The Peace of Waking Up

The month is changing, and with it the way we focus on Peace. Last month was about conceiving the Peace dream. This month is about waking up both to its possibilities and its responsibilities. Our job is allowing life to well up in us and to commit to the dream.

Traditionally this day was about the dedication of candles that would burn throughout the year. It is also about the dedication of a spiritual life that would give you and your community life during the year (and life) to come. How will you, your dream, and your life bring light to the world?

The changing light of this season causes animals to stir in their burrows. They may not be up for good… they may be like the rest of us when we awaken to early in the morning… a quick trip to the loo (or in their case out of their burrow) and a return to the nest for one last snuggle in. I welcome the changing light which will shake me from sleep just a bit earlier every morning. I’ve missed the early morning. (but not enough to climb out of bed in the dark!). One of the beauties of my work is that I do get to notice the day’s turnings and live by them… Now it’s changing, get up, I must be going!

If we waken slowly, however, rather than springing out of bed, we get to drag the remnants of our dream into the morning and thus begin our mornings with Peace. As the sap rises in the trees, it doesn’t one day know itself as a frozen knot and the next as a spouting fashion, it slowly unknots and begins to flow. May it be so with all of us. Good morning!