Preparing Peace, llvl

So, weekends — are they preparation or reparation? What ever they are, they should be enjoyed if at all possible.

My weekend coincided with the slow subsiding of my cold, so I was careful to take some leisure time. It was lovely. I did some preparation and some work, but I slept soundly and re-read a favorite book. Didn’t want to tax my brain, just wanted to hang out with some beloved friends.

I even hung out with some beloved real friends on Sunday, and that was great too.

There was work, if you can call marrying folk and singing Pete Seeger songs work… There was preparation for the week and for the Interfaith Witness on Monday.

Today I get to work on my presentation for a conference and finally see my SweetPea and wish him a happy Birthday! Peace is for the making, let’s get busy!

Brisk Sabbath Peace, llvl

Well, the temperatures plummeted last night for the first thing, and so did my heart. I came home from my lovely, lovely wedding to find a note about (yet another) a course being offered in a local town that envisions the end of the world’s arriving with a fight between Israel and all of Islam.

I sat through the first class once, it was appalling. There are so many things wrong with I went with my friends from the mosque. I won’t sit through it again. I love that people are writing me to say, what do we do. Well, we do what people have always done. We witness for Love. In a world where people are afraid, Love will carry us through to Peace.

There’s work to be done. But this makes taking a day of rest and reflection even more important. You want to go to that work filled with love and not a thousand other things that make you feel superior (and not just scared). Actually, we want to go to all our work that way. Life is challenging, we need to fill up so we can contribute. We need to remember what is important simply because life is extraordinary. Only then can we live our lives as a prayer of gratitude.

So enjoy the day and the Peace it offers. And get ready, because we have Peace to offer the World. It needs our loving hands.

Public Library Peace, llvl

Libraries are the best things in the world. Old friends live there. And so do friends we’ve not yet encountered. Wiley librarians know how to connect us to books we want to read. They also connect us to books we had no idea we were interested in reading.

I don’t spend enough time in my lovely local library. They do demand an investment of time if you’re going to properly appreciate them. But if relationships are going to develop, time is always a needed ingredient.

And books are not all they have. They have poetry readings and Zen Buddhist Sittings. They have art exhibits. They are places where we learn more about life, our own and others… what’s not to like… So is your card up to date? Are you a regular drop-in visitor? Why not.

Peace hides in the stacks. Let’s go find it.

Reading Peace, llvl

The poetry group that I’m part of Poetry Under the Paintings, held at my friend Jody’s gallery Faustina’s, was invited to read last night for another poetry group last evening. It was held in the library that taught me to love libraries, the library where I read my way, alphabetically, through the great literature (and the lousy!).

Actually, I can’t say that’s the best way to absorb books, all of an author, one right after another… Russian novels are confusing enough one by one, five in a row? Ridiculous. But it suited my associative little brain and my devouring urge for more.

Until I started writing, I hadn’t realized how poignant this visit would be for me. I wrote about the river, I wrote about the rock, I wrote about the house I grew up in. It made me think about what I loved about living here, why I left, why I came back. It made me realize I’ve been avoiding Bloomsburg since my sister died. It made me remember how final death is and how that changes your memories.

It made me realize how incredibly lucky I am now and I was then. If we choose, memory is sacred and so is the making of new ones. Writing changes me for the better. It keeps me searching to identify my Peace. Lucky me. Peace is where we find it. Peace is where we make it. I choose then. I choose now. I choose Peace.

Deliberate Peace, llvl

I have a billion things on my plate right now. So I need to line them up and slowly go through each one. Do this, and then the next thing.

It’s a way of honoring both the things that need to be done and myself by paying attention. Neither doing things in a slap dash fashion nor procrastinating serve me or my responsibilities.

And so, step by step by step. Turn off the distractions. Turn on the attention. Structure is not my best-fitting suit… but it is so helpful when there is lots to get through. Today’s one of those days. Tomorrow is as well. Peace demands the best of us. You (I!) have to give it time to work… So, Peace be with you, as you work through your list of steps toward Peace!

