Friends,

I write at the close of day six of my turn at our Solidarity Hunger Strike in support of the people of the Czech Republic's movement to prevent a U.S. Star Wars radar base from being deployed to the beautiful countryside in the town of Brdy.

I have to admit, I'm surprised that this has been as easy to accomplish so far. I have moments of feeling hunger. Moments of feeling weak. But I also feel a good amount of energy.  Bruce and I needed to travel down to Portland today, and I talked his ear off on the car ride! 

I've read some on fasting.  The first three days are supposed to be the hardest.  But I was busy enough in the beginning (went to that great Veterans for Peace conference; had a visit from our Korean friend Sung-Hee)that I was somewhat distracted from the difficulty. 

I've rested. I'm drinking lots of water (sometimes with lemon and a small amount of maple syrup), and some juice. I've read about the health benefits of fasting and I am intrigued by the process of "eliminating the toxins" from my body. 

If only it were as easy to eliminate the toxins from our world -- and I'm not just talking environmental toxins!

I looked at the www.nonviolence.cz website today and smiled to see our friend Jan Tamas photographed attending a meeting with the European Parliament. He and Giorgio Schultze, the Italian Humanist who took on the fast when Jan and Jan ended theirs, made a statement there today.

And I am amazed by Bruce's emails of the list of folks who are joining the Czech people in their call for a world-wide 24-hour hunger strike on June 22nd against the U.S. Star Wars systems. It is a list that grows daily. 

I finally wrote an op-ed about the whole story and sent it off to The Times Record this afternoon. I expect they will print it.  I included the names of fifteen folks in MidCoast Maine who have indicated they will fast on June 22nd. Our plan is to gather people (whether or not they are fasting!)in downtown Brunswick on the lush, green mall.  We will set a small table with empty plates.  We will sit in a circle.  And we will talk to each other -- about Star Wars; about unmet human needs; about what "democracy" means in these early years of the 21st Century.

The hunger I feel comes and goes. What is constant is how spiritually nourished I feel reflecting on the courage of the good folks in the Czech Republic who have made their passionate struggle for a democratic process alive for us. The power of nonviolence lives. What a gift...

Thanks to all for your concern and good wishes. 

in peace,

Mary Beth Sullivan
Outreach Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, Maine  04011
(207) 443-9502
www.space4peace.org