It is a Friday evening in mid-October, 2002, and I am on the road heading north from Regina, on my way to the "Making Peace" Conference in Saskatoon. In all my 58 years of existence I have never attended an event like this and I am aware of some apprehension flowing through me as I wonder who my fellow-participants will be and what we'll be doing and learning in the workshops. Some apprehension but also considerable excitement flows through me as the wide variety of themes offered by the eighteen workshops has deeply interested me. I recollect that, when I phoned a few days ago to register, I had not finalized my short-list of six workshops, three of which I could actually attend. Lynn Hainsworth, the owner of the warm, welcoming voice at the other end of the line, had patiently listened to me as I sorted out my preferences. She told me I could be in each of my top three choices, which means I'll be able to attend a workshop at each of the three conference theme levels: global, community, and family. Yes, my anticipation grows more eager the closer I draw to Saskatoon.

I arrive at the Holy Cross High School a few minutes after 7:00 p.m. and I am directed straight into the main conference hall. On the stage at the front five young women, known as "The Radical Cheerleaders," sing and dance with infectious enthusiasm. They introduce their 150-or-so strong audience to several humourous yet deeply cutting routines that decry injustice, cruelty, aggression, arrogance, and isolation. My initial resistance to how they are communicating their messages of concern soon disappears as I tap into their sincerity. I find my apprehension persists but is now directed to a new worry. I cannot see my four friends from Regina who were expected to arrive well ahead of me. I turn my attention back to the stage where Hamid Javed, a distinguished looking East Indian gentleman attired in traditional dress, is introducing the evening's keynote speaker, Peter Coombes, National Organizer of "End the Arms Race" in Vancouver, BC. Gently, yet firmly, Peter Coombes leads us into the intensely disturbing area of global politics, focussing somewhat on the military might of the US and the potential this has to destroy opposition to the ideals of whatever administration is in power. He also describes the parts played by large corporations in influencing decision-making. The task confronting all who seek peaceful resolution to international disagreements seems huge. Sometime during the address I see my friends have arrived. Now I am able to start fully immersing myself in what is happening. Shortly after the keynote address a banjo player ambles up the aisle to the stage, all the while singing a few lively songs and exhorting us to create our own motto about peace — one that captures the essence of the conference and is suitable for placing on bumper stickers. The formalities end with a return of the Radical Cheerleaders — "More war! What for?".

It is now Saturday morning and we are back in the main conference hall. Our gracious chairman, Hamid Javed, introduces MLA Peter Prebble, who tells us of his personal commitment to walking a path of peace and encourages us to benefit ourselves and others as much as we can through participating in the conference. A three-person panel then comes on stage. With "The Real Costs of War" as their theme, they each spend fifteen minutes describing their personal experiences in some of the world's battle and/or deeply impoverished zones. David Meli, a Red Cross worker and a Youth Ambassador to the Land Mines Action Program, introduces us to the immense and necessary task of land-mine clearing. Next, Allan Ng speaks about his experiences with Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières). After he finishes, Belinda Fernandez, a Guatemalan refugee and an active member of the Saskatoon Open Door Society, touches my heart deeply as she takes us into the frightful, frightened, and frightening world of a person living in terror in her homeland, and on into the guilt and uncertainty of living in foreign places.

Now it is time for me to go to my first workshop, "The Abrogation of International Treaties." Along with 15 other people we learn from Martin Phillipson, a law professor at the University of Saskatchewan, about some of the problems connected to compliance (or non-compliance) of countries that have signed international agreements. We examine some of the consequences these actions can have on relationships between countries and between us and our environment. Throughout this workshop the global impact of the US as both a military and an economic power becomes, to me, increasingly clear and alarming. As I leave, I find myself saddened that this impact seems to be rarely used for the good of humanity at large. I am also a little disappointed that I was unable to share this workshop more fully with the other participants as the desks were arranged in rows and I sat at the front, unable to see who my fellow-learners were or to witness their reactions to what we had heard.

