Spreading Unity and Peace – BETWEEN THE TRACKS

Aloka, The Peace Dog

I’ve seen a lot of good in this world. But what happened in Dayton, Texas, might just restore your faith in humanity altogether.

Twenty Buddhist monks were walking—yes, walking—from Fort Worth to Washington D.C. Twenty-three hundred miles of American highway beneath their bare feet. They were spreading peace, they said. Lord knows we need it.

Then tragedy. Their support vehicle—the one carrying their meager supplies—was totaled in a wreck. Four monks are hospitalized.

That’s when Osbaldo Durán entered the story. Just a regular fella with a roofing company and a heart bigger than Texas itself.

“They’re walking for all of us,” Osbaldo told me, his voice catching just a little. “How could we not do something?”

So he did what Southern folks have been doing since time began. He helped. Got those monks a Toyota RAV4, brand new tires, insurance, the works. Even threw in some safety lights because, well, monks in the dark are hard to spot.

What Osbaldo didn’t know was he was practicing something called “Dana”—Buddhist for “giving till it feels good.” The monks received his gift at the fire station, quiet as church mice, their dog Aloka watching with those knowing eyes dogs have.

Last I heard, they were in Charlotte. Folks lined the streets like it was Christmas morning. And maybe it was. Because in a world where kindness seems in short supply, twenty monks and one roofer from Dayton showed us what we’re still capable of.

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Gavin Murphy of Tybee Island, Georgia, calls BETWEEN THE TRACKS – Eloquent and Uplifting.Darryl Armstrong seems to attract eccentric characters like a magnet. They, and more ordinary salt-of-the-earth people, populate this collection of folksy short stories set in the South. The stories, for the most part, are short stories and come together like a tapestry of the author’s life experiences, sometimes happy, sometimes tragic. There are cats and dogs too. They play an important role in healing old wounds by providing unconditional love in exchange for a cozy place in front of the fireplace. Pipe smoking is a sacred ritual in Armstrong‘s world. Armstrong‘s way with words pulls at the heartstrings, at once sentimental yet eloquent, and never flinching from the hardscrabble lives depicted. – 5-STAR REVIEW BETWEEN THE TRACKS FROM A VERIFIED Amazon purchaser.

Read inspiring stories of faith, resilience, and love in Darryl Armstrong’s newest collection of short stories – BETWEEN THE TRACKS.

We recommend you get asoft-cover SPECIAL EXPANDED EDITION WITH MORE ILLUSTRATIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHY at Books.by/Darryl-Armstrong  for $19.99 with FREE SHIPPING (7-10 days delivery).

But if you want faster delivery, you can get it at Amazon in soft, hardbound, or e-book.

AND TYBEE ISLAND residents, we will personally deliver a signed copy if you call us at 270.619.3803.