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Chapter One
Peace Army
An organized group of specially trained people helping others.
Why a Peace Army
I grew up wanting to join the Army so it has many positive
connotations for me and I wish
to carry them over into my peace life. In my day to day life I
commonly share a salute with
coworkers and friends, as a show of respect, a way to glorify our
common labors and
camaraderie. Soldiers look at challenges enthusiastically, and take
them in stride as
serious work activities. Armies are made up of individuals that
strongly believe in the
cause that they are willing to give their life for. Soldiers go through
intense training to get
them ready for the grueling struggles that await them. Armies
tactically set out to
overcome forces that conspire to overwhelm them. Soldiers
specialize in areas of skill and
count on each other to do their part, for the survival of the whole.
Armies are in it for the
long haul, in that there is no second alternative to wars outcome,
defeat is not an option.
Soldiers forgo comforts and personal ambitions for the victory of
their cause. Armies have
many eyes and through chain of command, get leaders a big
picture. Soldiers trust and
obey those in command that have the big picture. Armies are well
funded and will go to
any length to achieve victory. Soldiers have big fun between
campaigns. Armies can do in
a week, what individuals could not do in a lifetime. Soldiers share
intense experiences that
heighten the experience of life and I hope to reproduce that in non-
violent Peace actions.
Armies can provide all a person needs by having all their needs
taken care of in-house,
allowing the soldier to spend most of their time completing their
missions. Soldiers’
expenses are low allowing more person power for the buck. Armies
think through their
planned actions and prepare for many outcomes. Soldiers do in the
presence of
comrades, heroic deeds they would not otherwise do. Armies can
buy in volumes that can
provide discounts and or support responsible businesses.
Why Our Army is Better
We are not out to hurt anyone! We are struggling to make the world
better through non-
violent actions. Our training involves taking who you are and
making it better through
Encouragement, Logic and Love. We are not totally autocratic, in
that for instance, three
Sergeants might out rank one lieutenant. We will vote on matters
whenever possible.
Private lives will be respected as to time in the field, members of a
unit and agreeableness
with assignment. You can tell, we won’t ask your sexual preference.
Our primary weapons are Love, Integrity and Honesty employed
with the character traits
of Determination, Focus and Courage. Our vehicles are
Compassion, Empathy and
Concern. We are out to Love the forgotten, Communicate with the
lost and Help the
helpless. Our Army is from the building trades, people with
mechanical aptitude, cooking
skills, Medical Arts and most of all, folks with a full tool box of
people skills, to reach out
and help many in a long term way.
Setting up a school that can grow fast and still turn out a quality
student will be hard and
armies are good at that. I think that if many manuals and schools of
military training were
studied by creative, energetic, intelligent teachers we could
succeed in ways I have only
touched on in this book. Many have seen the life transforming
experience of military boot
camp work wonders on young adults. Specializing in the mentally
ill, we will learn skills
amongst comrades and live in a healing way next to people with
serious issues. We have
all had issues at one time or another.
Our multifaceted Corps. will employ all known philosophies to bring
about Peace to a
human life. When known philosophies are exhausted we will adapt
and improvise.
How We are Like a Community
We are of all ages, skills and gender. We learn to look out for each
other first and then we
look out for the mentally ill. We work together, eat together and also
mix in with the larger
community. We are from many cultures, challenging us to show
grace and patience in the
face of differing natural ways of living.
Peace Military Decorations
Purple Hand- Being hurt by a mentally ill person and not striking
back.
Silver Stretcher- Talking a mentally ill person into getting help and
seeing them through.
Medal of Love- For extremely compassionate behavior, under
severe conditions, with a
smile.
Bottomless Basket- Meritorious service in the Food Chain or
Mastery in a certain
segment.
Glorified Anything- Doing a good job that in some way helps the
Peace Army
Mission.
Don’t just be Good, be Good for Something
Peace Army Training
Michelangelo once said “The Greater danger is not that our hopes
are too high and
we fail to reach them, it’s that they are too low and we do”.
