Sugar Moon Sabbath Wonder and Peace

Wherever you go, there is beauty.

For me, part of writing daily is to remember this. My musings are a spiritual practice of observing what’s right here in front of me.

The act of observation offers a deep reminder to appreciate — whether it’s an appreciation of the possibilities that lie at the heart of dysfunction or, like today, simply the simple awareness of the sight and sound of birds, on the wing and on the ground.

March is often a damp and chilly month — and every single day of it — just as every frigid day of February — is worth appreciation. No other day is like this one. The moon changes every day, and even if we were to look at the same time every day the Crescent Moon changes by degree and position and of course by when it rises and sets… it’s all pretty astonishing, isn’t it?

It’s a Sabbath today, let us enjoy both the day and the wonder.

Wishing you the Peace of a wonderful day.

Peace of the Slurpee, Sabbath Sugar Moon

it has been so cold lately that the ocean has frozen. The ocean freezes more slowly than sweet water because apparently the salt displaces the ice that would like to form.

This isn’t the first time the ocean has frozen, but it is believed that it is the first time anyone has recorded the phenomenon of the ocean being gelatinous with ice so that the waves still rose and fell (albeit soundlessly) but slowly.

A surfer/photographer took it, and no other pictures or videos have emerged. Scientists say they’ve never seen such a thing or heard of it. One guy in the right place at the right time. And he never turned on his cell phone.

New and wonderful things.

It’s a good thing to remember when the world seems out of control. It’s a good thing to take some time on this cold winter day to reflect and consider what it means that things are still happening that have never before been seen. That’s not all bad.

They say the cold is breaking. That would be a lovely thing. But in the meantime, make Peace with what is… you never know when you might see something new and wonderful under the Moon. Happy Sabbath. Happy Peace.

Snowy Peace in the Sugar Moon

As part of my work this year to become a Lunatic for Peace, I am trying to be present to every day. I work to consider the wonder and the blessings, not just of my life, but in every day life. I’m trying to watch the Moon change its shape and notice how it pulls on the Earth.

In winter, that means I pay attention to the weather and what’s happening in my neighborhood. It means I work to embrace rather than whine about the snow and the ice… I try to find its beauty. Because although this is no longer the Snow Moon, it is sometimes called the crust moon, when the sun melts the snow and the night freezes it to a blank sheet that can be razor sharp when broken.

But still… it’s not all that hard, because it is beautiful. Every day is a wonder. It is sweet and precious… All the hard stuff that happens is all the stuff that life is composed of. Wishing it away is wasting life. Having spent so much time at bedsides of people who are leaving life, you realize, there really aren’t any throwaway days. Which means the weather is part of what we have every day.

And the other day we had snow. Beautiful, beautiful snow. It fell steadily throughout the day and was light and fluffy and beautiful. It was easy to shovel and to dust off the car. And best of all it looked like diamonds falling. A day filled with diamonds falling into my life. Pretty fun.

Peace is such a complicated package of big vision and little immediate actions. I choose to welcome what is true at this moment in my life. Peace. When it’s snow, fluffy snow, it’s a pretty easy thing to be joyful about and to take delight in.

Interplanetary Sugar Moon Peace

Driving home last evening around sunset, I realized what I wanted to write about. The sky was so beautiful; it reminded me of a tale I’d once read, I had to talk about the joy of looking up…

When I got home, and opened the computer, my Facebook page was filling up with the same image that had so captivated me. Making sure that I had my planet right, and that that was indeed Venus hanging out by the Moon, a little research pointed out Mars was part of that cocktail party.

Out I went to check. sure enough, if you looked closely, there he was.

And then the people posting the pictures noticed Mars as well, (he’s such a quiet and shy man for a War God… a man of strength and action, I guess; not showy at all): Oh, look, I never saw him until I took the picture!

I remembered a tale that celebrated the New Moon and the friendship between the Sun and the Moon. The author suggested that once the Moon had gone off to do travel in her own orbit, she and the Moon had only one day a month to see one another.

I’ve learned a lot about the moon since then. Now I know that, with the exception of one day, she always has her eye on her beloved Sol…

But there we were last night: the God of War and the Goddess of Beauty hanging with Her Serenity in her sly beauty. A more Peaceful night is hard to imagine. If those celestial beings can be at Peace, whether hanging together on a cold Winter’s evening or sailing majestically through their own orbits, couldn’t we work harder to do the same, i wonder? And instead of griping about the cold, couldn’t we instead give thanks for the stunning Beauty of the Winter sky?

Cold Peaceful Close to Snow Moon Lunacy

This is it for 2015 Snow Moon. Tomorrow the Sugar Moon starts. Thanks for your beauty — you gave us a lot.

You were brutal, this year. There were “extreme winter weather events” all over the Eastern Seaboard this year. There was biting cold. (and oops, there still is!)

So here we are, on the other side of the Snow Moon and what do we know. The worst winters in history are piling up. It could be a “weather phase,” but it’s much more likely to be global climate change. We need to take this seriously. We’re fiddling while Rome burns.

And meanwhile we’re complaining. And you know, lots of people who were complaining were underdressed. Can’t run around in a teeshirt under your jacket and whine because you’re cold, my dears, it’s negative degrees. and that? is cold…

I sound like my mother. I have to admit. I don’t think she was wrong. She wasn’t wrong about recycling either and she and daddy started early, early, early. There’s a lot we should be doing for this planet.

We can’t just say we want Peace on Earth and Peace for the Earth, we have to do something. We’re the only ones who can make a difference. Peace is on us.

