Roy’s Sunday Letter for February 15, 2026

Practice For Lives Well Lived

There have been two large events taking over my notepad and content of this week’s Sunday Letter. The first and most significant was the returning home of Ft. Worth’s own Buddhist Monks. On Saturday, Beth and I joined thousands of others in anticipating the final miles of their so very intentional “Walk for Peace.” We stood with respect with other followers of all races, ages, genders, and faiths as the Monks and Aloka, The Peace Dog, as they came into view. A Santa Fe friend drove 11 hours to be a witness and to be inspired.

If you or I took a walk around the block or along a river or mountain trail, what might be our purpose? Let’s say our purpose was the same as the Monks, peaceful living and loving kindness for all people. Now, can you make that same walk, with the same purpose, in good and bad weather for the next 110 days, or for the 2,300 miles of their dedicated Walk for Peace?

I openly shed tears as the walking line of monks came into view and took their final steps to enter the Temple grounds and gardens. We do not often witness their level of dedicated purpose on behalf of others, with no benefit to themselves. Along with t-shirts and music, there may be other productions being developed as entertainment, education, or one of the arts. My hope would be we can allow these Monks to simply walk, chant meditations and blessings for all of us and continue their Practice of Mindfulness, Kindness, and Peaceful Living.

The second is the Winter Olympics. Events are shown in the afternoon with a replay in the evening. My informal observation would be half of Olympic events are decided by the stopwatch. and the other half by more traditional Judge’s scores.

Ice dancers, alpine skiers, and other Olympic athletes dedicate years of creative and hard practice before a live event. The Monks are dedicated to walk, to serve others. In a different way, each event or competition shows the Olympian’s faces, their families, coaches and when the outcome is achieved or when less than hoped for, with no trophy or place on the winner’s stand.

Although there are some thirty-five or older athletes, many, if not most, are twenty to twenty-four. When the jump, rotation, or team effort fails we see patience, the physical and the emotional strain in their faces. So, as always, the Olympics is ours to watch the unfolding of achievements with the help of drones and reporters who help us appreciate what we have watched.

Roy, Monks and Athletes, heroes all