Waging Peace at War’s Pace
We are centered around a Mental hospital because mental peace is
the foundation
to world peace. It is a goal many share, and this Peace Army is one
important part. The
thing that sets us apart from other organizations is our ten-month
training program. The
training will provide needed skills and the shared experience will
build strong bonds
among the troops, to last a lifetime.
Basic Training will focus on emotional / mental skills. All recruits will
be required to have an
on going relationship with a professional counselor to provide
continuity and personal
guidance through this intense life changing process. “Best
Buddys” will be on duty at
training. “Recruits” will begin training with some ice breakers
Friday morning. The first
class of 90 will meet for a lecture on Grief, break up in groups of 6
for small group
discussion, share their experience in a group of 30 and during
lunch one person from
each 30 group will give an overview of their experience. The
process will repeat all
weekend to fully cover most aspects of grief to A. Heal the
heartache of the soldier. B.
Teach the importance of crying/acceptance of loss in
mental/emotional healing. C. Get
people in touch with their feelings of pain they may not have
otherwise known were there.
D.Establish a feeling baseline with other caring people, forming
strong therapeutic bonds,
that will prove invaluable in a life of dealing with other peoples pain,
confusion and anger.
E. Being comfortable with tears we can more readily invite the
hurting to cry out their pain.
This phase will end Sunday afternoon followed by free time.
Monday will begin
Anger/conflict resolution training. Wednesday will begin speaking
and listening skills
training. Friday will be a recap and Saturday friends and family are
invited for the
weekend to celebrate the end of the first phase of training. The next
week will welcome
those guests to take part in less intense training. Spending time
unlocking the aspects of
innate God gifts i.e.: listener, leader, artist, patience, teacher, and
understanding, to
multiply personal growth. Playing icebreaker games for many
evenings would build a
sense of belonging and love of uniqueness. Watching inspirational
movies as a group
would strengthen our resolve to work hard to make the world a
better place. Learning the
wisdom of “Twelve Step” recovery would be an introduction to
many of the tools, support
and healing freely available now to us and those we want to help.
Sharing personal
histories would add to our understanding of each other and what it
means to be a modern
super caring person. Bible study will give us the strong link to the
divine, which we will
need when dealing with all the problems encountered with the
mentally/emotionally ill that
are our primary focus.
After a two-week vacation period of half-day classes “Privates” will
regroup for a one-
month physical assessment/improvement. All vices will be dropped
that haven’t been
dropped already from just being happy and whole emotionally.
Food will start out at brown
rice and slowly move up the spectrum. Nutrition, biology, bodily
functions, exercise, yoga
and prayer / meditation will be the focus. People will learn to give
massage, role play and
actively listen. The irises and hair samples will be studied for
nutritional needs, providing
supplements and herbs where needed. This experience will provide
A. More time for
bonding. B.Compleate physical overhaul available now only to the
wealthy, gifted or
fanatic. C. A chance to get away from it all and find out how few
“things” a person really
needs.
After a one week break the final phase will have “Corporals”
rooming in the city in
residences clustered close together yet spread out enough so as to
A: not attract
excessive attention B: simulate work a day life to aid reintegration
C: Spread our Love to
the larger community as neighbors, customers and fellow
commuters. Classes will be held,
(scientific method, sociology, body language, art, music, First aid
CPR, teaching skills,
world religions) ministries will be initiated. Meals will be served
communally and
arrangements will be made for further training.
The graduating class of potential “Sargents” will take a road trip to
see the country, spend
some time enjoying one another’s company, randomly practice
goodwill and learn travel
skills in preparation for taking our clients on vacations that I believe
all people need and
deserve. The trip will also serve as a final test to play into the mix
determining what type of
Sargent they become.
