To encourage the Love. Is there anything more important that we can do in this world?

And the sacred season of Advent is built for exactly this possibility. Of all the holidays I left behind as I became Post-Christian, Advent is the one that has most called to me across our differences. I have been unable to release the feeling — don’t you hear Leonard Bernstein’s “Something’s coming, something Good — I don’t know when…”

For that to happen, we have to make space in our lives, our hearts, our souls. We have to encourage it. I started writing about Peace in these musings a year ago. My sense that it is possible has only grown — and I haven’t even left Dodge! I know more people for whom this is a concern. I know more people who are not like me and we are forging conversations and even doing good work. Little Dreams are taking root, and growing.

It’s got to happen where we are — here where I am, there where you are. And as it spreads. As we relax into Love, we relax into Peace. We start naming it, we start letting it be important. We start doing things that are not, perhaps, on the surface about Peace, but which create Peace in their wake. Because we’re caring for people. We’re feeding them. We’re fighting pollution in their name. We’re standing up against ecological disaster. We’re each doing the things we do, and widening our scope a little. Perhaps even gentling our touch.

There’s something that each of us can do to encourage Love. One of the great things about it is that it’s habit forming. If we’re kind. If we’re generous. If we’re thoughtful or resourceful or determined. The Love makes the setbacks bearable. The Possibilities of Peace illuminate the journey. We have a place we’re bound. There is more Love, more Peace, more Grace. And I’ve found it in your company.

Oh who you are and the work you do are worthy of all the encouragement I can give you.