drawing lines in the sand and find moments of being together. Peacemaking, for a lot of people, is a very […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: brokenness, community, oregon, portland, together, tragedy, vulnerability

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Howard Zehr

June 22, 2018 by johnnoltner

Howard Zehr has been called the grandfather of the restorative justice movement: the notion that justice can be about repair, responsibility and healing rather than just punishment. A retired professor from Eastern Mennonite University, Howard is an accomplished photographer and author who has published several books including Doing Life, a collection of stories and portraits of life term prisoners. “I often talk about three core values of restorative justice: respect, responsibility, and relationship.” “I think there’s a human need for […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: crime, forgiveness, Harrisonburg, healing, justice, law, prisoner, punishment, restorative, Virginia

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Father’s Day

June 17, 2018 by johnnoltner

It’s my third father’s day without my dad, and just yesterday I finally dropped off a stone to be carved for his marker. It took a while, but like he told me once, some things take time. I’m not always a patient person. I get frustrated as I learn a new skill and progress is never as fast as I’d like it to be. It was in high school that he gave me that little gem. I was practicing a […]

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Fiona Orr

June 15, 2018 by johnnoltner

Fiona Orr, fifteen-years-old, is home schooled in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she volunteers regularly at the Omni Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology where she has found positive adult mentors. Fiona draws and paints. From a very young age, she liked to put beautiful things on paper so that other people could see the same beauty she did. “Yes, you’re one very small person, but you can always make a difference.” Teenagers sometimes aren’t paying attention, but it’s because we often don’t get paid […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: arkansas, beauty, dialogue, fayetteville, intergenerational, justice, youth

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	9/11 \| A Peace of My… on Talat Hamdani
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	Sandy on Eugene Joe
	Martina Korkmaz on Kerem
	Jane Barnes on Father’s Day

A Peace of My Mind

Exploring the meaning of peace, one story at a time.

what does peace mean to you?

9/11

Fear not

Holden Village

on the road…and why

Leah Prussia

Kerem

Andrea Cano

Howard Zehr

Father’s Day

Fiona Orr