Warm Spring Peace

Yesterday, while leaving a friend’s house, I put my hand around the edge of the door and encountered something surprising and marvelous. The brass lock on the door was warm. It was warm from the sun. It was so surprising after the winter that I pulled my hand back hastily and had to search a bit to figure out the explanation.

Although not a snowy winter, it’s been a cold one. It was lovely to go outside and bask for just a bit and to exclaim over flowers making their way out of hibernation. That’s our assignment as well. Time to let the changing seasons coax those Peace dreams out of stasis. Let’s blossom. Because the other thing the sun will do is illuminate the places desperately in need of Love and Healing. Beauty can help. Let’s do what we can to bring Beauty to this world.

Sabbath of Showing Up

Sometimes it really is that simple. We just need to be there and listen, to practice the simple art of presence. Often the best thing we can say is “tell me about it.” Allow yourself to hear and feel what’s being said. Put your hand over your heart. Nod encouragingly. Say very little. Offer a cup of tea or a bite to eat. Sit there, even when it’s hard. Leave when they’re finished not when you are. Come back and check on them later. Be kind. It’s a lot and not a lot all at the same time.

Today, on this mixed up beginning of daylight savings time, show up for yourself, and don’t move till you’re finished being there.

Backroad Peace

The monoliths of the Four Directions offer such clarity. Here you are, this is what’s going on here: Perception and understanding, Passion and Drive, Dreaming and Envisioning, and Grounding and History. To stand in one Corner is to know exactly where you are.

But in one sense, it’s also to be hemmed in. One of the fascinating things about writing the musings and then reflecting on them is the picture that begins to emerge of my own behavior. (Self reflection? Peace needs self reflection?????) I, unlike many, actually like superhighways. Why? because I can’t get lost. I’m always late; they’re speedy. And, to fess up, I’m not secure when the lines aren’t straight. But spiritually speaking, it’s in the getting lost that growth happens, that interest deepens, that you encounter new ideas, people, even perhaps pieces of the Divine.

Ah, that old goal/process thing. I’m all about the goal. I understand process and I can facilitate it. But I’m all about the shortcuts. I always flunk that test that says read all the rules before you begin to write. And then when I’ve completed the test I get to the end that says, put down your paper and sit quietly. Well, not that I sit quietly very well, either! But I’m going to have to stick my toes in the water of the small streams. Because I’m convinced, while principles of Peace may be encoded in the Four Directions, the working of it, between actual individuals happens in the places in between. And I’m beginning to believe that Peace will only happen when we the people demand it!

The Sweet Taste of Peace

I’ve been imagining Peace tasting like a rich combination of spices and honey. The spices would come from all over the world. You would add your concoction to some honey from your hometown. Imagine being the people who would build this elixir. You would need Tasters and Noses from every part of the earth trying this and trying that, figuring whether the mixture would “play” in every corner of the world. Ah, what titles: The Nose of Peace. The Tongue of Peace. (when it comes to bells, we’d need an Ear of Peace, but for the drums, merely the Heart, don’t you think? And Peace Perfume, that makes us move toward one another in Love and Peace, swoon.)

I wish i knew the someones who could do this work… wouldn’t it be fun to be invited in to taste Peace One and Peace Two, to decide which you liked better. Maybe every region would have its own Peace concoction, with an International Committee of Peace Spice Concocters. Oh, I like this dream. Imagine how drinking such a tea would make you feel — full of prayers and the counting of blessings; full of hope for the world and love for all who live here. Peace.

And imagine the aftertaste of Peace!

Peace of the In-Between

I don’t do a lot of sacred fire building these days. It’s a ritual that seems to belong to my California life, although, who knows, maybe having spoken these words, I can resurrect the tradition somewhere! I was never officially trained as a fire-keeper, but I’ve watched many a woman and man carry out their work. It’s a lovely and deliberate way to invoke the Directions and their strengths.

To invoke clarity, passion, visions and groundedness on a regular basis is to invite ourselves to live deliberately in the midst of those things. It’s very powerful. But too often when we’re calling the Directions, we forget the importance of the places in between.

The more I do this work, the more I realize that it is in the places in between where the real work can and does happen. It’s where Peace happens. Few of us are completely this or that, we’re all soft and beautiful blends of many things. It’s there where things are less defined that it’s easier for us to meet one another in the in-between places. Our hard edges don’t fit together well, but our softnesses allow us to lean against and into one another.

The wonderful thing about writing the musings and then writing about them is the gradual opening of a topic. Here at the end of these few paragraphs, I realize there is far more to write about the in-between places than I have already. I suspect there will be many more references to the in-between places as we move through the Peace Year. It will be working me and teaching me.. as a teacher used to say. I’ll be exploring the grey spaces for the glimmers of Peace. What a privilege to be writing. Thank you.

