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Quaker Life
April 2003

Peacewalker Traces Old Quaker Migration Route

By Jennifer Frick

In a society where people spend hun-dreds of dollars on machines so they can stay at home and walk for miles without actually going anywhere (at the same time watching TV), and where having to walk is often a sign of poverty, why would anyone undertake a 500 mile fall hike? For 22-year-old Friend Ehren Nagel, the answer was simple—for peace and simplicity, and to follow the call of the Spirit. From New Garden Friends, North Carolina to Richmond, Indiana, Ehren followed the old Quaker Migration route on foot.

"I was searching for a deeper spiritual life for a long time." Ehren explained. "I also had a concern about our society being so rushed, and so outwardly violent, as well as inwardly violent towards ourselves in how we live our daily lives. We think that we always have to be rushing, and that work and toys and entertainment will fulfill us. I tried that, it didn't work. After the tragedy in New York [on September 11th], I felt like I couldn't just go on with my everyday tasks. I had to do something to express my beliefs."

Exactly how he should do this was not immediately clear to Ehren. He could sense there was something he was supposed to undertake, but didn't know what it was. He was in the shower one morning when it hit him "like a bolt of lightning" that he was supposed to go on a long journey. This idea caught him by surprise, since he had never done any long-distance hiking. The desire to make such a journey stayed with him for the next six months, through all the stages of discernment and planning, until the walk itself ended.

Ehren's first inclination was to walk across the entire country. North Carolina pastor Jack Kirk suggested he follow the old Quaker migration route from Greensboro, North Carolina to Richmond, Indiana instead, and once Ehren had this as his goal, he said, "everything just fell into place." He researched the migration at Guilford College, and came upon original documents of the journey. The land has changed much over the years, so it was impossible to follow the exact route, but Ehren mapped it out so he could follow it as closely as possible.

The journey became very symbolic for him as he traveled. From its beginning as a walk for simplicity and peace, it evolved also into a quest for spiritual freedom. He was inspired by the early Quakers who migrated westward to states that had declared themselves forever free. Many of the routes the early Friends traveled later became routes on the Underground Railroad. "There is no longer any physical promised land; the journey is inward now."

Ehren approached the walk with care, seeking discernment not only for the purpose of the walk, (peace and simplicity), but also in how he should listen to the people he met. He met many different types of people, from West Virginia grocery clerks, to National Guardsmen and their wives, as well as Quakers from across the spectrum of Friends—and all welcomed him. Throughout the entire journey, he only stayed in a tent three times because total strangers sheltered and fed him.

"I stayed with all kinds of people, with all their ideas and opinions, many of which I would never agree with. If I were to meet them in political debate, I would have to say 'How can you say that?' Yet they took me into their homes." He learned that "Outward opinions have little to do with our hearts, with what's truly important. We exist in a whole web of opinion and we are trapped by it."

On one of his first stops, the members of a First Day School class presented him with a generous donation to help sponsor the walk. "I was amazed that these people, whom I had only known for an hour or so, were so willing to offer this assistance."

After a few weeks of encountering such outpourings of generosity from total strangers, Ehren began to see more deeply the hand of God acting through the people he met, until at last he could truly say he was journeying through the grace of God. He learned it didn't matter how he was feeling emotionally that day, the grace was still present. "There were days I felt upset, lonely and resentful and it didn't matter, the people were still giving. Often they would say things I thought God would never agree with, yet still, they freely gave."

Once a woman asked how he was feeling about the walk so far. "I said it was kind of surreal because I felt like I should be worried and overwhelmed, but the truth was it just seemed right. She said, 'So it feels natural.' It struck me that she was right. Walking felt natural and that was odd. It got me to thinking that if natural feels odd, then what am I doing most of the time?"

He wrote in his journal (available online) on a day he was feeling stressed and grumpy: "I realized that talking about the spiritual journey and living it are two different things. Sometimes words seem to get in the way of living. I was tired and grumpy and, of course, I kept meeting people who would ask which way I was headed on the Appalachian Trail.... I stopped to pick up some supplies at Wade's, the local grocery store...I said a prayer for strength and tried singing as I walked, but I still felt like giving up for the day. Then an amazing thing happened. A man and his wife and two children pulled up in a car. When he asked, 'What are you walking for?' I thought, oh well and said, 'I'm walking from Greensboro, North Carolina to Richmond, Indiana for peace and simplicity.' He got a kind of sad and grateful look in his eyes and reached out and shook my hand and said 'God bless you, sir.' And that was it. He drove off and tears came to my eyes because I remembered why I was walking and I knew I was not alone. I felt God had sent that man and his family to remind me that love is everywhere and there are many, many people who want peace in the world. I'm walking for everyone who cannot walk. I'm walking as a reminder that love will conquer in the end. I'm walking for peace and simplicity because if we all stay silent and if we don't act on our convictions then the enemy has already won. I realized that 'love your enem' isn't an idle command. It's God's battle plan. Don't kill your enemy, don't fight your enemy, and don't hate your enemy. If you do that, everyone suffers and the cycle of violence continues."

When he was almost at the very end of his journey, Ehren stopped at the National Guard Armory in Eaton, Ohio where there was a chili supper fundraiser. He was hesitant about it at first. How could he stay or give money in such a setting? There was no room to begin a conversation about peace, so Ehren asked one woman about her family. A few minutes later, she asked him why he was walking for peace, and Ehren explained his reasons. The National Guardsmen and their families also believed they were acting as God wanted them. In fighting and in being willing to sacrifice their lives, they saw themselves as serving God. "We ended the conversation, not agreeing, but respecting each other. We must be willing to have conversations that will not end with conclusions." Another woman there told him she understood why he was walking. Even though they did not agree, even though they were still on "different sides" so to speak, they connected on a very human level.

These kinds of conversations raised many questions for Ehren. Does Christ call us to act non-violently even when our family and loved ones are threatened with torture and death? Is it realistic to believe that any human being when faced with such a situation would be able to react with anything but instinctual violence? Can God's love truly overcome evil? Is it better to die than to kill another human being? Yet coupled with these questions was the realization that "Love your enemy" is God's battle plan.

Jennifer Frick works in Circulation for Quaker Life and will graduate this spring from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.

Copyright (c) 2003 Friends United Meeting

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