Understanding Sabbath; Understanding Peace

It seems that there is so much confusion these days. And some of the confusion, it often seems is about what it means to understand something. People look at something that’s different from their norm and they say they don’t understand… but they often seem to mean they don’t understand how something can be different from the way they see the world, and don’t want to look farther than that.

But understanding has to include acceptance, I think, don’t you? Acceptance of the reality — only then can we work to change things.

It’s a cold clear day here… feels like it should for the moment, even though temperatures will soar. Advent — a time of quiet waiting, deep listening, sweet anticipation. Today we light the fourth candle, Peace. The Sabbath — a time of respite, reflection and restoration. Peace — what we all so sorely need, what we must be engaged in.

Let there be Peace. May I be part of the wonderful journey. May you be my companion.

Alternative Advent — December 20: 10¢ for every non-water beverage you had today.

Savoring Advent, Savoring Peace

This time of year there are so many memories. Not all of them are wonderful. Some downright not-so-great. But others are grand. Life, eh?

But this time is filled with more than memories of activities; it’s filled with festal foods. Not all of them are wonderful. Some downright not-so-great. But others are grand. Food, eh?

In the same way that I get overcome by the flurry that is the holidays, I can be overcome by the sheer volume of foods shoved our way. My balance lies in finding the foods I adore and keep for this holiday. (Isn’t that what that phrase “keeping Christmas” really means? Keeping the things that belong to that holiday to that holiday. But people wear themselves out, they throw more and more expectations on tiny little holidays that bend and break under the pressure.) Ponder in your heart. Savor in your mouth.

What tastes do you savor during the Winter Holidays? What little luxuries make your mouth and your heart happy? What are your festal foods?

It’s time to celebrate with (small amounts of) those foods that bring those happy memories back. It’s time to ditch those foods that offer reminders of holidays gone bad.

Whatever holidays you keep, may you keep them in joy and love and savor the tastes that make them rich for you. It’s time to give yourself Peace during these wonderful, treacherous days. It’s time to give the world Peace. Here, have a cranberry orange cookie. My sister and I perfected the recipe. Peace in your hearts (and in your mouths!), my friends!

And in the meantime?

Alternative Advent – December 18: 1¢ for every song on a mobile device in your family.

Reveling in the Peace of Advent

Happy Holidays! All of them! I love this season for so many different reasons that I did as a child. (although Santa, still love me some Santa) I love the Dark. I love this cold quiet time of the year. Tiny sparkly lights whether in the sky or on trees are an additional pleasure, but… just the Dark.

And then there are all those moments. Some are simply solemn. Others are joyfully festive.

But I take this period seriously… It’s the end of a year, time to take account. It’s the beginning of a new with hopes for something better, something more, something Peace. My job today is to revel in that. To let that sense of wonder vibrate through me like the sound of a bell in the cold dry Winter.

Peace needs us. It needs us, it seems, more than ever. It’s on us to appreciate the Peace we have and to keep it growing

Alternative Advent for December 17: 5¢ for every reusable water bottle in your house (or car!).

Romping. Romping? Romping. For Peace.

When was the last time we romped? Just full out played. Not with a child. Not with the dog. Just because we wanted to and it felt good.

It feels so non-grown up, somehow, doesn’t it?

We have important business to be about. (or so we convince ourselves.)

But what if that business were play and enjoyment. What if we loved with our whole heart and then our whole body. Whoo hoo!

I’m pretty goofy — and this feels like a challenge. All the more reason to explore, eh? What would be bad about some flat out enjoyment in our lives? in mine? in yours?

Because I’m pretty sure that Peace has to have fun in it. I’m thinking that Advent needs more than solemnity. So, maybe we should work on romping… as we work on Peace.

Alternative Advent – December 16: 25¢ for every television.

Participating in Advent Peace

We are the longed for difference. We are what the world needs.

Our struggling best is exactly what the world needs from us. Participating. It’s what’s asked of us.

What ever your faith or philosophic tradition, I believe this. Life is such a miraculous thing. It is totally ridiculous that it happens. And yet it does. So Participating is just saying thanks, enjoying this, over here! Making sure everyone else can as well.

There’s so much work to do. Our hands are needed. Without whining that someone else isn’t doing his/her part… sometimes we need to grab the hand of the person next to us and encourage them along. Participating. It’s a wild and heady feeling.

Because life is wonderful. And we are privileged to be alive. And some of the world needs so much — and who are we to withhold what we have?

Take some time during this season to figure out what your part is. Do something every day to make it better. Take a moment to renew your faith in the gift we’re given. And then get busy. Life needs you! So does Love. So does Peace.

Alternative Advent – December 15: 10¢ for every outside door.

Appreciating Advent; Appreciating Peace

I, like many of us, find it easy to complain. Everything falls short of our expectations — and sometimes our expectations are abysmally low. But sometimes things are just fine and we’re just whiny. It’s important to notice what works and to appreciate, even celebrate, those things.

