Peace Mirror

I love this picture. Is it a mirror reflecting an object? Is it an object? Is it flat and painted? Is it three dimensional? Is it convex or concave?

At some point, I have, in looking at this picture, considered all these things. I don’t know. I think I know, but I’m not sure. Here’s what I do know. Reflection or object, it’s beautiful.

If it’s a reflection it asks us to consider whether what is reflected in the mirror is truthful and beautiful. If it’s truthful, I’d hold that it was beautiful. If it’s an object do we know our beauty and our worth?

Somehow the notion of Peace dances with all of these possibilities. How do we show our Beauty and our vulnerabilities? Does our reflection tell the Truth? And how are we generous reflectors of what we see?

Peace… it’s such a lovely and confusing dance!

Finding the Cloud Peace

I work hard to find the Peace in the little things. I believe, full-heartedly, in the importance of paying attention to the little places that we can see what’s beautiful and maybe even mend what’s broken in small and fixable ways.

But I’m not merely concerned with the little Peace of Life, celebrate it as i do.

I’m concerned about Big Peace. It has been noted that there are fewer wars in the world now than ever before. But the manner of delivering war has been perfected. And I worry that we entering a nuclear cold war era again.

I don’t want us to look at beautiful thunder clouds and start talking about clouds of war. I want us to think about becoming Clouds of Peace, stretching across the sky, watering Peace gardens and justice movements. Let us be Clouds of Beauty. Clouds of Hope. Clouds of Justice. Clouds of Peace.

We must become tireless advocates for Peace. Peace needs us… and all the people of the world need each other. Let us Peace.

Beauty and Peace

Beauty is not meant to be hoarded and tucked away protected from the world; it is meant to be shared.

Peace shatters if it’s sacralized and kept apart.

The more Beauty we bring into the world and share with one another, the more we learn and acknowledge what another finds beautiful, the better able we’ll be to create something lasting and possible between us.

I woke up thinking that everyone needs to build themselves friendship cells. I need to know women who are Muslim, Christian, Jews, and the Hopeful. I need to form such a group deliberately. We need to learn one another and love one another. The more of this that do so, the harder it will be to foment differences between us.

We are people who believe in Beauty. We are people who believe in Peace.

May April’s Beauty Bring April Peace

We are having glorious weather. Here in the Northeast we grumble our way through the dregs of Winter longing for Spring. (Unless like me you’re a person with pollen allergies!)

April starts and still it is cold and dreary. And still we whine.

And then it changes. It will still be capricious, no doubt, but it will be beautiful.

We need that Beauty in our world right now. We must be that Beauty in the world right now, because right now I worry our country is on the verge of starting wars on many fronts. Our people could be in danger. Other people could be in danger. We must be Peace. We, like April, must bring joy and Beauty… and spread it across the land and the world.

Clouds: Their Omens, Their Peace

Clouds are so beautiful. My mother painted clouds often. As a family they were a road trip’s enjoyment.

But they are also often harbingers of things to come. Storms, for instance.

Right now the clouds are lying low… it poured yesterday. It will do so again.

The clouds of War seem to be gathering on the horizon. That’s frightening.

But clouds are things of great beauty. How do we reclaim the clouds for Peace? How do we claim the world for Peace.

The Greening of Peace

Even as we’re fretting about how chilly and damp it is, the sun is moving North. We’re in the midst of a period when the changes in sunlight hours are the greatest. 2:40 minutes a day of gain.

It helps our plants and flowers to understand that now, now, now is the time. And up they come. It seems so dreary, but then, all of a sudden there are flowers poking their heads up out of the sod. Look at me, they flutter… look at how beautiful I am.

Time to wander down the street to photographer Deb Slade’s house and see what sort of Spring beauty is on display.

Keep your eye out for Beauty. When you spy it, let someone know. An invitation to share the experience of Beauty is an invitation to Peace. Let us offer Peace to a world that sorely needs it.

Snow and Icicle Peace

It’s all fine and dandy when the sun’s shining… The challenge is being fine and dandy and allowing ourselves to be filled with the mystery and beauty when it’s gray and threatening — again.

It’s easy to chafe against the cold and damp. But the weather is what it is. and after all, it’s March. March is filled with gray days. No sense being at war with an entire month!

Find the Beauty. Explore the Mystery. Make your Peace… and start spreading it around!

Present Peace

They tell us again and again, be here now. They’re not wrong.

And the beauty, it’s right here right now. We have to stop and notice.

Because it is in the moment that there is Peace… and then we only slowly widen that… so there is Peace in this moment and then we push it into the next. Now we have a past and a present. The more we do it, the sooner there becomes a future as well.

Present Beauty. Present Peace.

The Earth Says I Am Here. Do We Respond, “Peace?”

We live on this beautiful planet Earth. Too often we pay no attention to that fact.

And the Earth is paying a price. Because the Earth is paying a price. The bigger price the Earth pays, the less she can support us.

It’s that simple. We must say Peace to the Earth. And act on it. The Earth is our Mother. We must love her as such.

Because if we’re not concerned with this relationship, we limit our ability to build Peace. It’s an issue of Justice: the most deeply impacted are the most marginalized and poor. It’s an issue of bounty: She must be healthy to feed us well. It’s an issue of quality of Life: we need clean air and water and soil. It’s an issue of Beauty: Nature moves us with her outrageous Beauty. It’s an issue of Peace. Our issue of Peace.

Mirroring Peace

It takes being calm to give a good reflection. If the mirror is moving you get only glimpses.

Glimpses are worth something to be certain. But sometimes we want a good look at what is there. We sometimes see things in a mirror’s reflection that we might not see otherwise.

Babies are good reflectors. If we laugh and giggle, they will as well, they will mirror what we do to make that connection. At some level, they know they’re dependent upon us for food and comfort. Mirroring our behavior ties us together.

Jeanie caught a wonderful picture of still water capturing beauty. This stillness is often found at sunset… who knows why. Maybe it’s there other times and it doesn’t catch our eye in the same way… But here is Beauty. Here, for just a moment, is Peace.

Wishing you the blessings of a beautiful Peace.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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