The Sun Goes Down on Grief, We Must Rise in Peace

I really don’t have any good words about yesterday. It was a day of being tired about everything crazy, everything gone wrong. It was a day when some raged and there was no comfort to offer but presence… but presence is something…

It was a day when self righteousness reared its head and it has no place.

It was a day when some people thought they could tell us we didn’t belong in this land of our birth because we thought differently than they did.

It was a day when all the people who were not touched, not wounded by bullets, not killed by them howled in outrage and hate. And others just wept and wept and wept. Some for the way it is. Some of us for what must be done, what we haven’t done…

It was a day of too little Peace. We must make this, and all the ones that follow, days of great Peace. It’s on us. Peace, let us become Peace.

I’m very excited though to be taking Rosario to NYC to Peace Camp today. That gives me hope!

And remember, I love you. Peace be with us all. Peace be us all.

Yesterday the Heat Could be Peaceful, Today We Are On Fire

Looking at Ruby sleeping is a vision of a relaxed and disinterested reaction to the heat. There’s such sweetness and such a profound wisdom in reacting to the heat by chilling out in the shadows.

But today we know the heat kills. For some god-forsaken reasons we’ll never understand, the heat or something allowed 4 officers to take two men’s lives. And then people took the lives of completely unrelated police, who continued to protect and serve.

And somehow, feeling like the worst travesty, although it’s not, it’s not, and I know that it’s not, people are dead, brutally killed by those to protect and serve — but someone, who was formerly a congressman, threatened our President and told him real Americans would be coming for him. Real Americans. Not me presumably. This love I have for my country is not real. Not his president, because the duly elected President is not his president.

I am heartsick.

Today in the cool, I will prayerfully look for words of comfort and exhortation. I will sorrowfully deal with my confusion and pain. I will, however, not be deterred in looking for a path to Peace. Let us pray. Let us weep. Let us mourn. Let us not be seduced by rabid fervor. There is no way to Peace, Peace is the way.

Waving for Peace

Good morning… how are you? Hey, good to see you!

It’s the little things that make life run more smoothly.

Right now when the tenor of discourse is ugly, it’s fairly easy to do some little things that turn that around.

Since time immemorial (or as long as I remember) when your driving along a country road, you greet your neighbor. Now this means that you’re traveling slowly enough to notice that your neighbors (and by neighbor, I mean everyone you meet) are driving in the opposite direction. You lift your hand off the wheel, Howdy!

It changes how you see each other. If we’re neighbors who greet one another and are friendly, then we’re not slamming around at one another on FB. Hello!

We become people to one another. We become neighbors in fact and not just proximity. Looks like a great day.

We worry about whether the fields are wet enough or have enough sun to grow the crops that will make their way to our table. Glad we got that gentle rain, we needed it.

I’m fed up with how people’s FB style bleeds over into life. I’m fed up with having my patriotism questioned because I think differently than you do. That’s what makes us who we are over here. I heard your wife was in the hospital, everything ok?

Thinking differently doesn’t preclude being good neighbors.

Being neighborly means we worry about the ugly things, racism, sexism, homophobia, religious differences because we are neighbors. Look how that baby’s growing!

The anger, killing, trash-talking is not a road we want to go down. We want to drive the road where you lift your hand in greeting to everyone you meet. There’s a whole lot of Peace in something as simple as greeting, something as simple as a wave. Hello. How are you? It’s good to see you. Have a great day.

Do something neighborly, will you? It adds a lot to Peace. Especially when you step outside your comfort zone and realize everyone wants to be seen. Everyone wants to be greeted as a friend. Peace.

Peacefully Down to the Sea

Ah, the beach! I really hope to get there this year.

When the path to the beach is a straight shot, you don’t think much about anything other than how quickly you can get to the ocean (and then in it! yay!).

But when the way winds and turns and hides itself from view all sorts of opportunities and surprises surface. Now you can simply plod on by and curse the idiot who laid out the path. Or you can take the opportunity to see what the pathway offers.

