A Peace of My Mind

Eugene Joe

June 8, 2018 by johnnoltner

Eugene Joe is a Navajo sand artist who lives near Shiprock, New Mexico. At an early age, Eugene’s grandfather helped him discover his gift of art. His grandfather would send the boy to meditate on a nearby hill and say, “You have a gift that’s inside of you. Go there and find it.” “Your creator gave you a special tool in your life. To find that is to learn how to face the reality of life.” In the time of wagons and horses and […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: art, creativity, creator, discipline, focus, gift, meditation, nature, New Mexico, shiprock

Penina Bowman

June 2, 2018 by johnnoltner

Penina Bowman was 17 years old when soldiers showed up at her home in Hungary and told her family they had 20 minutes to pack their bags. They were told they were being sent away to work, but the train brought them to Auschwitz. Penina lost her parents and 42 other relatives to the Holocaust, but she and her three siblings survived. She credits her sisters and her faith for her survival. “Having something to believe in helped us survive. […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: atlanta, Auschwitz, belief, family, forgiveness, georgia, hate, Holocaust, relationship, strength, survival

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Walton’s Warriors

May 25, 2018 by johnnoltner

As we move into the Memorial Day weekend, I am aware that I don’t personally know anyone who died in military service. Nobody. I certainly know women and men who have served, even though less than one percent of our population has done so. I know people who have been injured both physically and emotionally through the experience of combat, but I haven’t known anyone who has died in military service. Last week I was in Grand Lake, Colorado for […]

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Listen to the children

May 9, 2018 by johnnoltner

Colorado is nice this time of year. Today, I visited Mesa Elementary School in Boulder and spoke at an assembly for a few hundred students. One first grade teacher returned to her classroom and asked her students to share what they had learned, and this is what they said. Sometimes we make life complicated. These young ones understand things we seem to forget. Maybe they will grow up and sort out some of the mess we big people have created. […]

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Michael Reid

April 26, 2018 by johnnoltner

Michael Reid played bass in a punk band and became addicted to heroin. He was strung out on the drug for ten years. His days revolved around petty crime to feed his addiction, which eventually landed him in prison for more than a year. After his release, Michael started volunteering at a food pantry. Over time, he was given more responsibility, and now Michael is in charge of a program that feeds more than 400 families each week. “You learn […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: addiction, California, community, drugs, homeless, prison, service

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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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Deanna Thompson

April 2, 2018 by johnnoltner

Deanna Thompson was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer at age 42 that had metastasized to her bones. The doctors told her she had fewer than five years, but when I interviewed her, it was more than six years after her diagnosis. She lives in St. Paul with her husband and two daughters and teaches religion at Hamline University. “Initially, I thought I was on sabbatical to get ready to die. Then it became clear that I wasn’t dying right […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: cancer, community, grace, gratitude, illness, Minnesota, relationship, Saint Paul, St. Paul

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Betsy Mulligan-Dague

March 25, 2018 by johnnoltner

Betsy Mulligan-Dague runs the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center in Missoula, Montana. She is also a Harley Davidson rider, a boxer, and an inventor. She believes it is important to explore different perspectives. Together, with Dan Gallagher, they found a way to bridge the divide that can exist between veterans and peace activists. “We have things that bind us together that we can fall back on when we start talking politics, or something else where we diverge in opinion.” We can only […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: community, division, learning, Missoula, montana, veteran, vietnam, war

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A Peace of My Mind

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

what does peace mean to you?

Eugene Joe

Penina Bowman

Walton’s Warriors

Listen to the children

Michael Reid

What is the world you want?

Civil Discourse

Your odds are greatly improved…

Deanna Thompson

Betsy Mulligan-Dague