We will set a good example with our resources and time. The first
class will be we teachers
helping each other and developing a dynamic curriculum. The
second class will be
Carpenters, Electricians, Plumbers, Mechanics, Secretaries, and
Cooks. Following classes
will be 20% Teachers, 20% Skilled Professionals, 20% Medical
People, 20% Food service
People, 10% Military Veterans and 10% Dynamic yet “unskilled”
people. Hopefully by the
sixth class it will all be Medical Professionals for the Hospital we
have had built. Future
classes will include nationals from war torn countries to give us
perspective and lead us in
starting a base in their country.
YOU CAN’T GIVE, WHAT YOU DON’T HAVE
Food Corps.
An Army Marches on its stomach.
If we eat well we will need the doctors less so they can work with
the ones who get sick
anyway.
So much has been said on the importance of a good meal and
healthful snacks that top
priority has to be given to the Food Corps. They can get us together
three times a day
and employ many people who can perform many easily learned
tasks that can be
improved upon in time. It will be therapeutic to cook, serve and
clean up for a group of
caring individuals. We may branch out to the rest of the larger
community and serve
Peace Army people alongside the public. We could use a pass to
give our folks a free
meal convenient to their work location. We could also open free
food places and eat with
the poor if the location is right. We could put up signs that say
“Grace” in many languages
and faiths for people to ponder silently before eating. Clean up
could be helped out with
on a rotating basis by Peace Army folks. Cooks could work half
days and/or perform other
skilled tasks the other half. I can see the Food Corps. being the
ones guarding the fort so
to speak. For instance, if a person is under the weather they could
tell a cook staff their
troubles and get a consistent daily report going on to smooth out a
rough work
assignment or home situation. We will talk on work crews and at
home hopefully but the
Food Corps. will have a chance to meet everyone who eats there.
They will need the
connectedness with the troops in the field so the work is
meaningful and rewarding.
Finding out the latest news in the field will have everybody talking
and caring. Bulletin
boards, mailboxes and TV options would foster a homey barracks
lodge feel to the place.
Maybe each kitchen will be home to a 30 or 60 group of Troops. A
near by apartment
building connected by a breezeway would be a nice retrofit rather
than building a custom
lodge for folks to live in. Maybe the kitchen at a barracks would be
open 24 hrs. People in
the field will work in the kitchen from time to time to learn cooking
skills and add to the
mixing of staff.
Food Facts
Molasses are the nutrients removed from white sugar. White sugar
requires nutrients to
be processed.
Grazed beef contains helpful cholesterol and more vitamins, vitamin
rich feed naturally
immunizes the cattle eliminating the need for antibiotics.
Farm to Fork
From field to teaching table manners
Organic farming with small equipment will serve to allow for micro
management of
acreage, employ more folk and use cheap “antiquated” equipment.
People can shift from
city to country at will and provide activity for those bored “back to
the blanket” sojourners.
We could have a regular transport making a circuit from city to
country circulating compost
to country and fresh dirt to city. People will be able to work in
different environments for
three-day stretches and be home when they wish. Barracks in the
country will be a
welcome relief from the barrack/homes in the city. Simple
straightforward jobs will connect
people with the land, seasons and their daily bread. Our farms will
be located near woods
locals for the back to the blanket crowd both new and old. People
from time to time will
need time in the country and we can provide that, so that we can be
ready for city life,
from a stable nature centered perspective. It is my opinion that we
are all natural and
nature is the great healer next to God. God is everywhere and we
need the reminder in a
physical way that we are all from the same source. God/Jesus can
be with us anytime but
to see, hear, touch and smell a thing is so powerful an experience
that we need to
connect with it totally at times. I see it when I am in the city as trees,
bushes, flowers,
clouds and stars but to be immersed in it is a retreat to my
beginning and source. There
are people who feel alien from nature and I hope we can or do need
to reacquaint them
with the glory, peace and strength of naturalness. I hope not to be
élitist in my glory of
nature and peace in wilderness, but find it much more healing than
Disneyland.
Back To The Blanket: A Native American term for going to the
country and getting away
from it all and getting in touch with nature and/or what really matters
in life.
