I drove hours to see the monks walking for peace. Five minutes with them was the gift of a lifetime

I glimpsed the monks on their 2,300-mile pilgrimage across America - their message of loving-kindness had me in tears

I'm obsessed with the monks," my friend Sam told me. It's the only thing getting me through the violence of this second Trump administration. The monks, and my meds."

I nodded. I'd first heard about the monks walking for peace after my brother and sister-in-law traveled to hear them in Alabama, returning with stories of stillness and a grounded sense of hope.