Meetings and Sabbath Peace, llvl

It is perhaps an odd notion that meetings can be on a sabbath occupation and there will still be room for sabbath to get some attention… But small organizations fit their meetings in where they can. And weekends are often what we have.

But small organizations are run on human hearts and human ingenuity. Things need to be done and so you do them. Here’s to all the folks who take the time. Because small organizations are the engines for much of life that matters… they get things done and they plan for the future. This is as true whether you live in a large metropolitan area as it is in small rural regions.

There’s something wonderful about being part of the engine, of contributing your gifts and making something you care deeply about work. It’s probably even more true because none of us, or at least few of us, love committees and boards. But they do the work. And we’re grateful for the investment of time and love. This is doing good to make your community (and your world) better.

So go to your meeting and then take the time off to enjoy the day some other way… Happy Sabbath, you wonderful Peacemakers!

Second-Chance Love & Peace, llvl

There have certainly been friends in my life who have wandered away or from whom I’ve wandered. But most endings weren’t wildly dramatic. Even endings with most boyfriends were fairly civil not long afterwards, but I’ll confess that I don’t know where some of the formerly important people in my life are.

Maybe that because I’ve moved around a fair amount, so it was easy to move on. No need to hold a grudge because they weren’t really visible in my life any more. A couple of those losses were very painful and I’m happy not

But the interesting thing to me about the man who’s life I celebrated yesterday was his ability to keep his universe intact. Maybe because he lived in this area most of his life, it was more difficult to lose people altogether. But even when he was separated from friends, he knew how to find them again. And he often did. From all accounts, he was pretty volatile. He’d stop talking to folks. But then, he’d miss them, review what went wrong and make it right. He must have been a wonderful friend, because his funeral was packed with guys who had been his friends for years — even if somewhat off and on.

He’s a guy who took the “apologize and make amends” step in AA incredibly seriously. When he found out his cancer had come roaring back, he took a good look at who he wanted in his life as he was living his last years and found them. They made up and they made life happen. As up and down as his temper was, his heart was steady. When it was a matter of life and death, he put aside indulging his temper and simply loved…

I was fascinated and impressed by how hard he worked at friendship. I was touched by how many cherished this hard work. I was inspired to do better. He left an amazing legacy of Loving and Peace-making. May we all do the same…

Home, Peace, LLVL

In the last year, I’ve had to pinch myself several times… I can’t quite believe my good fortune. I am living in a place that every part of me considers home. I love the landscape, I love the seasons. I love the communities. I love the opportunities. I love the Music and Art that get made here. I love that I get to be part of all of it.

In addition I am doing the work of my heart. All the pieces of it. I have good colleagues and fellow travelers on this Peace Road. Wonderful People keep walking into my life and We keep making connections.

I have to credit my husband with some of this drive toward joy and fulfillment. Until I met Steve a little more than years ago, I don’t know that I’d ever gotten to know anyone well who was as involved as he is in his Work and his Art. I’ve always been driven, but I don’t know that I’ve always reveled in the achievement of dreams… But here, it’s possible… Or, here I’ve figured out how to make it possible.

It feels like magic sometimes that I can love my life so much. But then I remember that magic (and life and love) are very hard work. and so is Peace. But… let’s do them anyway!

Peace and la Vida Local

To be intentional. To be deliberate. To live here. To root here. To bloom here. To flourish here.

That’s the assignment and the art of living locally. To deliberately plant my roots and care how my living makes the locale better at the same time it makes my life better.

This becomes the Peace I can make. This becomes the Peace I can live in — because I know it. Or maybe those sentences should be reversed. I can begin to understand what Peace this Valley needs when I pay close attention to it.

And when I go away from it, as much as I love to travel, I long to know what’s happening back here at home. And extrovert that I am… home often means community. Not always but often.

A friend posited when I was younger, that I could always travel because I had such a good and healthy center in my family. Now, many of the people who formed that center are gone. Now I that I’m building my own healthy center, it’s harder to leave and sweeter to return. Sweet Wonder. Sweet Peace. Sweet Home.

