Unity.FM host David Matthew Brown not only strives to live peace but is actually running for peace on March 21, 2010, in the Los Angeles Marathon. A first-time marathoner, he not only wants to finish the 26.5 mile race, but is working to achieve another lofty goal—to get 1 million people to “stand up for peace” by lining the marathon route.

 “It is time to stand for peace as a society, individuals (and) a world,” Brown says. “It seems rare that we stand for something we believe in. (Achieving this goal) could really send a message to politicians and all Americans that our voices matter. As a planet we must come together. With our voices we can make a difference!”

Live From the Inside Out
As host of the Unity.FM radio program Inside Out (formerly broadcast on LA Talk Radio), Brown has dialogued with more than 230 spiritual leaders with one question in mind: What does it mean to live from the “inside out?” His 1 million-people quest is a demonstration of how he is living peace from the inside out.

Brown's efforts are also in support of The Peace Alliance, a nonprofit coalition whose mission is to empower civic engagement toward a culture of peace. The Alliance is working to establish a U.S. Department of Peace. There is a federal legislative bill on the issue before Congress now. The Peace Alliance includes volunteer grassroots teams in hundreds of cities, towns, colleges and high school campuses across the U.S.

“The U.S. Department of Peace campaign is very much in line with the things that I talk about (on my program),” Brown says. “To me, peace is proactive, not passive. In creating a Department of Peace, we can energetically take our tax dollars and put them into peace, rather than defense. It's something that will benefit everybody in a peaceful, kinder way.”

Living Peace Every Day
Many in Unity say that peace is not the absence of conflict. Brown echoes that perspective by referring to peace as a hurricane.

“You have the hurricane going around in circles and in the middle of that there is the ‘eye of the storm'... the peace ... where you hold all (things in your life) that come up,” he says.

“We live in a society where people feel powerless, but peace is right at the heart of what you are going through. Even when things are completely chaotic in your life, if you can connect (to peace) through mediation, getting into nature, etc., you can have moments of real peace. The more you practice, the more accessible it becomes. When we start with ourselves by going inward … we can each play a part in spreading peace across the globe. We all have that capability, that potential, that possibility.”

Supporting Brown
Those who support Brown's idea of creating a peaceful world from the inside-out can purchase a bracelet that says, “I STAND FOR PEACE” from his Web site at www.davidmatthewbrown.com. “(These bracelets are) a way we can remember what we stand for every day. If you find yourself getting caught up in a situation … look at your bracelet and ask yourself, ‘Am I being peaceful now? Speaking peace? Acting from a peaceful place? Treating myself with peace?' Peace and love start with you.”

 

David Matthew Brown is an author, award-winning poet, speaker and Agape licensed spiritual practitioner. Brown facilitates meditation, stillness classes and workshops.

Read Brown's blog, Running For Peace.

Listen to Brown's Unity.FM program on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. EST or download the podcasts.

Learn more about David Matthew Brown.