WORLD PEACE BEGINS WITHIN MYSELF

Lifting up prayers at one of the Seven Stations.

For the past five years, the WFWP Wisconsin chapter has pursued annual prayer walks for peace, initiated by women and mothers of different generations and faiths in order to seek divine guidance for issues facing individuals, families, neighborhoods, communities and nations - all for the sake of promoting peace.

This year marked the sixth such Prayer Walk, when on April 29 nine women gathered at the North Family Residence near Milwaukee for a meeting of prayer and inspiration. After Wisconsin Chairwoman Veronica Ferch welcomed everyone and briefly introduced WFWP, Pastor Marian North presented this year's keynote speaker, Mrs. Mary Ann Hannes, a healer, spiritualist and artist, who spoke on "Vista of Angels and Beyond." She eloquently and passionately explained about how angels want to help us and are helping us in our daily lives. All felt very uplifted, enlightened and inspired.

Mrs. Ferch then gave a brief overview of the Prayer Walk, the Seven Stations and the topics connected with them:

* Individual - harmony of mind and body

* Family - love between husband and wife, parents and children

* Church/spiritual support group, i.e., within the church family

* Neighborhood

* Among faith groups - different paths home

* Ethnic groups, and divided nations in Korea

* Nations - and the United Nations

The Prayer Walk wound around through a forested area and had seven interspersed prayer stations, at each one of which all paused and one person offered a prayer. Though Mrs. Hannes and her husband suffer from arthritis and require canes to walk, both joined in for the walk.

May the spirit of prayer and spirituality spread across the nation, help us to find solutions for our social ills, heal ourselves and each other and usher in this new age of love.