It’s good now and again to get outside and set your face toward the rising sun.
The glory of this heron, stork? i’m not sure, doesn’t need much explanation.
We should follow our animal instincts occasionally and bask!
Such actions would surely set us up for a day of Peacemaking!
This was a fun and funny picture. Many of us have painted ourselves into corners in our lives… The arrows here remind us there are ways out.
I want to remember as I look at it, that both ways can lead toward Peace (well, once the paint dries!). This corner wasn’t quite so dire, but it does remind me that I can be doggedly set on a direction that is not necessarily going anywhere. Sadly, not always and not often, but occasionally, I just have to run into that corner. Because I’m stuck on my path. I’m not sure it’s the Peace Path at that point… it’s really the Ann path, because I’m going there, against any good sense or checking the gps. Sigh. Determination is mostly a good thing, but not always.
Here’s the important thing about Peace Corners: you have to keep a sense of humor about them! Because you will get to this point eventually. Just remember to keep laughing and look for the reminder signs. Laughing at ourselves is a great first Peace step!
As I said when I pushed this poem out, it was less a poem than a recounting… this morning the poetic muse seems a bit more with me…
I woke up thinking, oh… in some places the Path to Peace is so important, that we cover it. It’s an interesting notion is it not… The Path to Peace is always challenging. There are things that make it more challenging. There are ways to make it less so. Whether a bridge exists for vehicles or foot traffic, there’s value in the covering. This way you can always get across the stream that might otherwise prove an obstacle…
We’re safe there. People have been safe there for many, many years… Walking the Path to Peace? Cross the bridge here, why don’t you?
I love watching it rain. I particularly love watching it rain on water. Plunk. Plink. Plunk.
If it’s warm or if my feet are dry, I love being out in it. Even drenching rains. (ok, if it’s warm, I’m likely to take my shoes off). It’s not so fun if you’re supposed to be all dressed up, but I have great raincoats, because … rain!
We all grumble about it, but it’s so needed. What it also is is useful! It’s also forgiving, erasing evidence of our past mistakes… hiding our tears when we go for a walk.
Rain falls, the saying goes, on the just and the unjust. We say, and need to mean, no justice, no peace (thank you Bob Marley), but for Peace to happen at some point there needs to be forgiveness. Rain reminds me that this is possible.
We’re all going to get to Peace a bit differently. And that’s great.
The more Peace Paths the better.
Today’s musing grew from yesterday’s post right here… I knew this picture was there for me to consider, but hadn’t thought about how I might use it.
I’m thinking more and more about how I contribute to the Peace of the moment, the Peace of my region and the Peace of the world. Trying to think globally and act locally.
I confess that thinking globally right now worries me… so time to double down. Time to stop whining and start appreciating. Time to keep forging connections. I think connections are building blocks for Peace. Time to celebrate when it happens. More, more, more. Peace. Peace. Peace.
I work hard to find the Peace in the little things. I believe, full-heartedly, in the importance of paying attention to the little places that we can see what’s beautiful and maybe even mend what’s broken in small and fixable ways.
But I’m not merely concerned with the little Peace of Life, celebrate it as i do.
I’m concerned about Big Peace. It has been noted that there are fewer wars in the world now than ever before. But the manner of delivering war has been perfected. And I worry that we entering a nuclear cold war era again.
I don’t want us to look at beautiful thunder clouds and start talking about clouds of war. I want us to think about becoming Clouds of Peace, stretching across the sky, watering Peace gardens and justice movements. Let us be Clouds of Beauty. Clouds of Hope. Clouds of Justice. Clouds of Peace.
We must become tireless advocates for Peace. Peace needs us… and all the people of the world need each other. Let us Peace.
Man, I know utility is a good thing. But let’s hear it for whimsy. And just think, back in the day, people used both!
What’s fun is a friend sent me this piece that he wrote on the particular gargoyle that Cindi photographed. I’m going to settle in and read when I get back from my walk!
I’m going to think a bit where I can add some whimsy into my practical work. It’s time to laugh. Whimsy and laughter are good for practical Peace.
My brother tells a story about his granddaughter arriving in his town when a tyke. A local guy, who rides around town on a standing bike, dresses for the holidays. So Tom and Grace were riding around and he looked up and saw Peter Rabbit trundling by.
Look Grace, there’s the Easter Bunny. Grace aged 3, was completely convinced. In fact, Grace, aged 6, reminded Pappy just the other day about it: Remember Pappy when we saw the Easter Bunny?
It’ll be interesting when she gets older and has to figure out what the heck a guy was doing dressed as a Bunny.
But if you want to know what he gets up to on his off hours? he rides around Canton, PA, keeping in shape.
Peace of the Morning to you, whatever this day means… and there are so many wonderful things.
This picture was so sweetly reminiscent of both Passover and the Easter Vigil. There is a path through to the other side. And there is slow, still time for refection.
Both of these holidays speak not only of the eventual triumph, but also of the need to be engaged in the present, which is troubled and grievous.
We’re so willing to look away from life’s uncomfortable and ugly moments. But they don’t go away for all that.
Giving Peace a chance, means being present. It means wading in the water. It means sitting shivah. We can only hope that new days will dawn and a path will open. In the meantime, we must find our Peace where we are and mourn what is so difficult. Peace is present every day. We must be present to it.
Beauty is not meant to be hoarded and tucked away protected from the world; it is meant to be shared.
Peace shatters if it’s sacralized and kept apart.
The more Beauty we bring into the world and share with one another, the more we learn and acknowledge what another finds beautiful, the better able we’ll be to create something lasting and possible between us.
I woke up thinking that everyone needs to build themselves friendship cells. I need to know women who are Muslim, Christian, Jews, and the Hopeful. I need to form such a group deliberately. We need to learn one another and love one another. The more of this that do so, the harder it will be to foment differences between us.
We are people who believe in Beauty. We are people who believe in Peace.