Peace Army MEGAPAXPLEX
Located on or near a main highway with plenty of trees the
MegaPaxPlex would make a
complete circle around a 10 to 40 acre park. The side facing the
street would be the
“Peace Theater” a religious/moviehouse/meeting space. We could
teach and enjoy the
whole realm of live arts four days a week. Those four days would
also be available for
Peace Army students for required movie viewing, open to the
public. Three days a week it
is a religious center, a Mosque on Friday, a Temple on Saturday and
a Church on
Sunday. To the left would be the main interactive center of the
Peace Army, Pax
Central. It will have businesses and free services providing
ministries/vocations and
income. If you were standing in front of Pax Central on the right
would be the Peace Army
School, probably with it’s own small courtyard.
The completely enclosed area will be an important tool in our
healing mental ills. Many
people will attest to the universal recuperative properties to be
found in nature. Having a
place for patients to safely unwind, take some time out and heal will
make our job that
much easier and sure. Camping skills could be learned right out the
back door for
planned real excursions out in the greater world. Camping could
occur right in the park
for that matter. We could be brave and sew some rabbits and birds
into the rather large
courtyard. Some landscaping/naturescaping skills could be taught
for a while, as long as
appropriate changes are needed. Gardening with it’s own
associated healing properties
would be just what the doctor ordered for some folk. With the
hospital located way back
from the School/Theater/Central the park could be shared with the
hospital patients
having top priority.
I have a few ideas of how to enclose the large area, make it
accessible and connect the
hospital people with the rest of the Peace Army. A walking path ten
feet in from the outer
clearing will give folk a nice walk and keep them close to getting
help. A sidewalk out in
the open would be a bit easier to traverse and sunnier. The
courtyard could have two
lanes for golf carts to go around the perimeter for the many
occasions people will need to
be on the other side of the MegaPaxPlex. A enclosed walkway with
glass on the inside
and solid wall would physically enclose the courtyard. Through the
wall we could put
apartments, stores, doors or what I call a “class house.” Each
Peace Army Class has a
unit all it’s own from starting school till fifty years after they graduate
for the specific needs
and ministries of that years class.
Peace Army
An organized group of specially trained people helping others.
Why a Peace Army
I grew up wanting to join the Army so it has many positive
connotations for me and I wish
to carry them over into my peace life. In my day to day life I
commonly share a salute with
coworkers and friends, as a show of respect, a way to glorify our
common labors and
camaraderie. Soldiers look at challenges enthusiastically, and take
them in stride as
serious work activities. Armies are made up of individuals that
strongly believe in the
cause that they are willing to give their life for. Soldiers go through
intense training to get
them ready for the grueling struggles that await them. Armies
tactically set out to
overcome forces that conspire to overwhelm them. Soldiers
specialize in areas of skill and
count on each other to do their part, for the survival of the whole.
Armies are in it for the
long haul, in that there is no second alternative to wars outcome,
defeat is not an option.
Soldiers forgo comforts and personal ambitions for the victory of
their cause. Armies have
many eyes and through chain of command, get leaders a big
picture. Soldiers trust and
obey those in command that have the big picture. Armies are well
funded and will go to
any length to achieve victory. Soldiers have big fun between
campaigns. Armies can do in
a week, what individuals could not do in a lifetime. Soldiers share
intense experiences that
heighten the experience of life and I hope to reproduce that in non-
violent Peace actions.
Armies can provide all a person needs by having all their needs
taken care of in-house,
allowing the soldier to spend most of their time completing their
missions. Soldiers’
expenses are low allowing more person power for the buck. Armies
think through their
planned actions and prepare for many outcomes. Soldiers do in the
presence of
comrades, heroic deeds they would not otherwise do. Armies can
buy in volumes that can
provide discounts and or support responsible businesses.
Why Our Army is Better
We are not out to hurt anyone! We are struggling to make the world
better through non-
violent actions. Our training involves taking who you are and
making it better through
Encouragement, Logic and Love. We are not totally autocratic, in
that for instance, three
Sergeants might out rank one lieutenant. We will vote on matters
whenever possible.
