The Priestess Is In

A Cool Spring Sabbath

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On the one hand, it’s 27˚ this morning. Brrr. Have spent some frantic searching for clothes that are warm enough but still Springlike. Even I am tired of black for the moment!

On the other hand, the violets are out. I love violets. Love them. And the cool weather seems to be their friend. They riot across lawns, and because it’s cool, don’t wilt in the heat. They linger longer. And anything that keeps them filling my eyes and my nose with beauty gets a whoo-hoo from me!

The Sabbath… it’s a great day to take some time and go violet hunting. The payoff is both subtle and exquisite. Count your blessings as you count the violets. That’s a pleasant way to be present to a Sabbath afternoon and to store up memories so you have something to look for next year. Peace and quiet be with you. Enjoy!

PeaceApril21

Everywhere, Peace

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The events in Boston have kept many of us riveted to our TVs or computers. It was difficult to look away, difficult even to remember that only halfway across the country another tragedy had occurred and even more people had died and houses had been lost along with lives. Was this a tragedy caused by indifference rather than intention? It may be hard to tell, since it seems there has been no oversight on this company for many years. But as in Boston, there is no way to protect yourself from such a thing if you’re going about the business of living a life…

Which leaves us all with so much work to do. I do seem to keep ringing this bell don’t I. But as our worlds get larger and larger, thanks, in large part to technology, we have to pay attention on so many different levels and in so many different arenas. Eyes and hearts open. Hands out. Brains engaged. Hard work to make this world safer, sweeter, saner.

Harping on Peace — nice double entendre, eh? I work to keep the tune palatable to the ear and keep my fingers in practice so that I can continue to play. Because if we keep doing our work, the chorus is only going to swell! But my dears, offer up your prayers for Peace and then do the hard work of praying, the getting to the business of bringing Peace to our beloved Mother Earth.

PeaceApril20

Alchemical Peace

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I confess I got caught. I was up far later than I ever am because I was watching last night’s twitter feed. Finally went to bed to find everything they “knew” to be true, wasn’t. The kids who’d been ID’d as the bombers, are not the people they thought they were, so two families went through the horror of thinking that their children were either dead or monstrous perpetrators of evil. (I almost said creators, but evil and create are not compatible are they.)

I guess it’s a human need to think we’re in control. If we’re getting info, then we “know.” But Knowing doesn’t make the situation in Boston less dangerous. The kid on the run in addition to everything else is terrified and out of his mind and any choices he makes will be completely irrational… and therefore dangerous, both to him and everyone else. He feels probably as if he’s pulled off a great coup, his brother’s been martyred. Oh, the spin.

But what can we do? Watching TV, twitter (whoa… did twitter change the news last night or what?) won’t make a difference. I’m going to clean the living room. That won’t bring Peace but it will calm my mind and help me make space for whatever wonderful thing I next want to get up to.

Our responses to this mayhem must be new ways to Peace. Must be. Nothing I can tell but Love has ever created peace. Not the romantic kind. The big overarching kind. The Love beyond all boundaries kind. A deep and passionate commitment to bring that Love alive in the world in the ways we know. How do we balance pride in our tribe with fascination with others’ customs and traditions? How do we find purpose and meaning and make sure that everyone has that opportunity… and can do it safely housed, educated, well and on a full belly? Big questions for small individuals; but we’ve each got a thread in our hands. Time to unravel it and knit something beautiful together. Because we are people of Love… and that makes us people of Peace.

PeaceApril19

Peace Where It’s Needed

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I’ve been writing in sadness and frustration about kids, in particular, viewing things through their screens, and distancing themselves from the reality of what’s happening. What I’m watching now seems to be the antithesis of that: People hear about a tragedy and they say: Oh, that’s just like my… or Oh, what if that were to happen to me?… or well it’s not as bad as…

I know that the whole world isn’t thinking what’s being expressed on FB… but gee golly, too many of us are… it’s so human to want to know things and control the insane with information or distance, but the insanity of such acts as Boston… acts of war and terror, whoever the perpetrator is… can be worked against before and after, and in the moment, there is nothing to do from afar but witness, pray, and grieve.

Each individual trauma is trauma to the traumatized. It doesn’t comfort them to be told that other people are suffering. It perhaps comfort those of us making those comparisons to other things because it distances us from that person’s immediate, individual pain.

