Sunset. Moonrise. Friends. Music. Peace.

Some nights are just sweet. Last night was one of them. It had been so busy all day. Go here. Go there. Finish this. Start that. Do. Do. Do.

And then, my friends back from NY, dinner over, we collected another friend, and there we were, sitting on a patio, listening to another friend’s great music. That boy can write himself a sad song about class, about living with the drive to create and perform. And he can sing!

The Sun went down. The Moon came up.

It was all a pretty beautiful reminder that taking the time gives great payoffs. Once in a while, remembering how sweet life is, gives you what’s needed to get back on the Peace journey. Comfort and company for the road. Peace, my friends.

Showing Up, On Time, For Peace

I’m among the worst offenders. I always have one more thing I have to cram in before i go. Today is no exception. Sara and I are walking and then working, and I haven’t written this or checked over a piece I’m supposed to put out today. And instead I chose to sneak in a little reading.

That little reading, as pleasurable as it was, set me back, and will make other things rushed. Why do I do that. Why not set the clock if I wanted to read? Why not get up and do the other things first and then read if there’s time…

Why leave people (or dogs) standing around tapping their feet. (Oh, can anyone make you feel more guilty than a pet who wants something now? And with dogs, it’s the pleasure of your company! They get so excited when you’re finally ready.)

Peace. You have to show up for it. It requires Presence.

Neighbors, Art, Peace and Neighbors’ Art Peace

Living local. It matters. There’s so much that happens where we live. But we don’t always appreciate that. We want to go somewhere else, do something bigger, “better,” than where we are.

But where we are has plenty of wonder and plenty of wonderful stuff. Our lives right here can be wild and colorful.

It’s odd we so often choose not to see and enjoy the color of our lives, that we can cling to the lack — but really… it’s pretty grand. And we can help make that so. So let’s Neighbor. Let’s Art. Let’s Peace. Let’s go back to living la vida local! Proud and Outloud… and giggling all the Way. There’s Peace in that!

Checking in for Peace

Sunflowers! All in a row, nodding over one another’s shoulders.

It’s a nice metaphor for community isn’t it?

I see you. I know you. I worry when things are uncertain in your life and rejoice when things go well. Otherwise, I’m standing here. Even though I’m minding my own business, I have your back.

That’s what membership in a strong community does. Sure people are curious about one another, perhaps more than they should, but that means they’re there when they’re needed.

And so often, just a nudge on the shoulder and a concerned nod (or a soft question) is what we need to feel seen, to contribute to our Peace.

Peace gets made in many little ways. Some of them are so easy, why wouldn’t we do them? Let us stand together for Peace.

Hurricanes Unsettle Economic Peace As Well

I confess when i see the horrible grandeur of a hurricane (I walked through Agnes, but have only seen them at the shore on TV.)

The wind and waves smash houses and interrupt water, sewage, and electricity. They ruin treasured memories such as photos and heirlooms.

Until this weekend, however, I hadn’t really focused on how they disrupt the social structure. It used to be that water towns were good places to live on the margins. There was always summer work and during the winters you got by. You inherited your parents’ (and their parents’) houses and made a go of it. Or there was cheap rent.

But come the hurricane and all its damage, and all that washes away. Next thing you know, you’re selling your land and that’s all that’s left… and developers and other rich people are buying it and putting up condos and mansions where your cozy cottage used to nestle.

And then they begin to worry about who comes on the beach. And daily beach passes go up. And suddenly you can’t even get on the beach where you used to have a slice of heaven. I spent 3 hours playing in the waves the other day…. oh, it is heaven indeed for a water baby.

The ocean is magnificent and healing. It is strong and awesome in its power. We should all be able to wander down to the sea to renew and refresh our spirits.

Oh, there are so many ways to think about how Peace must be made. And then, Peace must be made. And Scott, such a lovely picture, thanks!

Prepping the Pantry for Fall Peace

Just like that the weather changed. Oh, the warmth will be back, but it will be temporary. The Equinox is just around the corner, the days are getting shorter, we’ve had a drought, so the leaves are already thinking about leaving. Fall is headed our way.

That means the food is changing. Those luscious summer fruits and vegetables will be giving way to those luscious fall fruits and vegetables. But they demand a different kind of accompaniment… Time to stock up and get that pantry ready.

And time for us to think differently about Peace as well. When the sun shines and everyone’s out playing, it’s easy to be vaguely friendly. We have things to do, pools to swim in! But now, as the weather changes, we’ll be inside more. Time to stock our Peace Pantry as well as our food Pantry.

How are we going to cook up Peace this fall? What are the needed ingredients? Let’s think about this, shall we? Peace, it’s what’s good for us! And if we do our work, it could be what’s for dinner every night of the week.

Remembering and Setting our Hearts on Peace

We always have choices. When there is horror and terror, we can go to our corners or we can come together in Peace.

It’s harder after catastrophes, but coming together is the only choice. I believe it’s all that can prevent more of these horrors.

We must remember what happened. Catastrophe after catastrophe. And then we must find our neighbors, reach out our hands and commit. Never again. We will hold the horror as sacred — so many died; so many lives were changed. But then we must hold Life and Love and Peace as sacred as well.

A friend saw a plaque that read: I pray for Peace now so that i don’t have to do that later. Yes.

We are all Life has; all Love has; all Peace has. I commit to you. Life! Love! Peace!

Love the Sturm und Drang, Could Use A Little Rain Peace

Back here in Central PA, we’ve only received about three-quarters of our annual rainfall. I’ve never seen the river and creeks this low.

And yet we’ve spent the summer with enough humidity in the air that seems to have no interest in making rain.

We, with a big finger point toward myself, need to be thinking about water conservation as well as other techniques to slow down global warming.

Water is precious… Everyone deserves clean water although an astonishing number of people live without it. People worry, and not without reason, that our next wars will be about water.

We need to get involved with our communities and work for good water treatment plants and processes. We need to stop using water bottles — even for special occasions.

We must make Peace with water needs so that all the people may flourish. We must care for our Earth enough to make a difference in the environment…

The Tools of Peace

I am not a hand tool person (well, unless you count a laptop!). I don’t have great hand eye coordination… but still i understand the importance of the right tools.

Peace needs the right tools too… You have to be observant to figure out what the right tools are. And then you need to slowly apply them. And then you get better and you adapt the tools, or learn better ones.

When there’s a job to be done, and Peace is nothing if not a job, then you need good tools and always to be making them better and better. Peace. Let’s work on figuring out the right tools for the problems in front of us. Let’s get the job done.

The Peace of Friends

I had a lovely visit with my friend Faye Wilson this winter. She is many wonderful things, but among them, she is a stellar friend. It’s not just that she’s my stellar friend, although she is, but it’s that she knows how to be a very good friend and enjoys that richness in her life.

Friendship is one of the bedrocks of my life. I learned this, I think from my Mom. She had good friends and kept them throughout her life. She tended those friendships. She taught us that.

I am lucky in my friendships. This week, I’m enjoying a lovely intersection of fabulous friends. It would be a richness in and of itself, but with so much of my family gone, these particular friends, although there are many other ones, know how to take places at the table.

Faye and I thought that perhaps, not that I can imagine every creating another CV, that friendship ought to be listed. It’s time to change what’s important in our lives and to remember how friendships define, inform and transform us.

Such rich Peace, these friends of mine. I hope yours are that for you. Having friends, deepening friendships, building new ones are, I believe, building blocks of Peace in the world. You learn the value of another human being; you learn how your life can expance when you treasure your friendships. You want more. And that’s a lovely thing. Friend Peace; I’ll raise a glass to that!

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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