Private lives will be respected as to time in the field, members of a
unit and agreeableness
with assignment. You can tell, we won’t ask your sexual preference.
Our primary weapons are Love, Integrity and Honesty employed
with the character traits
of Determination, Focus and Courage. Our vehicles are
Compassion, Empathy and
Concern. We are out to Love the forgotten, Communicate with the
lost and Help the
helpless. Our Army is from the building trades, people with
mechanical aptitude, cooking
skills, Medical Arts and most of all, folks with a full tool box of
people skills, to reach out
and help many in a long term way.
Setting up a school that can grow fast and still turn out a quality
student will be hard and
armies are good at that. I think that if many manuals and schools of
military training were
studied by creative, energetic, intelligent teachers we could
succeed in ways I have only
touched on in this book. Many have seen the life transforming
experience of military boot
camp work wonders on young adults. Specializing in the mentally
ill, we will learn skills
amongst comrades and live in a healing way next to people with
serious issues. We have
all had issues at one time or another.
Our multifaceted Corps. will employ all known philosophies to bring
about Peace to a
human life. When known philosophies are exhausted we will adapt
and improvise.
How We are Like a Community
We are of all ages, skills and gender. We learn to look out for each
other first and then we
look out for the mentally ill. We work together, eat together and also
mix in with the larger
community. We are from many cultures, challenging us to show
grace and patience in the
face of differing natural ways of living.
Peace Military Decorations
Purple Hand- Being hurt by a mentally ill person and not striking
back.
Silver Stretcher- Talking a mentally ill person into getting help and
seeing them through.
Medal of Love- For extremely compassionate behavior, under
severe conditions, with a
smile.
Bottomless Basket- Meritorious service in the Food Chain or
Mastery in a certain
segment.
Glorified Anything- Doing a good job that in some way helps the
Peace Army
Mission.
Don’t just be Good, be Good for Something
Peace Army Training
Michelangelo once said “The Greater danger is not that our hopes
are too high and
we fail to reach them, it’s that they are too low and we do”.
Waging Peace at War’s Pace
We are centered around a Mental hospital because mental peace is
the foundation
to world peace. It is a goal many share, and this Peace Army is one
important part. The
thing that sets us apart from other organizations is our ten-month
training program. The
training will provide needed skills and the shared experience will
build strong bonds
among the troops, to last a lifetime.
Basic Training will focus on emotional / mental skills. All recruits will
be required to have an
on going relationship with a professional counselor to provide
continuity and personal
guidance through this intense life changing process. “Best
Buddys” will be on duty at
training. “Recruits” will begin training with some ice breakers
Friday morning. The first
class of 90 will meet for a lecture on Grief, break up in groups of 6
for small group
discussion, share their experience in a group of 30 and during
lunch one person from
each 30 group will give an overview of their experience. The
process will repeat all
weekend to fully cover most aspects of grief to A. Heal the
heartache of the soldier. B.
Teach the importance of crying/acceptance of loss in
mental/emotional healing. C. Get
people in touch with their feelings of pain they may not have
otherwise known were there.
D.Establish a feeling baseline with other caring people, forming
strong therapeutic bonds,
that will prove invaluable in a life of dealing with other peoples pain,
confusion and anger.
E. Being comfortable with tears we can more readily invite the
hurting to cry out their pain.
This phase will end Sunday afternoon followed by free time.
Monday will begin
Anger/conflict resolution training. Wednesday will begin speaking
and listening skills
training. Friday will be a recap and Saturday friends and family are
invited for the
weekend to celebrate the end of the first phase of training. The next
week will welcome
those guests to take part in less intense training. Spending time
unlocking the aspects of
innate God gifts i.e.: listener, leader, artist, patience, teacher, and
understanding, to
multiply personal growth. Playing icebreaker games for many
evenings would build a
sense of belonging and love of uniqueness. Watching inspirational
movies as a group
would strengthen our resolve to work hard to make the world a
better place. Learning the
wisdom of “Twelve Step” recovery would be an introduction to
many of the tools, support
and healing freely available now to us and those we want to help.
