Variations on Peace, llvl

It’s all well and good for me to appreciate the glories of my local life, whether at home or at my friends’ homes. It is good to appreciate. But at the same time, I think, you hold the tension of life where things are not going well… There are always horrifying things, but today there seem to be so many.

With a dear friend, living with AIDS for 23 years now, I’m aware of the huge scientific loss of the Malaysia flight in addition to the humanitarian loss. What, you wonder, would make people think this violent act was a good idea? And then list all the other places in the world where people suffer horrendously for other people’s greed…

I’m grateful to know that a sister UU church is standing up and saying No to the hatred in Texas — And I’m sure there are plenty of other churches along side them… but horrified there are churches standing together on the other side of the street, that the welcome being extended is a counter protest.

So, when life is breathtaking in a little village in Sweden (or a little village in Pennsylvania), I think we must store that up against the horror — store it up so we have fuel to get back to work when the time is right… It was a beautiful day touring around the bay yesterday. The beauty is outrageous. The skies were clear and the temperature was perfect. The whole day was a prayer of gratitude and beauty.

And somehow the intermingled stories of the oysterwoman and her priest brother were just so simple and lovely. So I breathe in the love, the wonder, and the simplicity and let it soothe my soul. And I try to be present to each of the fabulous moments. There are so many right now. I am so lucky. I am so grateful. I am at Peace.

Peace/No Peace, llvl

It seems odd… here am I in wonderland, looking out over the sea who hides her changes. The good news here is that the mackerel are coming back… or so we hope. But Fjällbacka, like my lovely little Lewisburg, is a small village and much that is wrong is very well hidden and all that is beautiful lies on the surface.

And at the same time, the world is exploding in roiling ugliness. People are gathering to turn away children. People are gathering to watch a war as if it were television. People are being shot from the sky. 300 lives ended, including some of the great minds working on AIDS. And those are only today’s headlines, there is so much we’re looking away from.

And so I pray. I pray for those who are warred upon, may their bodies be protected and their souls comforted. I pray for those who make war, may their hearts soften and their brains clear. I work to pray with each breath, to notice the beauty, to appreciate the love in this family and my life, to realize how precious life is and to be grateful.

I may not feel guilty for my time off, that would sully it. Cutting it short wouldn’t change what’s happening… I am not so powerful. So I must treasure this time — and all of you — and prepare myself for my return. I must make more good memories to savor and shore me up.

In the meantime, I am also wildly grateful for those who do their work so that the world may be better…saner… safer… I pray that we may make it more Peaceful, more Just.

Peace Dreaming, llvl

Dreaming… It’s so important… Imagining something bigger is the first step to Peace. To envision sitting someplace with people unlike you in appearance but so like you in heart and soul; people who live somewhere so different from where you live… ah… that is a great and luxurious pleasure.

Dreaming is more than day dreaming, dreaming is serious business. It’s fun to simply float along, but it’s good to have a dream that looks to become reality. That sort of dreaming stretches our hearts and our heads…

It’s been fun to go to sleep on this bed with the map on the wall above me. and of course central to the map is Sweden. My whole life changed in Sweden… For a lot of reasons, I relearned friendship. I learned to speak another language and thus listen differently. I lived in another culture. I lived in another family. I was transformed, my heart fundamentally altered. It was such a wonderful experience. I came from such a safe wonderful but supremely little world. And then my life was broadened… even though I moved to another little world…

I love sitting betwixt and between… being here and remembering that life can be restarted… and looking at home where life is also burgeoning. (Deb Slade always knows how to capture our attention, doesn’t she?) Love. Peace. Growth. Possibility. The world really is much bigger than we think. Let us give thanks for the Wonder of it all!

Nature’s Pyrotechnic Peace, llvl

Oh, Pennsylvania gardens in the summer! Lush, no other word, except perhaps, pyrotechnic, which our photographer Deb suggested when sending this picture. The greenery explodes, the color pops. “Look,” gardens cry. “Celebrate!” I love the way the spikes burst out of the ground in this photo.

Flowers and plants have their own reason for doing their dance, but we’re the happy recipients of their bounty and their beauty. Doesn’t matter if you’re a vegetable gardener, a flower gardener or, like me, simply a garden appreciator, there they are, gorgeous.

Gardens require a lot of labor. Feeding the world and dazzling us with delight takes tending. I’m so grateful for folks who do the work. I’ve been a dedicated apartment dweller my whole life… I live without dirt, because i pretty much break out in hives or poison ivy in the great outdoors… but that doesn’t mean i’m not dazzled or grateful.

Life. Wild and glorious. Mother Earth is bountiful. And too often we are careless stewards of this abundance. Our approach to such beauty should be reverent and tender. Yesterday I had what i hope may turn out to have been a fruitful conversation about the benefits of boiling water vs roundup for a man beside himself because grass kept pushing up in his sidewalk.

This abundant garden is where we live. For our own sake, and for our Mother’s, why would we put poison on the ground? The Earth gives us life. Shouldn’t we, if we can’t conceive of giving life back, at least consider not poisoning what nurtures us? It seems very little to ask, especially when the world is exploding in bounty under our feet and fingertips.

You understand why painters paint and sketchers sketch and writers write, trying to embrace and honor the beauty. There are so many reasons I’m happy and lucky to live here… gardens are a pretty fabulous reason. Nature, let us be one with it. Let us be at Peace in it.