For me, from the hills and river valleys of PA, the beach is wonderfully mysterious. The wildlife is different from what hangs about here. So explore, pay attention.

There’s Peace in the ocean. There’s Peace on the beach. And there’s the Peace of getting there. Why rush by any of that? Notice it. Revel in it all!

Enjoy! Peace!

American Peacemakers: Homegrown

For many reasons, over the Fourth, I’ve been thinking about citizenship and being an American.

It’s easy to be disgusted with the status quo… but somehow that separates us from the way things became entrenched. We’re probably part of the problem — and hopefully we’ll choose to be part of the solution.

It’s easy to feel isolated. It’s seductive. But it can be a drug that immobilizes us.

It’s good to work with other people. But until we find our tribe, we need to do the work that carries us forward. But so easy to disdain those who think differently than we do.

We’ve got to find the common ground.

And to do that we’ve got to understand what we believe and commit to loving this country of ours — loving it enough to do the work to change it.

So, on the fifth of July comes the invitation to become a better American and a better you. I will try, too… May I become an American Peacemaker…

Breakfast Peace

I know it’s the Fourth of July, and I’m supposed to write about the Fourth and the country and… and maybe tomorrow.

Today I wanted to write about my breakfast on Saturday.

I love going out for breakfast. It’s fun to do with friends and family. And it’s wonderful to do by myself. Just me and a book or a newspaper and whatever looks good. Ahhh. (Shhhh!)

I’m happy to be cheerful to the waitress and I’m happy not to talk to anyone. I normally don’t talk to anyone early in the morning.

But there I was, out and about, book on the table. The waitress came over at the “give the client the bill” time, and said, I wanted to let you know your breakfast has been paid for. (See the musing!) I was stunned. Did I know them? No. Are they still here? No. I reminded the woman of her sister who did the same thing.

Amazing. It happens more often than you think, the waitress says. Really? Yes. Really, fairly often.

It was the sweetest thing. I hope her sister knew how much she was loved. I hope the sister loved the donor for her easy generosity. And Dammit, it made me miss Deb…

But I think that both the woman who paid for my breakfast and I were both lucky to have wonderful sisters… I wish she’d stopped to tell me… so i could have reminded her how much her sister loved her.

So much Peace in this world. And so many people who just reach out their hands in love. I am so touched… Such a lovely surprise. And the waitress was so happy to be able to tell me… So she got to do good as well and share in the loveliness.

Sunrise, Sabbath, Summer Peace… ah…

Before I start, I have to acknowledge the passing of the extraordinary Elie Wiesel. I am so grateful for what he taught us, his insistence on truth and his grace in the face of human frailty. We were so lucky for his presence among us.

This is one of those posts where I’ll have a hard time keeping the day straight. There was Peace on Saturday and there will be Peace on Sunday. It was Saturday that I was knee deep in the Susquehanna sending 30 paddlers off for a day on the river: The inaugural paddle of our riverkeeper, 22 miles of the Susquehanna on a perfect day in July.

We have one! This is a thing!! She’s in there fighting for our River who cannot fight for herself. The paddlers are all passionate about her mission.

So they had a lovely day, saw some things to be corrected, remembered just how beautiful this river is AND how vital to our lives. I could burble on a long time.

However, today is also going to be a great day. We start off with a hymn sing in an 1800 chapel. It’s got wonderful accoustics and my community loves to sing. Harmony! hurrah. It’s good for the soul.

There is no yard sale today! hurrah, hurrah… Which sounds like I’m not grateful for it, the good it does, the community it builds, and the money it raises, I am, but I’m tired.

So I’ll spend a little time turfing out my house and prepping salad for tomorrow’s yard sale and then… i’ll open the books for my summer sabbatical. and smile! I’ll sit on the porch and read. Maybe I’ll swim.

I’ll remember this Sabbath and keep it holy, that’s for sure. I hope you find something wonderful to do. If your weather is like our weather, it’s going to be a great day! Peace of the summer, Peace of the river, be with you, be with the whole world.

