Today we ran through the beautiful Norwegian countryside to the border between Norway and Sweden.
As you will see, the roadside flowers were so charming!
Puruvaj from Serbia is a great runner!
The prayer of the centuries
Is for the flowering
Of a oneness-peace-heart-world.
-Sri Chinmoy
We were thrilled to be joined for the day by Bayarkhuu from Mongolia, who is an incredible runner! He is working in Oslo at the moment, but has taken part in the Peace Run in many countries.
A local Peace Lover ;)
Martina and Neelabha from Zlin, Czech Republic, enjoyed their first day of running together.
We finished our running for the day in Morokulien. Morokulien lies on the border of Norway and Sweden. The name is made up from the Norwegian and the Swedish words for "fun" (moro and kul, respectively).
We were met by the mayor of the Norwegian side, Kamilla Thue. You may notice we mistakenly bought the Swedish flag- luckily the two countries are incredibly amicable, and she was very forgiving!
We were very happy to meet with Kamilla, and she whole-heartedly embraced the message of the Peace Run.
We were greatly moved to find out about this beautiful Peace Monument which celebrated its 100 year anniversary in 2014, and 200 years of Peace between the two countries.
Kamilla explained the history to us. In 1910 the Nordic Peace Congress in Stockholm decided that a peace monument should be raised on the border between Sweden and Norway to celebrate 100 years of peace between the countries. The building of the peace monument was finished in 1914.
We presented a certificate and replica of a painting by Sri Chinmoy entitled "World-Harmony", and she presented us with a beautiful book of poetry by a famous Norwegian poet.
Many visitors were also eager to hold the torch for peace.
Our team got bigger!
Beside the Peace Monument, there is a beautiful Peace Bell inscribed with the words, "Time for Peace". The bell was a gift from the country of South Korea.
We could not resist ringing the bell! It has a beautiful sound.
Definitely Time for Peace!
As we were about to leave, we met Christina Oster from the Morokulien Infocenter. She organised to meet with the team in 2014, and was delighted to meet us again, as we were likewise thrilled to meet with her!
The Infocenter building is half in Norway and half in Sweden, so wonderful! About 100 000 people a year come to visit, and Christina loves to tell them all about the uniqueness of the place. She even observes UN Day at the monument.
We were so happy to end the day meeting with people so dedicated to Peace!
More new friends!
Peace is the beauty
Of my heart.
Like the beauty of nature,
I cannot hide it.
-Sri Chinmoy