Arrival of Fall Peace, llvl

Deb’s brilliant photo is a gentle reminder that things are changing. Change is a good thing. But oh, we’re all reluctant to let go of summer and the outdoors world. But October does what she can to ease our reluctance by turning gorgeous reds and yellows and oranges. At least in our little vida local.

Our job is to keep our hands and hearts open… to release what is finished and to welcome what is coming. Life is quite extraordinary, no matter what’s happening… What does the future bring? We can only know that by responding to the cues of the present.

So, here we go. Thank you, Glorious Summer, for the extraordinary times, for the warmth and the friendship. Thank you, Autumn, for the bounty of love and life we’re now enjoying. Thank you for the balance. Thank you for the wealth of experiences which will be the basis for my Winter stories and my study beside the fires… Peace is in every season, but only if we’re willing to recognize and enjoy it!

Your Village Peace, llvl

People need community. It’s good to have people to watch over us, to fret about us, to love us. I think the most important work I do as a ritual maker is help make that community visible, identifiable, even to charge the crowd with that responsibility. As a minister, it’s my job to look for ways for that to happen. As a citizen in a couple different villages, it makes me happy to hear when people step up and so grateful, whether or not I’m the recipient of that generosity. When the village works, we’re all more joyful, or in some cases, just less sad.

Who is your village. It’s helpful to get clear about this. It’s sometimes delightfully surprising who steps up to be in your village when you need that support. Sometimes, discouraging, but it’s all information, and it all takes work… but it’s work well worth doing.

It is I think, the primary work of Peace. From then on, it’s about making the village bigger.

Stretching Peace, llvl

Spring Peace is often about looking forward. Fall’s Peace can be about holding tight and not letting go of the beauty we’ve just experienced. We’re reluctant, maybe not so much to see the heat of Summer go, but the outsideness of it, those days when you can sit comfortably in the shade and enjoy. So when those days linger, we rejoice.

But at the same time it’s great to be back to work. I don’t know about you, but the crisp mornings stir my brain. I have all sorts of projects on the boil — figuring out a little of this and a little of that; moving life forward. I’m up and awake in the morning, working on things.

At the same time, I seem to be taking the time to remember. I’m flooded with thoughts of what used to be. I’m willing to clear out the debris in my life, to let go grudges, to forgive transgressions, as I clear out the debris in the house and finally finish projects that are hanging over my head.

I want to experience every minute of these beautiful days. I want to grab every thought and record it. I want to stop worrying about what happened and start making things better. I want to balance (it’s the equinox!) the pleasure and the work. And I will, because it’s Fall!

Fall Sabbath Peace, llvl

It’s going to be another glorious day here. (anyone else worried about the lack of rain?) But since we’ve got it, let’s enjoy it. Hot days, cold nights. Glorious weather.

I went to the the local fair last night (think bigggggggggg) and heard the doo-wop show. It was really fun. I kept looking for my sister and her crowd… it was her era. And it was grrreat. Steve had said, oh, if you hear this guy, i’m like sure, i’m gonna hear that guy… well I did. So it was my husband’s era as well. And yes, i ate too much, but hey, it’s the fair!

But today after the fog burns off, I have my eye on a little walk and a little nap. Hope you have a good one. I wish you the Peace of lovely Autumn days and I wish you the time to get out in it…

Evening Peace, llvl

I had different plans for Friday evening. After all, King Street Coffee House was kicking of the season. And then there was the lure of doing absolutely nothing after a day of running hither, thither and yon. (both yon and thither were a distance, let me tell you! even if some of it was only mental!)

But Elijah called and I don’t get to see Meghan and him all that often. So, I succumbed to the lure of local. It was great. Local gallery with two great businesses run by lovely friends. And then a movie I’ve been wanting to see at our fabulous restored Art Deco movie house.

Walking home, it was still a lovely, warm Autumn evening and the gallery doors stood open in invitation. In for a quick gossip and boom, the evening was over with no real effort from me. I didn’t drive anywhere, and the popcorn at the movie theater has real butter. ok, now. That’s a Friday night. And in a couple weeks, I can get to King Street.

It can be a rich life if you’re willing to live la vida local. And if you’re willing to work on the things that stand between this life and Peace. But hey, that’s why we’re here, right?

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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