I am standing there, my arms stretched out, my eyes closed, just as I have seen some of my indigenous friends do when they go to the sacred site of the Redwood trees, in the northern coast of California.

The tallest trees in the world surround me, some of them over 2,000 years old.

From several miles away, I can still hear the ocean waves reaching the rocky coast.

A magnificent peace lives there, in those trees, the “peace givers” as the first Americans have known them.

In these times of war, peace is our greatest need, and our greatest medicine. And like innumerable generations of humans, I find it there, still, in the great Redwood trees.

I think of the protectors of the Redwoods, Indians and non-Indians alike, who are protecting them from corporations whose main interest is turning those formidable trees into lumber and profit. I am grateful to the keepers of the Redwoods, for where will we be when peace-givers vanish from the earth? By protecting them, we are protecting ourselves. Their lives are tied to our lives. They are beings older then us, with a life that goes on living in one creature 500 of our generations. When we touch them, we can feel this ancient life sharing with us the wisdom of the ages, the feelings that endure centuries, the peace that lives at the center of all life. The silent life that dwells in us recognizes their language, for that peace center is also in us. We are doing what the indigenous people of the area refer to as “tree talk”.

I can tell you this. The peace that you can feel there is priceless. It is worth far more than the money a few people –always the few- are going to make off them as lumber. The peace that my tree brothers have shared with me is now traveling with me, wherever I go. A necklace, made from Redwood seeds that have fallen from their branches, is around my neck. When I need to be reminded of peace throughout the day I touch it and feel the peaceful ones there, with me, no matter where I go. There is a bond between us, that invisible tread by which all living beings are connected to each other. To be mindful of it is a constant source of inspiration and support. We are not alone. We are part of the great web of life. If we protect life, life will protect us. If we take care of peace, peace will take care of us, for it is in the nature of life to work in a circle. But when we break this circle, then the web of life begins to disintegrate and all living beings suffer.

In order to re-integrate the web of life, we can all benefit from the energy of the Redwood trees, and sacred places such as Medicine Lake, sanctuaries that have been recognized for their healing properties by indigenous groups since immemorial times. And since these places and creatures have been speaking for all of us with the voice of peace, today I speak for them with the same voice. I am much younger than they are, and my voice deviates from this course every now and then. But Medicine Lake and the Redwoods are still around to get me back in line. And they are always loving, always supportive, always welcoming. And their peaceful voice never changes.

For my part, I want my human brothers and sisters to go on living as long as the earth lives. And in order for this life to have goodness in it, I want generations to come to have access to the peace that has nurture me from these creatures and places. And I hope the day will come when all humanity can speak with this voice of peace, this voice that I feel and speak, as I am stretching out my arms surrounded by the great Redwood trees, the givers of peace.