Sacred Water Peace Blues, llvl

It was International Water Day (and I missed it! well, I was writing about something else.) If you’ve been following me long you know I love Water. My completely non-scientific take on my love for the wet stuff is that I’m an earth sign and it’s only in water that I decompress a bit… And of course, I am as they say in relation to matzoh balls, a floater… What’s not to like.

Many of my most precious memories are about water and times I spent in and on it. Chinese medicine would tell you that memories and inheritance are held in the kidneys… that water reference makes sense to me!

So to stop and contemplate what it would mean not to have free access to water for drinking, for bathing and for swimming is a terrible thing to imagine. We are so privileged here. We have so much. So why can’t we notice and appreciate? Why can’t we protect.

I’ve got grandchildren. Ones a great swimmer. The other one is a great mucker about in ponds… What if they don’t get to hop off the boat into the river to see what they can see? What if they can’t float down the river on something inflated and just thrill. And what… if like so much of the world…. we didn’t have safe drinking water. 6000 children die every day from unsafe water. We should fret about that. We should do something. We should stop certain someones from doing other things that endanger the water. As much as I like swimming, I like fresh water better… and I want it for all the children. I know you do too… How are we working for Peace?

Speaking Sabbath Peace, llvl

I continue to be astonished by the journey. Having declared that this year’s journey was all about living locally… my world continues to unfold. People drag me off to do local things because I’ve said they’re important. So I get to see a snowy owl. I’d have been happy before to know they were there, but I wouldn’t have gone out of my way… but someone made that happen.

All of a sudden I’m taking a course about geography (and geology), things about which I have a somewhat, shall we say, intellectual interest. Mother Earth & Nature are not so much about their actual dirt for me… (ok, i’m shallow, what can I say?)

In my word scramble that says what my important key words are, the word Sabbath keeps getting larger. As I click it every Sunday, after I’ve written about trying to be aware of it, I work to honor and enjoy the day — to infuse it with a joy that is slower and more aware than my usual dash-through-the-day enjoyment of life.

And living here, truly here, I begin to be aware not only what’s right and wonderful, but what’s broken and in need of our loving hands. This was a clear and painful conversation we had at class… painful because we were all poking at the rough spots in our love for where we live.

So, as you go through your day today, take some time, think about what makes your world wonderful… and where your duty lies… Duty, not a very 2014ish word, is it? But our duty is what moves us toward Peace. oh, this being conscious is hard.

Neighborhood Peace, llvl

Getting to know your neighborhood changes both your neighborhood and you.

Being visible, being present, being aware, being kind, being involved… they all matter.

They take a little time, but they don’t really take that much energy. And oh, the rewards the reap.

Start by walking around. Add in saying hello. Move to asking folk how they’re faring. Care about their answers.

Pretty soon you look forward to more of their story and people are being kind to you and to one another.

Kindness is contagious. Enjoy it. Embody it. It opens your heart! It starts the Path to Peace… and isn’t that why we’re born?

Dance Peace, LLVL?

So the big question is will we do it? Will we dare to be silly? Will we offer that option to everyone else around us? It’s a little town, we know lots of people, and they know we’re wacky. Are we going to be found at 2 pm on a Saturday, dancing it up?

We’ll have to see… It’d be awfully fun. You show up. You dance. Dance as prayer, dance as being present, dance as a ridiculous wonderful thing!

No one needs to worry what they look like. all you need to think about is will we laugh?

Dance Challenge… making it up and down the street… Some days it’s the little things that build Peace. (and let you have fun, fun, fun)!

Science Peace: llvglobal

Well, of course, la vida local is also la vida global. We are all part of the interconnected web. And so much that’s astonishing in life has a really long lead time. Here‘s a wonderful video about a scientist hearing that what he believed, nurtured and cherished has come to fruition. The 30-year lead time on that knowledge doesn’t change the wonder. And his 30 year lead is predicated upon, built upon the science of others.

The science is ‘way beyond my comprehension… but the notion that one could “hear” echoes of the big bang billions (loads of zeros) of years ago — and actually of the “inflation” that happened one trillionth of a second (greater loads of zeros than the last load) after the bang… now that’s a thing of wonder. An inflation that unites us in wonder… and leaves us with the responsibility to unite in Peace. “Come together, right now.”

(how extraordinary is this! I totally get it that I may have gotten the science wrong, but my inability to wrap my arms around the extent of the possibility isn’t science’s fault — nor does it change the wonderment! Oh, my Daddy would have been so excited. Look kids, science is fun and extraordinary.)

Snowy Owl Peace, llvl

It’s all supply and demand, but this time I can get it. Apparently, last year was a bumper crop for lemmings somewhere way up there in the Arctic tundra. Which meant that the snowy owls, instead of laying one egg, all laid three. And they all hatched. Lots of snowy owls. This year, there aren’t as many of those little cliff leapers, but now there are two many snowy owls for their original region, so they widened their territories.

Presto Changeo, snowy owls in North Central PA, creating a new end of winter vida local. Mother Nature offering joy to her humans (and terror to the small, and even not so small wildlife.)

And I saw one. My friend said, oh, wow, there’s an immature hawk, maybe we’ll see the owl take the hawk. (ann the girl who likes to pretend that meat comes in styrofoam packages — no, i know better, and i give thanks to those whose lives are sacrificed that i may eat all the time! but still, ewwwwwww. ) I smiled gamely, tried to look interested and thanked the owl for sitting still and taking a moment to preen.