Sacred Peace of the Month

Or should that be Peace of the Sacred Month? Titles. They’re not always easy!

But here’s my point. Each month the Earth has different work to accomplish. This month it’s about returning (look, the swans are back!), defrosting (oh, look, mud) and pushing (I can get this green shoot out of this bulb!). The winds scour away the dead wood. The skies can’t decide whether to rain or snow, but they’re dropping as much moisture on us as possible.

If we decide to honor the Earth’s cycle and concentrate on doing things in tandem with the cycle, our work will progress much more quickly. That would mean that our work this month would be the beginning of manifesting our dreams for Peace. Put small pieces of your dream to work. See some preliminary success. Notice what doesn’t flourish. Figure out where the obstacles are and set about removing them. Allowing yourself to succeed will encourage you to keep trying. Peace needs you to keep trying.

And there’s a bonus with this process. At the same time you’ll be paying attention to and honoring this astonishing Earth and your particularly beautiful region. This will offer you Peace even as you’re making Peace.

Peace of Lions and Lambs

At the risk of anthropomorphizing here — and oh, how we love to do that —I’m quite caught by the notion of both Peace and March being represented by Lions and Lambs. In depictions of March they’re at odds with one another. In the somewhat naive illustrations of Peace, they’re cuddle buddies. They are animals, they have animal nature, one is a predator and one is not. Never was the refusal to understand that clearer to me than at seminary, when students would bring their cats out into the enclosed garden and be dismayed when a cat, being a cat, would find a rodent and positively delight in the kill. Somehow, I believe that my seminary colleagues believed that their cats were going to seminary too, instead of being, well, cats.

So maybe what we Peaceseekers need to envision is something that is neither horrifying nor saccharine; something perhaps more realistic. Lions exist (although humans need to be doing a lot more to protect them.) Lambs exist. And a wonderful world is where they are both celebrate for who they are and we don’t confuse animals with humans. The Animal Kingdom and the Human Species are set up differently. When gathered into an open environment, we don’t need to be overcome by our need to hunt and kill. Humans can reach across boundaries and make life work. Humans can make Peace between us and with the animals. March seems like a good month to consider that.

The March of Peace

Well, it took three days of writing the Peace of March before it dawned on me that I was also writing about the march of Peace. I don’t know whether I’d thought about it before, but March is perhaps the month most in motion. The wind blows, the plants sprout, the ice breaks up. For most of us a longing is born to get out there in the world, to sit in the sunshine, to dig in the garden, to walk in the woods or the town.

That makes March the perfect month to catapult your Peace dream from the drawing board to the world. Time for those first tentative steps. I’m trying, (and talk about fits and starts and not knowing exactly how to do what I want to do) to raise money for two small projects in Staten Island. Poor, poor Staten Island, devastated by Superstorm Sandy. I’ve never done fund raising before, and I’m trying on a grand scale (why start small?). But the money’s really only the by-product, much needed and well appreciated to be sure. What I’m really trying to do is to get 1,500 people involved in making a difference in their neighbor’s lives. These neighbors may be 200 miles away, but they’re neighbors nonetheless.

And you? where’s your entrance to the Peace Road? Your walking may be slow and tentative, but it still counts. You’re on the Great Peace March. We’re walking toward life’s being easier, better, kinder, sweeter, more just for everyone involved. Let’s go, but on your good walking shoes and get involved in Life.

The Sabbath of Almost Spring

This is a time of Limbo, it’s neither this nor that. The sun begins to warm but the wind and shadows are having none of it, as yet. The daffodils are stuck half way out of the ground. But a brisk walk through the muddy woods or along a park’s gravel path, followed by a good read in your favorite chair makes a lovely day. (Unless of course you live in Central PA, in which case you’ll want to hear the Susquehanna Chorale perform Karl Jenkin’s Stabat Mater. It’s divine.)

Whatever you do, be at Peace.

Peace Evangelism

More and more evangelism has become understood as a Christian activity. But the world is Greek and the activity ecumenical. Peace is possible. Peace is desirable. Peace is what we were born for.

That’s certainly news to start spreading. Disregard the media’s addiction to bad news and horrifying stories. Let’s concentrate instead on how neighbors respond when tragedy occurs and how we can make a communal difference when change is needed. Let’s tell the stories of how we saw two friends laughing immoderately in a restaurant or sitting in silent contemplation of a beautiful sunset. Let’s tell of couples who get along and travelers who made friends for a lifetime in a place very far from home.

Let’s spread the good news of Peace insistently. Let’s build a hunger for the good news.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

The Priestess Is In