Longtime friend and rainforesteco supporter, Sylvie Rokab, just returned from Egypt and shares a message from her newsletter, linked below. Many of us share her concern and I ask that we each, in our own way, focus upon peace on and with the earth, throughout the coming days. Several groups I know will come together for this focus on Wed, March 4 at 9am Pacific. Please consider a few minutes of silence at that time, within your own peaceful heart.

Sylvie writes:

Still jet-lagged, I’m processing my pilgrimage to Egypt – the birthplace of my parents – and I feel deeply inspired by Hatshepsut’s story, a powerful embodiment of renewal. 

In a world shaped by kings, she invited her people to imagine something radically different – a female ruler whose reign centered on peace, regeneration, and expansion, rather than conquest. Her leadership opened new routes of exchange, bringing healing herbs, incense, and abundance to ancient Egypt. 

No domination. No wars. Rather, flourishing. 

And as headlines once again speak of violence in the Middle East, Hatshepsut’s story stirs something tender and fierce in me: a longing for peace, connection, and regeneration – not as a fantasy, but as a lived practice. If this was possible 3,500 years ago in ancient Egypt, I want to believe that it can also be so today. There might not be a Hatshepsut to save the day, but as the late Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh famously said, “the next Buddha may be the Sangha (community).”

When we come together with a shared vision and take small, steady steps, something new can emerge. Read more