Advent is one of those times when we are asked to look back — in wonder, perhaps? Turning a critical eye on things doesn’t just mean noticing what isn’t right, it means noticing what what works and what’s easy and wonderful.

If people believe you see them for who they are as wonderful bits of creation, they will dig deep and behave that way more frequently. All of that from a little honest appreciation.

We can do this. We can notice what is right with our world and build on that.

Let us appreciate what we have and work for more. Let us work for Peace.

Alternative Advent – December 14: 15¢ if you have cooking pots. hmmm have or use?

Joy in Advent Sabbath Peace

Today we light the third Advent Candle Joy. Let us welcome Hope! Love! Joy!

It’s the Sabbath. Today it really feels true. Tonight we’re having an Anti-Gun-Violence Vigil. It’s such a solemn thing — such a needed thing. So much to learn. So much work to do. Too much death. And yet, even this will be a thing of beauty. There are religious folk from 6 different traditions and many denominations assembling tonight. There will words of reality, words of hope, words of dedicating ourselves to what is needed.

And yet the word for today is enjoying. And somehow we need to balance both. It is the holiday season, filled with memories and tradition and hopefully Joy.

Today I remember my year in Sweden and I treasure the family and friends I found there. So many lovely traditions that still linger in memory and sometimes grace my table or my tree or my winter windows. Lucia is one of them. She brings the promise of returning light.

Apparently back in the old calendar, the 13th of December was the solstice. Somehow they counted their days differently. Today families sing of Nighttime’s heavy plodding around the yard… and they fight that with Lucia princesses and star boys. And those wonderful, wonderful saffron rolls. Oh, yum. And I think that may have been my introduction to whipped cream in my hot chocolate rather than marshmallows. On the whole, a rather wonderful trade off!

And so my friends, find joy in this celebration of waiting in the Dark. Enjoy the parties and the connections and the traditions. Stop for a moment on the sabbath so you get to recall what this season is really about. And Peace. may it be with you. May you be with Peace.

Alternative Advent – December 13: 5¢ for every meal with meat this week. Vegetarian? How will you give today? Because the point is NOT to escape giving, the point is to feed kids. What richness do you have that others would be so happy for?

Remembering the Peace of Advent

One of the hard truths about this time of year is that we are forced to confront what we may have missed, or have lost. For some of us, those of us who are very privileged, the holidays have been sweet, families have been united and traditions have traveled between the generations. But even those people have lost beloved family members who are no longer there.

It takes a while to recalibrate. It takes a while to decide to focus not on what i don’t have but on what is there. It’s important for me to honor the heart of the holidays, both religiously and communally. But it’s also time to cut out the pieces of the holiday that no longer fit.

I love to think of the root of the word remembering … to re-member, to piece back together. To take the remnants of the good and to make something beautiful from it.

It takes a while to demand (of yourself) the space to celebrate holidays in your image in a fashion that suits you. But you are worthy of that. If you’re alone, find other people who also are. Or celebrate another holiday and make that yours until you can reclaim your own for yourself.

Remember the holidays… Feel free, not to long for what you once believe you had, but to create that which celebrates the deepest possibilities of life. Savor the Dark. Explore the Mystery. Be amazed by the Wonder. Gather with those who love you as you are — even if that means you’re alone and loving yourself fiercely.

Allow your holidays to be filled with Peace. Share that with others. Remember. Make that cloak of beautiful memories and move forward with joy. Peace be with you. Peace be with us all.

Alternative Advent December 12 – 15¢ if you have dishes in your house. There are actually people in our Susquehanna Valley who do not. So be generous. if you have more than one set, try 15¢ per set.

Peace of the Dark Sacred Night

There is such beauty in the night. Too often we ignore it, brush by it, try and light it up.

What is most wonderful to do is to linger in it. To go out into its silence and breathe it in. To honor the Dark as well as the Light. To honor the traditions that celebrate this dark Beauty.

The night is also a gift. Particularly here in the country, where we don’t worry as much about the violence that hides in the night. But we cannot let them steal it from us. There is a movement dedicated to safety for women in the dark: Take Back the Night. Yes! Let us do that very thing. Honoring the very holy Dark. Honoring the Women and Men who have always honored the flow of time. Finding my place in that long river of souls that know that nature is a thing of balance and that balance is to respected.

And this night? this is a dark, dark night. No moon. The sun is late to rise and early to bed. Winternight. The Earth is getting ready for rebirth. But that’s a time away from now. Right now we have Beauty and Abundance and this Dark and Sacred Beauty.

Let us go out into the Dark in the winter and breathe in that crystalline air, rejoice in the stars. Let us simply be at Peace in the night.

Alternative Advent, December 11: 2¢ for every bar or dispenser of soap in your life. Don’t forget all the stuff under the sink, in your linen closet or in the laundry room… You thought, oh, two cents. Hah! it adds up.

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