A Day of Shared Work is a Day of Peace

Working together is important. When you can work together and laugh together at the same time, life is sweet.

Shared purpose brings Peace.

For two months now a dedicated team has been working to put together this huge extravaganza of a yard sale that takes place for five days. (thank heavens for a sabbath in between! whew!)

Friday morning at 6:45 am I rolled in LONG after others had been working to get things set up.

The doors were supposed to open at 8. They opened at 7 and people came pouring in.

Now, if you know me at all, you know I’m an extreme extrovert with an incredibly chaotic mind. This much chaos is over load for me. But people are so excited. Oooooh! look at this! Imagine! All day long, people thrilled over the bargains.

And all day long, community members are helpful and enjoying themselves. You have the chance to get to know people you’ve never known as you check out customers, or dish up hamburger barbecue. (Oh, we laughed: a woman started to tell us about her business helping people make life style changes with resultant weight loss, by cutting out gluten and sugar. Meanwhile we were all stuffing hotdogs in our faces, and following them up with homemade black walnut brittle chasers… she didn’t get any clients today at the yard sale — unless after the sale is over we all feel badly about all the cookies we ate! Just another way friendships are built!)

But it was flat out fun today, because the people are grand. Poor Marie tries to organize us and manages despite our camraderie and general ineptitude at sales. Meanwhile people keep buying stuff and we move toward balancing the budget. And it’s not all about the money, although that’s its purpose, it’s also about people’s buying things they can’t otherwise afford: dishes and pots and pans disappear pretty quickly. Clothes find their way home to people who need them (and, ahem, some of us who don’t!)

Building solvency. Building community. Eating good food! Yum! Fun! Peace.

Peace is where you find it. It’s where you make it. Say, can I get you a bag for your stuff?

The Sacrament of Relaxation and the Peace It Offers

What is it about our world that confuses relaxation with sloth. I have no idea who thought it should be confused with sin. no, no, no. It’s a sacrament!

If you don’t stop; you don’t appreciate the beauty of what’s around you or the preciousness of this very moment.

It is good to work. Then it is good to just relax. Sometimes alone. Sometimes with friends.

I love Dagny’s picture. I particularly love it because she’s been working very hard these last few years and finally has some time off and she looks so relaxed in this pic! Hurrah! Let’s hear it for the Peace of the moment.

Note to self: No relaxing for you right now. I’m putting this out the night before so I can get up early on the 1st for our Church’s Yard Sale. You have NEVER seen such a thing! I’ll look to find the Peace in the chaos and the friends and the solvency it brings.

However you’re finding your Peace — find it! Make it! Be it!

Making Peace with the Clothes You Wear

Clothing can be hard. What is everyone wearing and how do I look in it?

But at some point, we have to decide what we like, what are we comfortable in, and what becomes us. And then whittle the rest of our stuff away.

I’ll admit, i love clothes. My Mom started her art career in fashion. She spent a life time looking at clothes and the way they fell on bodies. She taught me to look. I love to look.

As I gained weight my sense of who I was and what I wore was rocked. It wasn’t as simple as it always was. So I retreated a bit, retooled. I still get confused, but color is back.

I noticed as I was loosing my family my sense of color changed as well. I didn’t describe it as such, but I wore mourning. Sure there were always pops of color, but I rarely pushed the black aside.

Today, I sit here in red shorts and red and white shirt happily writing about color.

For me, liking my look helps me like who I am. Liking who I am helps me gain balance and self-confidence. Feeling balanced, I’m a better Peacemaker. I didn’t know it, but all my life that’s who I’ve wanted to be. Clothing… shallow or armor… it depends who we are, doesn’t it? How do you make Peace, and what do you wear to do it? Some will stop and think. Some will just get up get dressed and get going. That’s the beauty of this world, isn’t it? But as I said in the message I put out last night with this, the way you wear your hat should please you most of all! Get snazzy with your Peacemaking!

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

Posts