Beautiful Peace, llvl

Some Peace you work for. Some you’re just given. There are those days, and yesterday was one of them. Blue, blue sky. Corn shocks hanging around. Color deepening on trees that don’t release until their leaves are brown. Undulating patchwork fields. Sunlight that hadn’t turned to winter’s lemony light.

It was just gorgeous.

And then a brilliant sunset reminded us — winter is coming.

Some days are really just about drinking in the beauty and filling up for the week ahead. Twice. Lots to do, but it’s all the better for the beauty of the weekend. I spent lots of time hanging with my sweetie. That was pretty wonderful too. Oddly, for my crowd, I was asked to say grace yesterday. There was much to be grateful for

The weather will change, but the next season offers its own Peace.

You have to keep your eyes and heart open. Otherwise you won’t recognize Peace when you bump into it. And wouldn’t that be a shame?

Lingering Peace, llvl

The season has changed, there’s no denying. Everything is slowly hunkering down for the winter. Most of us are fairly resigned, some of us are even excited that winter’s icy goodness is knocking.

But some pieces of Nature are not quite ready to give up their Autumnal beauty. Insistently they pinkly take their good ol’ time relinquishing their reign.

They’re a good reminder. There is in every season, a little bit of another. So the embers may glow but the flowers still reign in their little fading kingdom. There’s beauty everywhere… it’s worth taking the time to notice. You live here. Appreciate that. Allow Peace to linger in you as it lingers in all the quiet corners…

Shadowy Peace, llvl

Few of us spend any time looking in a mirror — and when we do, often we don’t look beyond our hair. We’re discouraged from our childhood fascination and exploration in a mirror. During puberty, we learn to see only flaws in the mirror. Young adulthood only asks that we be trendy and from the first grey hair it’s all down hill.

But, stop!

There’s a lot to be seen in a mirror if we really look. Who we are is right there for us to examine. If we give ourselves a chance, our beauty is right there.

Also, It’s said that in a darkened room the shadows of our ancestors can be seen as well. All their hopes and dreams for us are there. Whatever they made of their lives, and I believe most people do the best they can, our forebears’ wish for us is that we will make the most of our lives, that we will be people of change.

Do we want that? Do we want to be people who do what we’re passionate about? What we’re interested in? Do we want to be beautiful because we’re filled with zest for life, because we’re hopeful?

Maybe starting with the shadows we can see not only our ancestors but also all the Possibilities for Peace that lies in our hearts. Wouldn’t that be a lovely sight?

You’re beautiful! And in the soft shadows we can’t see our imperfections — simply our beauty. Peace be with you. Peace be you. Peace of the shadows. Peace of your heart.

Gingko Peace, llvl

I am a fan of the gingko tree. I don’t know that I ever knew them before I went to college, But over by the library and the humanities building there were a bunch of them. Come fall, they were carefully watched. Everyone wanted to be around as the “gingked!” It was amazing to watch as the trees poured their golden bounty down onto the earth. (It was less amazing to smell it… whew. Decided I should look that up. Here it is from eHow:

“Ginkgo trees are large, deciduous trees found in temperate climates. Hardy trees well-adapted to withstanding harsh urban conditions, they are able to thrive despite poor soil, pollution and packed soil. Female ginkgo trees produce large amounts of seeds covered in a seed coat. Ginkgo tree berries stink because the seed coat contains butyric acid, a chemical found in vomit, which is released if the fruit is allowed to rot.” ok. eww.)
They release in such a short time. It’s amazing. Somehow something gets in that tiny, little tree brain and boom, leaves fall in a glorious golden profusion.

More recently, I love the gingko because they have been planted down at my old town pool in honor of my parents and my sister. There they wave and rustle and will for long after I’m gone… That certainly makes me proud, if not happy.

They herald the end of Fall, they’re late to turn. But they hold on, hold on, and then they don’t and then they presage Winter. This year, they’ve done a great job, Hallowmas is the 31st… and the trees are just now releasing their hold on this beauty. Peace in living with the earth, sweet Peace indeed. Makes you think that Mother Earth and Nature know exactly what they’re doing!

Surrounded in Peace, llvl

I don’t live in a perfect community. Neither do you. But I do live in a place where if I need help I can ask for it and be pretty clear that I will get help. I live in a place where if I’m missing or I seem “off,” someone will want to know what’s wrong with me.

That’s worth the world. It’s something worth building. It’s something worth participating in, and maintaining.

Right now in my faith community, there are a few people facing huge obstacles. It feels wonderful to know that people are gathering around. In a couple cases, there’s not much one can do but sorrow… but to know you do not grieve alone is very reassuring.

I’ve watched this happen in my beloved small town as well. People have needs and friends do what family cannot. Partnered relationship is lovely, and I treasure mine, but the embrace of the community is both supportive and restorative. I certainly felt that love and support as my sister was dying. I don’t know how I would have borne that without you.

This personal response is why I’m so pushy about feeding our local kids. I want our hungry children to understand that there are people in their community who want them to succeed, people they can turn to when nothing’s going right.

If you do this right, if you don’t make this about an exclusive club, this is a Peace that can seep out to bathe more and more people in the love. Last week in the Diwali ceremony, Anjalee finished with something like You are Home and welcome… and you are Home and welcoming… beautifully capturing the notion that there is a place where you are welcomed and a place where your work is to welcome… one and the same place. Let us keep building communities.