Staying Local for Peace and Life

You know it happens, so you shouldn’t be so surprised. But when the people on the shore behind you in Florida come from 6 miles away from your home in Pennsylvania… and you know someone in common… that’s a sweet coincidence. And ok, sorta weird.

And that’s life.

In addition to the wonderful weather, there’s wonderful family here. When you don’t see each other all the time, you work hard to create the family and then you reap the sweetness. And that’s life.

It’s hard to keep up with everyone you love. It’s hard to stay connected. It takes hard work.. But the effort makes all the difference. Then once in a while there are chance encounters that make you laugh out loud. Stay present to the moment. Count your blessings and just be overwhelmed with the sweetness. Make memories where and when you can. From such things Peace grows. And alongside it the realization that every bit of life is local. It’s all about your showing up!

Creating a Peaceful Vida Local

It’s important to stop and take stock now and again about where we are and remember the places and experiences that got us here. At some point, we left those places and experiences behind. Sometimes we left with regret, simply because there was somewhere else we felt called to be.

Sometimes we left with urgency, needing to leave a toxic environment.

Sometimes we left because we were finished.

In the last two the leaving often brings with it sadness and confusion. Why are things over? What do I want?

There are plenty of times after leaving that we must huddle and heal. Throwing ourselves out there too quickly can convince you that you want to sit on the couch forever. But after a while we need to get up. And then sometimes we must wander in the wilderness until we find our new home. We’re not necessarily well-equipped to figure out what a new home needs to look like, especially when we’re grieving our old one. so there’s often stumbling involved. We need to find the shift in ourselves from “not this!” to “what I’m looking for…” If we’re hurting, in the beginning we may just be looking for community. And that’s fine. And the fact is we may try on a couple communities in the search, which can be painful for both the searchers and the communities that aren’t “just right.” It’s not an easy journey, just a worthwhile one. And we need to bless that journey of discovery.

But then, it’s best if we find and create a new nesting place, a new vida local. While I believe that you have to work to change communities, you can’t be working to change communities that have no interest in your desires. Ah, it’s a challenge.

In the long run, however, I believe we need communities and communities need new blood and new possibilities. Wherever we go, we need to create our new community. I am firmly convinced that it is our job to bend the arc of the world toward Peace toward Justice and toward Inclusive Community. So l invite us all, at the point where our grieving begins to move us back toward life, to find our new communities and to step up to Peacemaking. The rewards are enormous and help that broken heart to heal.

Icy Peace Assists, llvl

This was the first Winter in a very long time that we’ve had snow storm after snow storm causing dangerous conditions. Facebook has been littered with stories of massive pile ups on major high ways and cars sliding off roads into ditches.

Yesterday was the worst of conditions, a sudden ice storm left everything coated in about a quarter inch of ice. and the icicles were enormous.

For some folks, this was just one more day we had to be out and about. For others, it was another storm and we couldn’t, couldn’t, couldn’t postpone things any longer… although this was highly dangerous for a couple hours.

The only hope one had was that neighbors would drag you out of any icy puddles. At the end of this long snow spell, neighbors are pretty well primed to be helpful. So, be careful out there, there are snow piles, thin crusted puddles, and slush. And be neighborly… it’s the only Peace you can see… but when someone picks you up off your butt… it’s pretty real.

A new acquaintance from the Quartet I’ve been raving about slipped yesterday and his viola was shattered. He says it’s repairable… I can’t imagine the shock… but a neighbor who repairs string instruments has two for him to try and borrow… helping him out of that snow pile… and dusting him off as best as possible…

So mind your footing and keep your hands out to pull a neighbor out of a jam. Peace.

Traces of Peace, LLVL

I was a bit lost yesterday afternoon when it came time to write the day’s musing… it’s not a common occurrence, but I’ve been doing this for three years, and it happens. I asked a friend, what should I write? Write about our ice skating escapade he wrote, about the web of life and how it causes community. Hmmm.

Now when I say “our ice-skating adventure,” you understand, I don’t mean MY ice-skating adventure. I don’t do that. I’ve never had great ankles, and I’m not all that steady on my pins. Those two pretty much eliminated any childhood winter olympic dreams I might have had! No, this was a church outing. Although I have to find out if they have those ice-walkers for adults that they have to keep kids upright. I might be more willing to try it again… and less likely to experiment with my “triple-klutz.” (although that may be optimistic!)