Sharing personal
histories would add to our understanding of each other and what it
means to be a modern
super caring person. Bible study will give us the strong link to the
divine, which we will
need when dealing with all the problems encountered with the
mentally/emotionally ill that
are our primary focus.
After a two-week vacation period of half-day classes “Privates” will
regroup for a one-
month physical assessment/improvement. All vices will be dropped
that haven’t been
dropped already from just being happy and whole emotionally.
Food will start out at brown
rice and slowly move up the spectrum. Nutrition, biology, bodily
functions, exercise, yoga
and prayer / meditation will be the focus. People will learn to give
massage, role play and
actively listen. The irises and hair samples will be studied for
nutritional needs, providing
supplements and herbs where needed. This experience will provide
A. More time for
bonding. B.Compleate physical overhaul available now only to the
wealthy, gifted or
fanatic. C. A chance to get away from it all and find out how few
“things” a person really
needs.
After a one week break the final phase will have “Corporals”
rooming in the city in
residences clustered close together yet spread out enough so as to
A: not attract
excessive attention B: simulate work a day life to aid reintegration
C: Spread our Love to
the larger community as neighbors, customers and fellow
commuters. Classes will be held,
(scientific method, sociology, body language, art, music, First aid
CPR, teaching skills,
world religions) ministries will be initiated. Meals will be served
communally and
arrangements will be made for further training.
The graduating class of potential “Sargents” will take a road trip to
see the country, spend
some time enjoying one another’s company, randomly practice
goodwill and learn travel
skills in preparation for taking our clients on vacations that I believe
all people need and
deserve. The trip will also serve as a final test to play into the mix
determining what type of
Sargent they become.
We will set a good example with our resources and time. The first
class will be we teachers
helping each other and developing a dynamic curriculum. The
second class will be
Carpenters, Electricians, Plumbers, Mechanics, Secretaries, and
Cooks. Following classes
will be 20% Teachers, 20% Skilled Professionals, 20% Medical
People, 20% Food service
People, 10% Military Veterans and 10% Dynamic yet “unskilled”
people. Hopefully by the
sixth class it will all be Medical Professionals for the Hospital we
have had built. Future
classes will include nationals from war torn countries to give us
perspective and lead us in
starting a base in their country.
YOU CAN’T GIVE, WHAT YOU DON’T HAVE
Food Corps.
An Army Marches on its stomach.
If we eat well we will need the doctors less so they can work with
the ones who get sick
anyway.
So much has been said on the importance of a good meal and
healthful snacks that top
priority has to be given to the Food Corps. They can get us together
three times a day
and employ many people who can perform many easily learned
tasks that can be
improved upon in time. It will be therapeutic to cook, serve and
clean up for a group of
caring individuals. We may branch out to the rest of the larger
community and serve
Peace Army people alongside the public. We could use a pass to
give our folks a free
meal convenient to their work location. We could also open free
food places and eat with
the poor if the location is right. We could put up signs that say
“Grace” in many languages
and faiths for people to ponder silently before eating. Clean up
could be helped out with
on a rotating basis by Peace Army folks. Cooks could work half
days and/or perform other
skilled tasks the other half. I can see the Food Corps. being the
ones guarding the fort so
to speak. For instance, if a person is under the weather they could
tell a cook staff their
troubles and get a consistent daily report going on to smooth out a
rough work
assignment or home situation. We will talk on work crews and at
home hopefully but the
Food Corps. will have a chance to meet everyone who eats there.
They will need the
connectedness with the troops in the field so the work is
meaningful and rewarding.
Finding out the latest news in the field will have everybody talking
and caring. Bulletin
boards, mailboxes and TV options would foster a homey barracks
lodge feel to the place.
Maybe each kitchen will be home to a 30 or 60 group of Troops. A
near by apartment
building connected by a breezeway would be a nice retrofit rather
than building a custom
lodge for folks to live in. Maybe the kitchen at a barracks would be
open 24 hrs. People in
the field will work in the kitchen from time to time to learn cooking
skills and add to the
mixing of staff.
