Peace Is More Than a Sweet Word

This morning, and every morning moving forward, I’m going to have a whole new vision of Peace on my heart.

I say Peace every day at the end of what I write. Now the world gets to ask if I mean it.

My young parents are worried for their children. My young women (and my old) are clear we’ve been said no to. My queer friends are worried for their love. My friends of color are just scared. My Muslim friends are worried for their safety… and some of my Jewish friends as well.

I don’t know exactly what I mean when I say I will harbor you. I do know I’m going to find out. I do know that Peace means the world. Peace.

Voting Peace

Right after I write this, I’m taking out the trash (trashday never stops!) and walking down the street to the polls. I get to walk to vote. My friend went to another town 4 hours away so she could watch her baby, dressed in white carrying her baby, vote before catching the train home so she could vote.

I’m dressing in white because I’m a woman and I get to vote. And I honor that right.

My feed is filled with voting. Neighbors, with differing views, being Americans. Yay!

And when the fog is lifted, we will still be neighbors. Let us commit to this: we will still be friends. Because voting is as American as apple pie. Hatred is not. Let us Peace as best we can.

Vegetable Peace

We spend so much time during the summer eating the bounty that pours out of the fields. And it is delightful. I lost count of how many odes to a ripe tomato I wrote or recited!

And then the season changes.

Now the tomatoes we have are sauce, dried, or salsa. But some of the summer vegetables are still around. And the fall vegetables have started their long season of giving. Because they’ll be the winter vegetables… and until the cycle starts again, they’ll be the spring vegetables as we keep hauling them out of the root cellars of our lives or the bins of our grocery stores.

Some vegetables make the transition without being preserved. They just change their toppings for something cozier.

Many of us would do well to notice and even emulate the versatility of the zucchini.

Whatever the season, we have to make Peace with where we are. And then we have to make Peace where we are!

The Beauty and Peace of an Autumn Morning

It’s one of those days. Today is the reason we all love Fall — even those of you who hate Fall. We’ve had enough sleep and it’s a clear, beautiful, crisp morning. What’s not to enjoy? and Wow, you look great in that sweater!

The sun is playing a starring role this morning, reflecting off every shiny surface. That’s not always going to be the case for the next few months, so enjoy it!

Breathe in the Peace. Breathe it out. Store up the memories. Make space for more. Peace looks different every day — that’s asounding!

The End of Baseball Peace in 2016

There’s nothing to say, since it’s all over, and there’s everything to say, since the Cubbies won. It was, from all reports, a great series. The teams were well matched; good baseball was played; and the longest drought in baseball history was ended.

Peace happened. Even for folks like me who barely know that baseball is a thing. And now, for a while it isn’t and won’t be…

With the superbowl safely in the future, we can all fret about the election. I keep breathing, keep trying to find the Peace in the now, knowing what ever happens we will have much Peacing to do. Peace be with us all.

Who’s Part of Your Pack for Peace and Justice?

Who are the the people you work with to make the world better? You can do little things alone, but the big things you usually do in good company.

Right now, most Americans are looking at the election in horror from one side or another of the debate. What if she/he wins people ask. Well, whoever wins, there’s enough work for all of us to do.

I refuse to live in a world or a country that thinks that hatred based on gender, ethnicity, race, religion or orientation is okay. I refuse to live in a world or a country that destroys creation. I refuse to live in a world or a country without compassion.

Am I going to Canada, you ask? Well, maybe for a visit, but not to live! I’m staying right here. I’m going to work to change my country, keep trying to change the world.

I’m looking for the people I love and the people I don’t yet know to do the work with. I’m showing up for Peace. I’m showing up for Racial Justice. Wanta run with the wild Pack for Justice and Peace? Laughter and friendship ahead!

The Peace of the Coming Dark

It’s so easy to see Autumn as a time of loss, trees lose their leaves, gardens lose their bounty, the sky loses its light.

And we gnash and moan and don’t see the gifts being given.

I’m as bad as anyone. WHAT????? No swimming outdoors???? It’s my favorite thing in the whole world. But really, I get to swim indoors, that’s pretty astounding.

The beauty of the dark is coming; but at the moment, we have the beauty of the places in between. In between the light and the dark. In between the warmth and the cold. In between this world and the next.

In between this president and the next. We have to show up now, and we have to show up then. This land was made for you and me and we’d better damned start acting like that. When I say you, I mean all my friends of color, all my women friends, all my queer friends, all my friends with disabilities — physical and mental, all my friends of every tradition, all my male friends, and all those people I have not yet had a chance to love all the people who have not yet had the, shall we say, opportunity to love me.

Here’s Life. Here’s Love. Here’s Peace. All in the places in between.

Remembering Peace

This is the day of All Souls… all souls… everyone we’ve ever loved, even everyone that no one loved. This is the day to remember and celebrate their lives.

Depending where in the world you come from, and what your religious tradition is or isn’t, those who celebrate this tradition will have follow different customs.

Many I know are drawn to the Mexican Dia de los Muertos — it’s a wonderful and inspiring celebration, but my private, undemonstrative ancestors would be pretty uncomfortable with much of what happens. So I celebrate more quietly. No need to disturb the dead — especially if i want the gentle brush of remembrance to continue. So I light a candle, sit and recall, hoping that that won’t overset their balance.

I miss them. I am so grateful for them. They are the ones who taught me to laugh and learn. They certainly taught me to weep and mourn. And oh, they taught me to become a Peacemaker. I give thanks for their lives.

I am so sorry for your loss. I am so grateful you had your beloved in your lives.

and I send a caress of thanksgiving to all those whose lives were less than they could have been, should have been. The Peace of all souls be with us.

Saints and Dragons and Peace

Well, it is all Saints Day. Ancient holy days in the Christian church, but also holy days far more ancient than Christianity.

This is the time when the veil between this world and the next is understood to be the thinnest. The fog is a symbol of that. It’s a time to learn from our ancestors — and tomorrow is a day to celebrate them.

But today is a day to remember those people who have inspired you, whose stories have made and continue to make you want to be a better person. Let me learn from the Peace-makers — enough that I may become one.

I love the picture of this log, which looks so very like an ancient dragon, sniffing the air for the scent of those Saints… longing to breathe in the scent of those who set their sights on Peace. Peace for the ecosystem. Peace for the world. Peace.

May I and each of you offer the dragon the sweet essence of Peace. May we make our way in the world honoring what is sweet and true and beautiful. Together, let us Peace.

Peace and Treats

Happy Halloween tonight. I know there are some of you who love this celebration, so good for you! May you enjoy it. Don’t eat too much chocolate, ‘k?

Will I wear the fantastical Witch’s Hat that my friend David once made for me? It does have a chicken on it. which makes it sorta fun…

But mostly I’m glad to go to Mash Up and listen to some good music with some good friends, witch’s hat or no.

Find your own Peace this Halloween… and be careful out there! (and don’t eat too much candy! — try and eat at least as many clementines as pieces of candy!)

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

The Priestess Is In