After a tasty lunch, during which I learn that some 275 people have registered for the conference, I go into another classroom to take in the "Voices of Youth" workshop. I am pleased to see that the room is set up so that participants form a ring with an open central area. The reason for this soon becomes apparent as a group of final-year high school and first-year university students, led by Ellen Quigley, takes us through assorted scenarios highlighting common human habits and traits. These traits include apathy, violence, stereotyping, hopelessness, and greed, that foster social injustice and other threats to a world of harmony. I find the enthusiasm, originality, humour, and sincerity of the young people inspires hope in me that future generations will clearly see through the sources of our society's afflictions and be able to live their lives in peace and harmony with their surroundings. Before our micro-community disperses the older and the younger people exchange perspectives and experiences in an atmosphere of deep mutual respect. So refreshing! So stimulating!

Now for my third and final personal-level workshop. I find the room and enter it. Desks are arranged in a large oval with a slide projector in the centre. Paul Hanley, an author and environmental columnist with the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, briefly introduces the theme, "Voluntary Simplicity." He then invites each of us in turn to outline our experience of voluntary simplicity in our daily lives. Many of us aspire to simplicity but recognize we are only touching the surface of what is possible. This becomes startlingly evident when Paul describes his home in the Touchwood Hills, where his electrical power is provided by a small wind turbine connected to batteries and his winter heat by a wood-burning stove. Much of his food is home-grown and preserved. My eyes are opened to many more possibilities of what I can do to lessen my environmental footprint should I care to follow my heart.

It is supper time. I join my friends. We talk a bit about the workshops we have been attending but do not go into detail for we will do that later. Now we take the opportunity to mix with other participants. Then we enjoy listening to several singers, watching dancers, and taking part in a Round Dance led by Maria Campbell to the drumming of Joseph Naytowhow.

Back at the motel our Regina group of five spend an hour or more describing in detail the workshops we have attended and the impact we feel from what we have seen and heard. Mostly our responses have been heart-opening and we wonder how our lives will be affected.

It is Sunday morning. Once again we convene in the main conference hall. Among the proceedings' early highlights are a guided meditation led by Joanne Blythe and a summary of the conference by Maria Campbell. Maria combines her wealth of experience, her wisdom, her verbal skills, and her aboriginal heritage to produce a most eloquent summary for all of us. Among other things, she paints vivid word pictures of society seen as four concentric circles with children at the centre, followed successively by elders, women, and men, and as made up of self, family, community, and nation. She considers the conference has touched upon all these components and she suggests that we all "go to that quiet place" inside ourselves where we find courage and faith to continue our paths. She reminds us that children are the inheritors of the world so we must care for it gently for them. In these last few hours other participants stand at a microphone and offer hope, promise action, show courage, and share wisdom ("the best way to lose enemies is to treat them as friends"), as they pursue, each in their own way, their caring for the world and for the future generations. Perhaps the peace-seekers and the peace-makers in Canada will find a national voice for which a need was seen by many.

It is Sunday afternoon and I am on the road heading south from Saskatoon to Regina, on my way home. My heart is uplifted by the love, sincerity, compassion, and sense of connection in which I have been cocooned this past weekend. I am motivated by the courage and generosity displayed by the conference presenters, organizers, and participants as they shared their various experiences with others. At the same time my heart is restless, knowing the world, and all its beings, suffer in a multitude of different ways. How, as individuals and as communities, do we address the problems? Perhaps by finding our voices, our strengths, and our purposes, and communicating the ways of peace, harmony, and freedom to those whose natures lean more towards conflict and control.

Chris Gilboy is a geologist with the Saskatchewan Government in Regina. He has a strong interest in Insight Meditation and its usefulness in guiding us toward greater inter-connection, peace, and freedom in this conditioned world.

The dove peace logo is courtesy of John Kirkpatrick's organization, Show Peace, located in California, USA, and online at www.ShowPeace.org.