Snow Moon, Peace and Beauty

All hail the beauty of a full Snow Moon. From the time it came up until it rode high in the sky dragging those stars in a rope of diamonds after it, it was simply beautiful.

And before it disappeared into the clouds, it peered down at us surrounded by a rainbow… warning of the skiff of snow we got.

Beauty, it’s interesting to note, unites us. Lots of people posted about the Moon last night. And everyone was in complete agreement. It stopped us in our tracks. It made us talk to one another and share our joy. We should let that happen more often. We should find more reasons to encounter beauty and share rather than hoard it.

That beauty shone across the world last night… and all was not well, because horrible things were happening — but still, maybe we can find a way to capture the little moments and build on them… When I see moments like this, I remember, my friend Lorraine and all my friends saw this beauty and smiled. People I don’t know, people all over this world, saw this beauty and smiled. Sharing those smiles turns the mundane into the sacred. Let us make it safe for Beauty to be celebrated… Let us make it possible for Beauty to promote Peace.

The Lovely Lunacy of Snow Moon Peace

Oh, it was a gorgeous day yesterday; light snow fell and fell and fell!

It kept us busy shoveling, which got me outside enjoying Winter. Where were the children? It was such a lovely snow!

I have nothing deep and meaningful to say about this Beauty. But oh, i enjoy the beauty.

And there’s everything good to be said about going outside and being overcome with delight. I had a fairly relaxed day, Mondays are often down time for me, more about house chores than work. And indeed laundry was done, things put away, sidewalks were shoveled. (And the snow was so light, very little strength was needed to push it around!) The Moon was not admired, the snow had elbowed its way to the front!

But friendships were renewed with visits, chats were had and a gloriously indulgent Hotel Budapest was watched. It was a slow day, dotted with pauses to gasp in wonder.

Lunacy to stand outside in the snow? Perhaps, but what a thing of Peace!

And while I reveled in the Beauty, I was mindful of the danger that many people will be facing today and tomorrow… May all be well.

Magnificent Dark Moon Peace Sky

Immediately after posting yesterday, I was poking around on FB and lo! and behold, my niece had just posted an incredible vid of the Andromeda Galexy that NASA has released. You thought you were insignificant yesterday, simply staring up at the stars? Whew!

My friend Jim reminded me of the importance of our task as appreciator of the beauty.

I find that the beauty moves me even more strongly to embrace Peace, to declare myself its ally and one of its creators.

The Universe reminds us that there is both overwhelming Abundance and breath-taking Beauty. Let’s lean back, look up, remember that our neighbors are just as awestruck as we, and let’s make a celebration of Peace and Love.

It may be through out this year as we look at the Moon with Lorraine’s beautiful Moon Shots and reflect on the Lunacy of Peace to which the Moon calls us, that the Dark Moon might become a very special celebration of the festival of the Dark of the Moon — the time when we stop and take stock of the immensity of our Cosmos and the call to respond to that wonder and awe with Peace.

Transitioning to Peace, llvl

There is no vida more local than our bodies. The majority of us grow up complaining about these temples, we’re too fat/thin, our mouth is too big/small, our hair is too straight/curly. We’ve all got a beef.

But there are those whose beef is bigger. Their self is completely out of alignment with their body. And that’s torturous. Society is only slowly beginning to be aware of this struggle. In small pockets, people are beginning to listen to their children and come to terms with their truths. Watch Katie Couric interview Jazz, a 14-year-old transgender youth.

But others are frightened by this and too many transgender folk pay a horrendous price for being who they are. Our fear and transphobia too often causes them to hate themselves. I couldn’t find the exact figures for the statistics on suicides and attempted suicides, but, here are some fairly stark facts (from Equality PA)

74% of transgender people report experiencing harassment or mistreatment at work;
74% of children in grades K-12 who expressed a transgender identity or gender non-conformity experienced harassment at school and 23% of those students experienced physical assault; and
49% (nearly half) of transgender people were verbally harassed or otherwise disrespected when seeking public accommodation such as eating in restaurant or getting on bus.

I’m so lucky to have Bill Stayton, world renowned sexologist as a member of my congregation. He’s leading/teaching/supporting us, at church and in our valley, as we come to terms with a life that is far larger than we’ve understood.

Everyone deserves to live in Peace. Transfolk have a hard journey to make. We may not understand, but we can be part of creating a world where there’s enough Peace for them to work through to who they are. We can be present to them as they become fully who they’re meant to be. Peace. Let’s make it. And let’s bear witness as people make it for themselves.

Defiant Peace, llvl

I think too often we think of Peace as sort of a milquetoast cousin. (Caspar Milquetoast, cartoon character drawn by HT Webster (1885-1952), American Cartoonist. a very timid, unassertive, spineless person, especially one who is easily dominated or intimidated. Do’t you love that word?) But any way Peace. It gets thought of as sort of soppy, and saccharine. Or such an esteemed ideal there’s just not arriving at its boundless possibilities.

But it’s not. It’s strong and persistent. It trickles the idea of itself into even the most recalcitrant soul. Peace.

Yesterday, just a day after this picture was taken, was cold and blustery. This morning, despite the wind’s bravado, there are still leaves proudly dancing. They’ve made their own Peace with this season and they’re leaving in their own time. In the meantime, there’s Beauty and Abundance and Color. And no small amount of Joy.

There’s a lot we could learn from that, don’t you think? Peace… it’s never out of season — and it’s always out of season, and that’s it’s beauty.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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