Arrival of Fall Peace, llvl

Deb’s brilliant photo is a gentle reminder that things are changing. Change is a good thing. But oh, we’re all reluctant to let go of summer and the outdoors world. But October does what she can to ease our reluctance by turning gorgeous reds and yellows and oranges. At least in our little vida local.

Our job is to keep our hands and hearts open… to release what is finished and to welcome what is coming. Life is quite extraordinary, no matter what’s happening… What does the future bring? We can only know that by responding to the cues of the present.

So, here we go. Thank you, Glorious Summer, for the extraordinary times, for the warmth and the friendship. Thank you, Autumn, for the bounty of love and life we’re now enjoying. Thank you for the balance. Thank you for the wealth of experiences which will be the basis for my Winter stories and my study beside the fires… Peace is in every season, but only if we’re willing to recognize and enjoy it!

Traveling Peace, llvl

My Sister- and Brother-in-law are getting on a train and setting out to see the Country. Oh, my goodness, it will be so fun!

I’ve driven back and forth a couple times. It’s so vast. The landscapes are so different. Oh, the taste of hunger on my tongue to see this Beauty. But plenty fun enough to live vicariously.

They’ve plotted and planned for this trip for years. I went to see them yesterday, they were so excited.

Plotting and planning for what you want. Now that’s a good thing. See the Beauty the world has to offer. Also good. Meeting people long the way. Pretty fun, too.

They’re people collectors these two, so they’ll have a whole bunch of stories to tell along the way and when they get home. They have a knack for being present.

Where do you Hunger to go? What do you Hunger for? And how are your plans coming along. Plotting and planning for Adventure. Plotting and Planning for Peace. Let’s do what we need to enjoy this life!

Hope and Peace, llvl

It’s been a bit “sloggy” around here recently. Hard work with small minds safely filled with old stereotypes. And then, this…

As you all know, if you’re following me, my little town recently lost a rising star. A young man, musician, poet, nice guy, skateboarder, high school kid, died in a car crash. Our students and our parents have been reeling with the grief. It hits at so many levels. The high school band has been having a very hard time.

And again I say, and then this.

They played an away game. You know local football rivalries in small towns, we live for them (well many of us do!) and they’re fierce.

But this day the home team band stopped their performance and asked for a moment of silence in memory of Miles. They read a poem. They gave a tree to his family to plant in his honor. It is the sweetest, most generous thing I’ve ever heard. What a lovely ability to see beyond their life… What a gift of being seen for the away team. Let us give thanks!

There’s Hope, folks, and we need to fan that flame every chance we get. Because that’s where beauty lies. That’s where Peace lives.

Nature Peace, llvl

Mother Nature not only offers us good eats, she offers us Beauty. Here’s this squash, portrait by Deb Slade in wild and beautiful color.

We come in wild and beautiful color too, but somehow that’s never as celebrated as the different colors of, say, heirloom tomatoes.

But what are we, each and everyone of us, if not precious heirlooms?

Peace is a many colored thing… Let’s embrace that. Let’s act on it.

Sabbath Seal Peace, llvl

Well, it doesn’t get much more local than yesterday. It was hard not to be present to every seemingly perfect moment. The day before was the day of seeing the seals. They were hilarious. Look, the neighbors dropped by! And there they were in a big-eyed smiling circle, just hanging out…

Marg, my first Swedish sister, who lived at my house when my brother was an exchange student, took me out for our daily constitutional, hup, hup. We ended that with a plop into the sea. It’s gorgeous on the coast, but there’s not a lot of shade because it gets scoured by winter storms. So the water felt wonderfully refreshing. Silly Swedes were saying, oh, how warm (70˚!)… i was gasping a bit, but really… it was so clean and clear AND it was warm enough to discourage man o war jellyfish from the day before. yikes.

I need to fasten this ability to stop daily life and be present to the moment in my brain. it’s good to do this now and again. look at this. look at that. look at this. oh, taste this. summer, summer, summer. sea, wind, water, sun. and love! 45 whole years of it.

Tomorrow I move on, and I’m both sad and excited. This time is so worth the work and the wait and the resources required. I tried to think yesterday… didn’t work to well. Love will keep growing if you just pay attention. Connections will be woven.

Today is Sunday and there’s a cake party underway. two cakes being baked. I’ve been assigned to assemble the meringue torte… under strict instructions. but what the heck. meringue, raspberries, blueberries, whipped cream. for that, I’ll follow anyone’s direction, do it just the way they want.

Yesterday was a tired day. couldn’t remember how to walk or speak swedish or do anything, so i stuck to doing the dishes and folding up the wash.

We finished the evening sitting on the patio until it finally got dark at about 11:30 (sun went down at about 10:10!). Two of Marg’s friends dropped by and there was a lot of laughter and tales of days gone by. Life is for the Living. the Sabbath is for the noticing. (I’ll be noticing the four cakes!) and for the reflecting as I pack down my suitcase for the next time… Heaven has been spotted many times. The bad news is that there are 4 inch slugs in Paradise. and i stepped on one… urgh. Peace. Gratitude. Beauty. Wonder. Love. ahhhhhhhhhh. Keeping the sacred in the sabbatical.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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