Last week, Senator Reverend Warnock greeted nearly two dozen Buddhist Monks in Decatur, Georgia, during their 2,300-mile journey from Texas to Washington, D.C., to promote peace and unity

Senator Warnock delivered brief remarks commending them for putting their faith into action

The monks have already walked over 1,000 miles

Senator Reverend Warnock: “It’s not enough to simply pray for peace with our lips. We must pray with our legs. We have to put our faith into action”

Above: Senator Reverend Warnock and lead Monk, Venerable Bhikkhu Paññākāra

Photo by: Daniel Schwartz

Washington, D.C. – Last week, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) greeted nearly two dozen Buddhist monks in Decatur, Georgia, during their 2,300-mile walk from Texas to Washington, D.C., to promote peace and unity. During the monks’ stop in Decatur, Senator Warnock delivered remarks commending the monks for putting their faith into action.  

“These monks understand, as did Georgia’s greatest son, Martin Luther King, Jr., and co-pastor of the church where I still serve, Ebenezer Church, that it’s not simply enough to pray for peace with our lips,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “We must pray with our legs. We have to put our faith into action. We must pray with our legs, our hands, and our feet.”

Senator Warnock also took a moment during his remarks to recognize one of the monks, a Georgia resident, who had been struck by a car earlier in their journey and was forced to amputate his leg due to the accident. 

“Those of us who live in Georgia and in Decatur in the Atlanta metropolitan area, we know about the tradition that puts your body in the struggle. And while we are excited by their arrival, so happy to meet them. Let us not forget that this journey has not been easy. They are all in, and we are especially keeping Venerable Phra-Ajarnh Maha Dam Phommasan in our prayers while he recovers at home in Snellville. He is a son of Georgia, and we pray for his continual healing and peace,” continued Senator Warnock.

Since 2005, Senator Warnock has served as Senior Pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the former pulpit of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is the youngest pastor selected to serve in that leadership role at the historic church. Additionally, Warnock has long believed his ministry of service doesn’t stop at the church doors and has vehemently supported prayer in the form of organizing and protesting.

Watch excerpts from Senator Warnock’s remarks HERE.

See below Senator Warnock’s speech:

“When I arrived here just a few minutes ago, I heard anew in my mind and in my spirit, a text that I have preached many times, heard many times, but thanks to these spiritual leaders who are with us, I heard it anew. 

The prophet Micah says ‘He has shown you, oh mortal, what is good and what does the Lord require but that you do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God’. 

All of us who are gathered here, I believe, will agree that we could use some more justice, because, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Peace is not the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice’. We could certainly use a lot more kindness, and they’ve taught us how to walk humbly, literally walking humbly. And so it’s great to be here with Venerable Bhikkhu Paññākāra and the courageous Buddhist monks. And of course, I’m especially glad that walking alongside them is Aloka, the peace dog.

They are embarking on a 2,300-mile journey for peace. These monks understand, as did Georgia’s greatest son, Martin Luther King, Jr., and co-pastor of the church where I still serve, Ebenezer Church, that it’s not simply enough. It’s not enough to simply pray for peace with our lips. We must pray with our legs. We have to put our faith into action. We must pray with our legs, our hands, and our feet.

Those of us who live in Georgia and in Decatur in the Atlanta metropolitan area, we know about the tradition that puts your body in the struggle. And while we are excited by their arrival, so happy to meet them. Let us not forget that this journey has not been easy. They are all in, and we are especially keeping Venerable Phra-Ajarnh Maha Dam Phommasan in our prayers while he recovers at home in Snellville. He is a son of Georgia, and we pray for his continual healing and peace. 

But that’s the righteous struggle these monks embarked on 65 days ago, and with every step they are taking, they are drawing attention to the steps that people of conscience must take to end violence. 

We need peace in Israel and in Gaza. We need peace in Haiti, we need peace in the Congo. We need peace in Ukraine. We need peace on our own streets. We must end also the violence of poverty. Poverty is its own violence that is brought upon so many children in the urban streets of Atlanta and the rural towns of Appalachia, because in the words of Dr. King, ‘We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.’ In other words, we are all in this together on this cold night, we’re all standing here together. I wish you could see you the way I see you right now. You look beautiful. Give yourselves a quiet applause just for being here. 

But the work of creating Dr. King’s beloved community, a world where every child is safe from violence, does not rest solely on the shoulders of the Monks here today. All of us must do our part. I know that many folks have been able to spend some time with their family over the holiday season. I’ve enjoyed the days that I’ve had the quiet moments with my own two children. But as we all put our children to sleep, our grandchildren to sleep tonight, let us remember that our children cannot really be safe until other people’s children are safe. In other words, we all have moral work to do.

So I just want to say thank you to these courageous monks who have embarked on a 2,300-mile journey from Texas to Washington, D.C. God knows we could use them in Washington, D.C., but we all have a role to play, and so we renew our commitment to this moral work, to this holy work. We can’t all walk 2,300 miles, but we can all do something. Doctor King said, ‘If you can’t fly, run, if you can’t run, walk, if you can’t walk, crawl, but by all means, keep moving forward.’ 

God bless you all. Keep the faith. Keep Looking Up.”

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