I do blame tech for this: we have difficulty telling what is possible and what is probable any more. Simply because something could happen doesn’t mean it’s likely to. I heard a cop say the other day, we have to separate the improbable possibilities from the probable. We have just this life to live. No sense wasting it on living in fear of what is unlikely to happen. Even the things that are likely to happen we can only prepare for and then go about celebrating life. And is our being afraid, I wonder, just another way to not feel? And quite frankly, most of us, not all, but most of us, have not been in those situations. We have TV to instruct us, and it’s pretty stupid. So, let’s be prepared, but relaxed…

While it’s true that what happened in Boston happens every day in war torn countries, that doesn’t mitigate the pain and shock. We’re so insulated here, it’s unimaginable to consider living with such threats on a daily basis. Too many people in the world are not insulated and live through this horror. We must hold them close to our hearts and get to work on their behalf. This is insanity. At the same time, the horror of Boston is not to be swept under the rug. Because these individuals, doing nothing more innocuous than run a race and go to cheer runners on, lived it. And we must bear witness to the horror.

It’s all very complicated and painful, isn’t it? And yet, it’s to that very pain that we’re asked to be present, and then get back to the very hard, and very necessary, work of Peace. You and I — we’re all that Peace has in her pocket. And as a journalist said yesterday, probably the most defiant thing we could do is train for a marathon. or go to a ball game. wow… I think I’ll just let that thought fester for a while. Could I do that? I don’t know.

PeaceApril18

Clinging to Peace

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In the midst of Spring’s hope and promise is the cold reality of the volatility of the natural world and the hatred some people live with and impose upon the world.

It is challenging not to lump everything together into an overwhelming whole. It is important not to confuse our fears with other people’s realities. It is vital we keep doing the work we are capable of doing. There is Hope. There is Peace. There is Spring. We just have to rake the leaves away from all of them so the world can see and believe. It is slow and painstaking work. But it is the work to which we are called. All of us. Because we’re here in the midst of Life. What can we do but work for peace?

PeaceApril17

The Peace of Enough

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There is always more, we know that. More comfort, more Love, more Peace…

But every once in a while, you notice someone’s reveling in the enough-ness of Life. It’s good to stop and think in those moments about what’s enough in your life and whether you appreciate those things.

Right now, the grass is very sweet and tender in the fields. Every single animal I saw was having a good time, eating what was there. Occasionally someone would look around for a bit, and then go right back to the grass buffet.

Today, I’ll write, I’ll swim, I’ll meet with my women’s clergy group, a good friend, go with my husband to a doctor’s appointment, write some more, clean a little and then go listen to great music before falling contentedly into bed. Whether I choose to let it be enough is really up to me. May I remember to value each moment in my privileged happy life. And each time I remember to do that… life gets sweeter. What a great thing! Be present, count your blessings, enjoy. Happy, glorious day of enoughness!

PeaceApril15

A Leafy Sabbath

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Here in the East, Spring is exploding. The landscape changes hour by hour. Another cool but sunny day here intent on coaxing Spring up to speed. Take a break and pay attention. I’m going to try and take a break and take a nap… Spring’s carrying on very well without me. Peace will manage today as well!

PeaceApril14

Peace on the Cusp

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Well, I was up bright and early this morning. Well, actually, I was up early. The weather was a bit grumpy and so was I. But the weather… is bringing rain, wonderful rain. So Spring will feel so much springier at the end of this… And how can I resist… and why would I? I’m really hoping to convince folk that it takes far more energy to be grumpy than it does to just sit back and notice what happens… and appreciate it for what it is.

Although we can really see the cusp at this point of the year… a couple at the coffee place where I was meeting my wedding couple showed up: him in shorts and flipflops, her in a long sheepskin coat with hood. It’s that kind of day.

But you and I, whether in sheepskin or shorts, must opt for the good… The more of us who do, the more who will join us and the greater the odds we’ll reach the tipping point. So, c’mon, rain aside, early morning easing into the day… let’s go change the world. What’s your doin’ good thing today? I’d love to know! Back to (Peace) work!

(wish me luck and that I reap the benefits of my hard work at my recital tonight! Think of me at 7pm with notes floating out of my throat. Try not to laugh imagining me as a 19 year old Asian girl… but hey bigger and far better women than I have tried to convince you of the same thing!)

PeaceApril12