Abundance and Peace, llvl

I’m having a sobering 4th of July. Thinking about what I love about the US and saddened by some of the things I know. So my post is a sideways post. I’m choosing to remember, I’m choosing to face toward the abundance.

I’m not ignoring the challenging, I’m fueling myself and I’m reminding myself. There is so much that is great and wonderful. I can work with that. I can work for that.

I need the reassurance these proud blooms give us… because there are people who are counting on me. and you… as Pete Seeger taught us “when there are problems to be solved, let’s get all the world involved, God’s counting on me. God’s counting on you.”

Peace, baby! Happy Fourth. Celebrate today. Work tomorrow. Stand up! Step up! Be Present! Be Beautiful. (i’m a whole buncha damned bumperstickers).

The Peace That Is, llvl

We so often want what is different from what we have that we overlook the bounty of what we have.

And when things we’ve loved die, we mourn because we miss them. And we do, we miss both the things and the people… But at some point, our grief must make place for the splendor that still is.

It’s a delicate process to find the balance where we care for our grieving hearts and manage to let the beauty heal us. But in that Peace garden, we can find both our healing and our purpose, possibilities exist. Sometimes the gardens are actual gardens. Sometimes the Peace garden is our little local life. Sometimes it’s a world stage. Wherever it is, Peace it up! And enjoy what is…

All Out for Peace, llvl

It was a long, chilly spring here, which kept the violets happy. So that made me happy!

But summer has arrived. When this picture came across my desktop yesterday, I wasn’t altogether sure where I was going with it, and then I got it. These flowers don’t hesitate. They don’t wonder whether now’s the right time, or this is the right place. They offer their beauty — they go for it.

I may be the only one who dances back and forth from one foot to the other, but somehow I doubt it. Not every place, not everyone wants what i have to offer. oh well. That doesn’t mean I don’t offer it. It doesn’t mean I’ll be unappreciated. It may mean I should steer my blooming away from someone’s lawn, if they spend their time ruthlessly cutting it back, but sometimes they need to encounter Love’s profligacy…

it’s in each of us to be beautiful. It’s in each of us to be passionate. Let’s go for it! Life isn’t to be lived in black and white, it’s to be experienced (and appreciated) in its full living color! It’s summertime! Burst forth for Peace. Explode with Joy. Go for it; go all out for Peace.

Peace World, llvl

I never think of the sky’s having straight lines. It’s all puffs and spirals. But here’s proof, jagged lines bisecting the sky and the river. Two pieces of a puzzle joined together in living color. The divine bow, the sweet cut. Is it fanciful to believe that Peace fits into our daily life so sweetly? Maybe. Childish to look and see such possibility? Perhaps it’s only child-like.

But when I look at this picture, I see Hope and Encouragement. And I will embrace them wherever I see them.

And I’ll even rejoice to be reminded that I can dream of stepping into the Wardrobe or through the train wall. J. K. Rowling not only taught children to believe, she reminded us to dream.

So dream of Peace and consider stepping into it. Deb Slade, thank you for all you do!

June Garden Peace, llvl

This year, we’re having the June we remember from our childhoods. Beautiful days, impressive storms and wild riotous gardens. I know, I know, I say this every season, because there’s always something beautiful, but there’s nothing quite like June. It’s awash in Possibility and in Purpose. It’s green, green, green.

I loved the solitary splendor of this iris. Vibrantly purple, less ornate than its cousin the bearded iris, it’s a simple stalk of Beauty. We’re transfixed. But that iris is simply doing it’s job. We see it as singular, but it’s one more beautiful bloom in the garden.

That’s who we’re meant to be, I think: Individuals, Fulfilling our own destiny in an abundant garden. Gorgeous blossoms in a sea of abundance. Bringing Beauty, bringing Peace, is not simply our job. We’re simply there to bring the Peace we can. We need to count on our neighbors to bring the Peace they can. We each have our own work.

In a small village, it’s easier to see both your work and your neighbor’s. We can understand how to help one another grow and flourish. We can see the payoff. But no matter how large or small your village, find a small group and get to work. Then let the movement build.

There are so many reasons the world needs our abilities to bring, Peace to bring Change. Sometimes I’m overwhelmed by the weight of things that are wrong in this world. And then, I remember. I live in a village. I live la vida local. I can make a small but important difference. If I do my part and you do yours and we encourage one another, pretty soon change can start… Remember, you’re a beautiful Iris in a sea of Peace. This is your season to shine. Start there.

Sweet June Peace, llvl

It’s hard to understand how lucky those of us who live here are. Yesterday, my half of my community went to the mountains for worship and hiking and playing. An hour from where I live is a state park filled with trails and waterfalls and forests that have rhododendrons just like this one lurking to surprise you with beauty.

Kids played in the (brrrr) lake, bluebirds (bluebirds!) twittered at us from the pavilion rafters, pretty healthy food was served (we are UUs after all).

Driving down off the mountain the vista over the valley was incredible. Everything was green and a surprising amount of land is undeveloped. Certain places along the road there is nothing to look at but canopy and sky.

I live here. I don’t get out often enough. And I certainly don’t get out and sit with my friends to visit, walk along a trail, or hop in a natural body of water anywhere often enough. And Why not? Why not fill up on Peace so that we can spread it. We live in beauty. Let’s get out and enjoy it. June’s perfect weather is fleeting.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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