Food Facts
Molasses are the nutrients removed from white sugar. White sugar
requires nutrients to
be processed.
Grazed beef contains helpful cholesterol and more vitamins, vitamin
rich feed naturally
immunizes the cattle eliminating the need for antibiotics.
Farm to Fork
From field to teaching table manners
Organic farming with small equipment will serve to allow for micro
management of
acreage, employ more folk and use cheap “antiquated” equipment.
People can shift from
city to country at will and provide activity for those bored “back to
the blanket” sojourners.
We could have a regular transport making a circuit from city to
country circulating compost
to country and fresh dirt to city. People will be able to work in
different environments for
three-day stretches and be home when they wish. Barracks in the
country will be a
welcome relief from the barrack/homes in the city. Simple
straightforward jobs will connect
people with the land, seasons and their daily bread. Our farms will
be located near woods
locals for the back to the blanket crowd both new and old. People
from time to time will
need time in the country and we can provide that, so that we can be
ready for city life,
from a stable nature centered perspective. It is my opinion that we
are all natural and
nature is the great healer next to God. God is everywhere and we
need the reminder in a
physical way that we are all from the same source. God/Jesus can
be with us anytime but
to see, hear, touch and smell a thing is so powerful an experience
that we need to
connect with it totally at times. I see it when I am in the city as trees,
bushes, flowers,
clouds and stars but to be immersed in it is a retreat to my
beginning and source. There
are people who feel alien from nature and I hope we can or do need
to reacquaint them
with the glory, peace and strength of naturalness. I hope not to be
élitist in my glory of
nature and peace in wilderness, but find it much more healing than
Disneyland.
Back To The Blanket: A Native American term for going to the
country and getting away
from it all and getting in touch with nature and/or what really matters
in life.
Peace Army MEGAPAXPLEX
Located on or near a main highway with plenty of trees the
MegaPaxPlex would make a
complete circle around a 10 to 40 acre park. The side facing the
street would be the
“Peace Theater” a religious/moviehouse/meeting space. We could
teach and enjoy the
whole realm of live arts four days a week. Those four days would
also be available for
Peace Army students for required movie viewing, open to the
public. Three days a week it
is a religious center, a Mosque on Friday, a Temple on Saturday and
a Church on
Sunday. To the left would be the main interactive center of the
Peace Army, Pax
Central. It will have businesses and free services providing
ministries/vocations and
income. If you were standing in front of Pax Central on the right
would be the Peace Army
School, probably with it’s own small courtyard.
The completely enclosed area will be an important tool in our
healing mental ills. Many
people will attest to the universal recuperative properties to be
found in nature. Having a
place for patients to safely unwind, take some time out and heal will
make our job that
much easier and sure. Camping skills could be learned right out the
back door for
planned real excursions out in the greater world. Camping could
occur right in the park
for that matter. We could be brave and sew some rabbits and birds
into the rather large
courtyard. Some landscaping/naturescaping skills could be taught
for a while, as long as
appropriate changes are needed. Gardening with it’s own
associated healing properties
would be just what the doctor ordered for some folk. With the
hospital located way back
from the School/Theater/Central the park could be shared with the
hospital patients
having top priority.
I have a few ideas of how to enclose the large area, make it
accessible and connect the
hospital people with the rest of the Peace Army. A walking path ten
feet in from the outer
clearing will give folk a nice walk and keep them close to getting
help. A sidewalk out in
the open would be a bit easier to traverse and sunnier. The
courtyard could have two
lanes for golf carts to go around the perimeter for the many
occasions people will need to
be on the other side of the MegaPaxPlex. A enclosed walkway with
glass on the inside
and solid wall would physically enclose the courtyard. Through the
wall we could put
apartments, stores, doors or what I call a “class house.” Each
Peace Army Class has a
unit all it’s own from starting school till fifty years after they graduate
for the specific needs
and ministries of that years class.