But the thought for the musing certainly had possibility, and it wouldn’t be the first time I wrote about something I didn’t do. I’ve written a perfectly lovely poem about biking, and my balance doesn’t encourage that, either…

But the notion of tracing the lines, that move from one single line carved in the ice to many overlapping lines was intriguing. that some of the lines in the web are straight and sure and some are wobbly and uncertain makes the comparison to the web of life more realistic.

And then, above the skates, all the emotions going on, fear, joy, laughter (i spared them my terror!), growing friendships and giggles. There had to be a game of crack the whip, right? That was always the funnest — even when you were the little being tossed off the end. So as lines were being traced, friendships were deepening, and memories were being carved into childhoods and communities.

A silly thing, really, just a day of enjoyment on the ice, but so many connections were possible — and many were made. Even if nothing deeper happened, here’s to winter and the fun of winter sports. Breathing in the frosty air is a treat unto itself!

Companionable Sabbath Peace, llvl

Mmmmmmmm. Here we are, it’s mid-week Sabbath in my whacky world of calculations. Having started the year on a Wednesday, I’ve continued to start the weeks on Wednesday, introducing Deb Slade’s new pic, and thus my new week every Wednesday. It makes Tuesday a special day of anticipation, because Deb’s pic is coming and Wednesday a day of pleasure, because I’m introducing it and having to think differently in response to it… which brings us to Sunday, smack dab in the middle of the week. Yay.

So, I’m not sure whether I’m only mid-week or also mid-life (technically, i know probably past midlife by a good 10-15 years!), or whether it’s just that we’ve been snowbound, but I’m really appreciating the remembrance that we’re not on this journey alone.

It’s been wonderful to start working on Love Flows: The LOVE project, which involves our gathering money to feed hungry kids on the weekend. And it’s been even more wonderful to gather people who are willing not only to think about the project in different ways, but to do something about making a really big dream a possibility.

Being in community makes big dreams achievable and companionable. And on the Sabbath, you get not only to celebrate the dream but also appreciate the community. Well, you do, if you want to. This week, I’m feeling particularly grateful and counting blessings.

and You? are numbered among those blessings.

I’m also enjoying winter, and although I’m not going along… i’m happy that a whole bunch of folks from the church are going off ice skating this afternoon. This is one of the things I remember from my happy little childhood… have a great time guys!

And yikes! because Sabbath to me also means church, I’d better stop sitting around smiling and get ready to go sit around and sing and smile and not be responsible today, because one of my companions on the journey is responsible today!

Blessed Sabbath. Celebrate the Dreams. Imagine the Peace. and do something that’s not work!

Neighborly Winter Peace, llvl

It’s a lovely thing, living in a town that’s small enough, at a pace that’s slow enough, that you can come to know your neighbors and what they’re really up to.

Suzanne is collecting coats to send to a reservation out West. The winter has been so cold and the poverty there is so extreme. And as she says, who doesn’t have a coat in their closet that they don’t wear all that often. She’s sent five boxes so far. She’s thinking about books next, because they don’t have enough books in their school libraries. And we have books by the truckload. Oh, said someone, they’ll be expensive to ship. Could they be more expensive than hungry minds? Probably not.

It was wonderful to talk to her and to hear not only what she’s doing, but why. To begin to understand what moved her heart and then moved her to action. It is good to sit with someone who is moved to action, even when they’re actions very different from ours, you understand the movement and it encourages your own. Hearts on the move toward Peace. However small the movement, however small the Peace. It’s what we need.

But living la vida local is also about the dailiness of life. And so, in Suzanne’s beautiful room, on a bluff high above the river, we sat as the day lengthened into evening talking about Big Hopes and little ones, her painting and my writing, people we knew and loved… just two women, living la vida local, doing the best we can, loving the community, and enjoying our lives to the fullest.

There we were: finding the moments, enjoying the Peace and the connections that’s already here, and then going back to work.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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