Blog | 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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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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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

What is the world you want?

April 24, 2018 by johnnoltner

Sometimes we settle. We forget to aim high. We figure things are good enough, or they will never be better anyway, so we lower our expectations. It’s a mistake. We need to articulate our vision for a better world. We need to imagine better results. And we need to believe they are possible. So last week, at Edmonds Community College, in Lynnwood, Washington, we asked students and staff to tell us about the world they want to create and they […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: aim high, create, Dream, edmonds, hope, imagine, vision, washington

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Civil Discourse

April 16, 2018 by johnnoltner

In Washington DC last week, A Peace of My Mind set up a studio at the Joint Counsel of Extension Professionals’ Public Issues Leadership Development Conference. The theme of the gathering was Cultivating Civil Discourse, and we asked participants, “How have you cultivated civil discourse in the past year?” Given the tone of our national debate, and tuning into media outlets, my mood can be troubled, but spending time with a center full of people doing good work, I was […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: 4h, civil discourse, civility, connection, dialogue, extension, hope, peace, youth

Your odds are greatly improved…

April 14, 2018 by johnnoltner

It was time to be bold. I brought one of my books along yesterday when I attended a panel discussion on ending civil wars at the US Institute of Peace. I didn’t know who I wanted to give it to, but I imagined I might run across someone worth connecting with. One of the panelists was Nancy Lindborg, the President of the Institute, and as I listened to her speak, it only made sense I should give the book to […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: ask, Dream, lincoln memorial, MLK, peace, US Institute of Peace, USIP, washington DC

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Memphis Theological Seminary

March 4, 2018 by johnnoltner

Just wrapping up a busy month in Memphis, with American Stories at Memphis Theological Seminary and American Stories at First Congregational Church. I’ve been to Memphis a few times now, and I’m always drawn in by the combination of history, music, food, and good people. I had the chance tp speak at the seminary, and I also set up a studio to ask, “How does your faith impact your view of social justice?” Some of the replies are below, and […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: a peace of my mind, faith, healing, justice, memphis, race, reconciliation, seminary, service, social justice

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My New Year’s Wish

December 29, 2017 by johnnoltner

We stood in utter darkness. I was 12 years old, 100 feet underground, in the long, winding passages of Mammoth Cave. The park service guide gathered us in one of the large rooms. He spoke of geology and history. He told us about preservation and heritage. Then he introduced me to the idea of light pollution. He explained that because of stray light in our increasingly urbanized world, most of us had likely never experienced total darkness. Then he turned […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: courage, darkness, faith, holden village, hope, interfaith, light, peace, social justice

It’s hard work

December 18, 2017 by johnnoltner

These gloves were new, not long ago. When I am not shooting assignment photography or traveling with A Peace of My Mind’s exhibits, my family grows Christmas trees. We started planting ten years ago and we knew nothing about being tree farmers. Now we know just slightly more than that. Last week we finished our first big harvest and now my gloves look like this. It’s hard work. But so is life. Sometimes we forge ahead, with the belief that […]

Categories: Blog

	9/11 \| A Peace of My… on Talat Hamdani
	johnnoltner on Eugene Joe
	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.

Category Archives: Blog

9/11

Fear not

on the road…and why

Kerem

What is the world you want?

Civil Discourse

Your odds are greatly improved…

It’s hard work