Really? Sledge Hammer Peace?

It made me laugh really. Ann and sledge hammer in the same sentence. Ann with a sledge hammer in her hands. Don’t tell my brother or my nephew, they might injure themselves laughing…

Now, to be fair, it wasn’t back up over my head, being swung to put in a railroad spike. No grunts needed for impact. We were whacking at the spikes to loosen them up so that they could be pulled up after someone else had been out there swinging to put the tent spikes in the ground.

But I was tool using, nonetheless…

Of course the fact that i was the youngest of the geriatrics cleaning up post yard sale… meant I was likely to have a look-in. But still. And I’m upright today. Without bruises. Pretty good, I’d say…

Tell no one, I enjoyed myself, Tool Usin’ Mama that I am!

Peace, folks, and relax, the only tool I’m using today is a computer — and maybe a car.

Growing Power; Growing Peace

Last night I went to hear Will Allen, Urban Farmer, speak to the Bucknell Freshmen. Smart, savvy, wonderful, this former pro basket ball player is working on reconstructing how we grow food one urban neighborhood and rural landscape at a time.

It’s a wonderful thing. You can learn more about him here.

One man, with a small dream, is making a huge difference in many lives. And then, he’s set out to challenge the young to find ways to be part of this movement.

What he did is so outrageous and yet, at the same time so possible.

It took a while to realize that a) I have enough on my plate and b) I’m no farmer.

But Will Allen is a Tinkerbelle I’m happy to clap for… Anyone else wants to be this sort of farm fairy, I’ll clap for you too!

Growing Soil. Growing Power. Growing Peace. Wow!

Rights, Wages, Peace

I believe people need to earn a living wage for the work they do. I believe they should be safe at work and have sick time and vacation enough to ensure that when you return to work, you are rested and ready to go.

I’m grateful to all the people who have been in the fight so far. I’m grateful for all who are in the battle now.

We need to keep moving the world forward toward Peace. Peace for everyone. No exceptions.

Dancing Peace, No Moon

The Moon was tucked up in bed, but the party went on anyway.

We sat down by the river. we danced in front of the garage. We ate good food and drank cool things.

There’s really not a better way to say good bye to summer. Thanks for what we had! Come back, we’ll miss you! And oh, this one last dance!

What a fun time was had by all. (if only sweet pea had not been sick.) 🙁

I like all the seasons. I try very hard to like every day. But Summer, I do like what you have to offer.

Peace and thanks for stopping by and staying for a while. Let’s dance some more! Let’s celebrate!

Peace in Moving Beyond

Sometimes I realize what a stick I’ve become.

Do I really want to go to a Burning Man Party I wonder?

Oh, yes, I did. It was just marvelous. Not only the food, Ann’s first way of judging a party! But a whole bunch of new people in a beautiful place. People who did fun things, like the woman who twirled fire. That was really a fun thing. It was beautiful. She’d learned in Hawaii, and hadn’t done it for years.

And then the man. My friend had built this marvelous man. I sweet talked my bud who went with me into staying for the burn. It was lovely and emotional. Yay!

And the night, mugginess and bugginess aside, was a perfect evening. The stars, the stars, the stars.

And today’s another party of another kind. A weekend of relaxation. hurrah. (well, except for the yardsale!) And today, the summer is over and I get to go back to church after the sabbatical. My peeps! (This is sort of an all over post, isn’t it?)

There’s a lot of Peace in exploring things just outside your comfort zone… and even if it doesn’t get all the way to Peace, there’s a lotta fun! It’s the Sabbath. Relax and enjoy. Why not try something new?

Peace Must Be Made Where You Are

It’s always so easy to complain about the weather. And indeed. The weather right now is challenging. Hot and Muggy. And my church is having another yard sale. oh, boy.

But this is the day we have. We either make Peace today, Peace with today, or we say that Peace is less important than the weather.

Since at any given the moment, the weather could be less than the perfect, dry 70˚ weather everyone seems to favor, there are a lot of days that we need to be at ease with so that we can do what needs to be done.

Because Life is what it is. And Peace needs to be where we are. Love? it needs to be everywhere. Because Peace, Life, Love.

Consolidating the Pieces for Peace

As the Fruit Moon wanes (alas, alack) I prepare for the beginning of my work year. It starts as it ended with a yard sale. Boy that required a lot of consolidations, but none of that mine, thankfully. I’ll just go down and hand out bags.

But I’m trying to make sense out of all the things I’ve read this summer, trying to find a place in my mind to lay out the puzzles of all those different pieces. What’s the picture? How do they all fit together. All summer I’ve been expanding and now I’ll have to pull it in to some sort of order.

In a week I face the congregation, and have to have something coherent to say… I don’t want them to miss how much I value the time they offered for this study. I don’t want them to miss the wonder I’ve felt at everything I’ve learned. I don’t want them to miss the importance of some of this simply because I haven’t done the appropriate sorting and placing. It’s been all about issues of Justice. Bob Marley said so simply, no Justice, no Peace. It’s easier for all of us to reach for Peace and ignore the hard work that justice-making demands.

That’s the work of the waning moon — to consolidate.

In the gardens and orchards, the fruits are being brought in and preserved for winter enjoyment. (Although my advice is also to eat them as quickly as you can now. Stand in your kitchen, over the sink and slurp up that ripe food as quickly as you can!) Give thanks for what we have now and for what lies ahead!

Here we are: consolidating the pieces of wonder for Peace. There are worse jobs!

There’s a Lot of Work between Here and Peace

After the happy dance for completed work yesterday, the reality set in.

There are miles to go. I’m not going to say before I sleep, because we’re going to need the sleep to keep going.

It’s a journey.

There is so much work that needs to be done. And for each of us, if we choose it, so much that we can do, something that is specifically geared to our talents that is helpful. As Mahatma Gandhi said: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in service to others.”

Yeah. I’m on a soap box… I keep thinking about the hungry kids. I can’t solve the employment problem which is really at the heart of this… I can just ask for money to feed the kids while someone else does their part. What’s your part in Peace?

Review. Finish. Celebrate.

It was so fun to be dancing around with my friend/colleague/co-conspirator yesterday after we finished the grant application.

I’m not sure that everyone appreciated it, but oh, well.

It wasn’t just the doing of the application… the plowing through, finishing it up. Although that was wonderful.

It’s not often you get to take a task from awareness to completion in less that 48 hours! Zoom.

It was the recognizing what we’d done and what we’d set up to continue doing that was grand. And then we received a letter that confirmed that what we thought we were doing, people who were using the money we raised ALSO thought we were doing. That was a great joy.

And a great encouragement to keep going. So. would you like to help feed hungry kids? Go to Love Flows and donate. $10 a month feeds two kids. Amazing, eh? You can change two kids lives for $10 a month. Right here in River City. Want to start your own program doing something anything to help? It will make a difference.

It will build Peace. And that’s what we’re here to do. Make a difference. Build Peace. And Celebrate when something works! Yahoo!

The Peace of Babies All in a Row!

Some things don’t require a lot of explanation, they just are. They are in fact just perfect.

A limousine stroller full of laughing kiddles and a long rope with slightly larger kiddles hanging on? This falls into the you can’t stand the cute category.

And then they waved and mugged for the camera. man. sweet.

Sometimes Peace is a simple shared moment in time when everything is just beautiful. Babies can give you those moments (especially when they’re someone else’s, riding by and waving!)… Peace, y’all! Let’s celebrate the sweetness… It lubricates the rest of life!

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

The Priestess Is In