And there it sat. Not all that far from a large field of swans. Swans, hanging out in the cornfield. A hundred or so. It doesn’t get more beautiful than this. Nature, right here in my little local life.

I’m so grateful Liz was willing to haul me around and make me sit and watch. Taking the time to enjoy the beauty! Hooray!

Peace of the Snowy Owl, to you, my friends, and of the migrating Swans. Peace of la vida local.

Edges of Spring Peace, LLVL

I’ve realized recently that I’ve been on edge. Well, duh. We’re on the cusp of so many things. The weather refuses to turn, but Mother Nature responds to sun this time of year. So we keep slowly moving toward next season’s promise…

At the church, we’re slowly figuring out what we’re doing to fight child hunger in the Susquehanna Valley. Every time we move toward a solution, we find a billion steps we have to do first. OK, yes, I’m exaggerating, but it feels like that. I’m the regular ready, fire, aim queen, but a project this large demands a large amount of aiming.

And I’m realizing that I’m being shaped by things… having lost so much of my family, it’s really about reshaping myself. I’ve chosen to locate myself in my life… that’s what writing la vida local is about. We’re doing a hunger project for kids right here… choosing to lead where we live. Time for community… time to make it what we want, to form it in the style of Peace, of Love.

And it’s time to pay attention to the changes and make new places to celebrate what happens…

No Peace in Hunger, llvl

Encountering the local hunger problem has been life-altering for me.

So often when we hear “poverty” we don’t understand the world or its grinding nature. Many of us talk easily about sources of poverty, but we overlook the daily realities of it.

In my region part of that ugly reality is hungry kids.

It took a “perfect storm” for me to see it. After Deb’s death I was so sad. When the house voted not to allow the SNAP subsidy to lapse, I was driven quite literally to my knees in my living room. Not believing people to be worth of food knocked my pins out from under me.

I turned to my thinking team at church. I didn’t have an idea in my head, just pain. Scott, our church treasurer, got the hunger statistics. The rest of us were stunned. The crowd that had driven the Staten Island project batted around ideas. Most of them were far too grandiose. We knew we wanted this year (we thought!)’s project to be local. And now we knew we wanted it to be food. Last year we’d raised funds for the local food pantry. We knew we could do that again, and did. We started talking to other churches, finding out what they were doing, making a list.

And then we heard about the back-pack program. They’re all over the country, Love help us, because there is child hunger everywhere. Turns out, our local school district had just started a program. We talked about it in church, there was a huge outpouring of money. We had our purpose. We just needed to figure out where to step up so that we could do the most good.

This has turned into a huge project with a lot of pieces, few of which are in place yet. But huge projects take time. You’ll hear more from me, about what we’re doing, but in the meantime, you can help if you want to. Go here to read about this and to donate. There’s more information that will show up on the website soon… that’s one of those projects currently underway, but it’s a start.

Sorry, I tried to write about St. Paddy’s day… but this got in the way… Feeding the hungry is concrete Peacemaking. Please join us.

Meetings and Sabbath Peace, llvl

It is perhaps an odd notion that meetings can be on a sabbath occupation and there will still be room for sabbath to get some attention… But small organizations fit their meetings in where they can. And weekends are often what we have.

But small organizations are run on human hearts and human ingenuity. Things need to be done and so you do them. Here’s to all the folks who take the time. Because small organizations are the engines for much of life that matters… they get things done and they plan for the future. This is as true whether you live in a large metropolitan area as it is in small rural regions.

There’s something wonderful about being part of the engine, of contributing your gifts and making something you care deeply about work. It’s probably even more true because none of us, or at least few of us, love committees and boards. But they do the work. And we’re grateful for the investment of time and love. This is doing good to make your community (and your world) better.

So go to your meeting and then take the time off to enjoy the day some other way… Happy Sabbath, you wonderful Peacemakers!

Second-Chance Love & Peace, llvl

There have certainly been friends in my life who have wandered away or from whom I’ve wandered. But most endings weren’t wildly dramatic. Even endings with most boyfriends were fairly civil not long afterwards, but I’ll confess that I don’t know where some of the formerly important people in my life are.

Maybe that because I’ve moved around a fair amount, so it was easy to move on. No need to hold a grudge because they weren’t really visible in my life any more. A couple of those losses were very painful and I’m happy not

But the interesting thing to me about the man who’s life I celebrated yesterday was his ability to keep his universe intact. Maybe because he lived in this area most of his life, it was more difficult to lose people altogether. But even when he was separated from friends, he knew how to find them again. And he often did. From all accounts, he was pretty volatile. He’d stop talking to folks. But then, he’d miss them, review what went wrong and make it right. He must have been a wonderful friend, because his funeral was packed with guys who had been his friends for years — even if somewhat off and on.

He’s a guy who took the “apologize and make amends” step in AA incredibly seriously. When he found out his cancer had come roaring back, he took a good look at who he wanted in his life as he was living his last years and found them. They made up and they made life happen. As up and down as his temper was, his heart was steady. When it was a matter of life and death, he put aside indulging his temper and simply loved…

I was fascinated and impressed by how hard he worked at friendship. I was touched by how many cherished this hard work. I was inspired to do better. He left an amazing legacy of Loving and Peace-making. May we all do the same…

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