Sunrise, Sunset, Sabbath, Peace

I received a video this morning to tell me that the sunrise had been beautiful. As beautiful, it turns out as the sunset last night. And the sunset was gorgeous. (even if driving west during the sunset is a pretty lousy idea.

Ah, this earth. and this beauty.

I’m grateful that this is my Sabbath today. After the tumultuous weekend, it will be so good to gather with those who are my family of faith. Our traditions may be different, but when they’re right for us, there is that sense of coming home. And when the world is so crazy, home is central to our well-being. And so many, so many have lost all they’ve known as home.

I must admit that after the long hours on the road, I’m really looking forward to an afternoon nap as well. zzzzzz.

But enjoy the day. it’s cold but beautiful. Do those things that remind you how good it is to be alive.

Peace be with us all, my friends. Peace.

Busy Weekend (Sabbath) Peace!

What a rich weekend. Friday night at King Street Coffee House and great friends playing. Doing ceremony — a sad tribute to a lovely woman. An evening all about friends and listening to a dear friend who just gets better and better.

Today is jam-packed. Church (preceded by choir!). A friend in a play (and the reviews have been great.) And then more friends in another short road trip to hear EG Kight sing again.

A couple years ago EG Kight came very close to dying. And did not. But they didn’t know if she would ever sing again, let alone write, let alone tour. She’s back, her voice is better than ever, and although the touring is hard work, she packed a three hour show. Never less than her best.

And she is so encouraging. She’s played with one local musician before, and she brought him up. But she’d heard about a young man called him out of the audience and handed him her guitar. And then coaxed the best out of him and let him coax the best out of her. It was lovely. Such generosity.

So you know me. I’m a bide-at-home kinda girl. But once in a while, you have to make the effort to enjoy the bounty. And doesn’t that seem ridiculous.

I know this area is rich. But every area is. Feast and give thanks.

You can’t help but be at Peace when you’re sitting in a crowd listening to someone belting out the blues. (Most of the time I could even let the young talking kids in the front off my indignant that’s-no-way-to-listen-to-a-concert fuddiduddiness!) Music. Theater. Ceremony. Community. Faith. It’s a weekend worth celebrating and a Sabbath worth indulging, and making sacred. Oh, and there were moments of sublime beauty. It’s Peace if we give it a chance.

Shaping Peace

As I read stories about people dropping stones onto cars below, I wonder what’s happening in the macro sense. I feel like my grandmother, bewildered by a nasty, changing world, maybe it’s not different. Maybe I’m just seeing things more clearly. But it feels different.

And yet I remember my father taking boy scouts hiking. A rock was kicked off a path, and fell onto the top of a car driving below. I don’t believe it was aimed for the car. I know they were lucky it landed on the roof and I know they rushed down to make amends and to offer (I don’t remember what happened, i was very young) to pay for the damages.

Accidents happen, especially when people are horsing around. But no one around here doesn’t know the dangers of such things because we’ve known what happened to Sharon Budd when a rock landed on her head. Four boys dropped a big rock onto the Budd’s car. It struck Sharon in her head. Over a year later, she struggles with pain and memory and operation after operation. She will always struggle; her life has been altered. The boys (young men?) are going to jail.

What tempts them?

Is it naive to think we’re not connected enough? That we’re not seen enough? I know, there are always kids who weren’t, but are there too many? Families are not gathered, few belong to churches. Few are scouting, few are connected.

And if we’re not connected, the world is happening to us, we’re not happening to the world. We’re not creating Peace.

Guns. Rocks. No Peace. What do we do? It’s on us… I wish I had a clue about where to begin.

Peace, Not Guns

How have we become so fearful?

How can it be that more pre-schoolers are killed by guns in a year than police in line of duty. One is an inherently dangerous job. One should be dangerous only because we fall reaching for our goals.

This is America. This is our legacy.

We’re doing things that make this so and we don’t seem so very interested in stopping it.

And I confess, I don’t know what to do but keep talking about it. What to do but keep asking for hearts to change. You cannot convince me that an assault weapon is good for anything other than killing a lot of people.

You don’t eat deer or any other animal peppered by a lot of shot. They’re ghastly instruments of war that you can buy so so easily. I live in PA, in a rural county where many people eat because they hunt. No one’s asking that to go away. But these people pride themselves on a clean kill and good marks(wo)menship. My sister in law won the fish and game honoree of the year this year. She’s proud. and good for her! I’m proud of her.

But assault weapons? Weapons of terrorism?

And who gets killed? Children. Women. People of Color. Seeing any correlations here?

We don’t need guns. We need gun laws. We need rational gun owners of rational guns. We need Peace. We need to make Peace. Peace. Peace. Peace.

Community Dancing Peace

It’s really sort of a Thursday miracle. About 40 of us gather to listen to jazz in a friendly little downtown restaurant.

People like each other, and are really happy for a night out. Food’s good. BYOB, so folk are drinking what they want.

I know I brag, but my husband is really an extraordinary drummer. And his group is quite wonderful. There’s always a beat you can catch, because making people dance is Steve’s happiest thing.

It’s part of the group’s happiest thing as well!. Dancers throng the floor and just delight in the pleasure. Many of them are 70+. One of them is 90+. Some are not well, and still they dance away. And have so much fun.

Sweet Thursday Dancing Peace spills easily into Friday as we all enjoy the memory. Get out there and dance, my friends.

Forgiveness on behalf of Peace

I am a lousy student of history. There is so much I haven’t studied. It’s embarrassing to admit but i have only the most superficial understanding of Gandhi and his non-violence and peacemaking. So much for Peacemaking!

So last night was revelatory for me.

The speaker was great. He’s retired, but still involved and an exciting speaker. He had tons of information, much of which I’d never heard, made me know I should know more, but spoke so movingly and convincingly about the ways forgiveness contributes to Peace…

The way it softens hearts…

And how it’s only softened hearts that allows us to move forward. Gandhi thought of himself as a failure because in the end, Peace was not perfected. But Peace is ongoing work. It is the best of us that moves toward forgiveness. It is the best of us that demands Peace. So it will always be a struggle… and yet…

Forgiveness. Peace. Oh, there is work to be done. And there are possibilities to be discerned.

Really? Sledge Hammer Peace?

It made me laugh really. Ann and sledge hammer in the same sentence. Ann with a sledge hammer in her hands. Don’t tell my brother or my nephew, they might injure themselves laughing…

Now, to be fair, it wasn’t back up over my head, being swung to put in a railroad spike. No grunts needed for impact. We were whacking at the spikes to loosen them up so that they could be pulled up after someone else had been out there swinging to put the tent spikes in the ground.

But I was tool using, nonetheless…

Of course the fact that i was the youngest of the geriatrics cleaning up post yard sale… meant I was likely to have a look-in. But still. And I’m upright today. Without bruises. Pretty good, I’d say…

Tell no one, I enjoyed myself, Tool Usin’ Mama that I am!

Peace, folks, and relax, the only tool I’m using today is a computer — and maybe a car.

Dancing Peace, No Moon

The Moon was tucked up in bed, but the party went on anyway.

We sat down by the river. we danced in front of the garage. We ate good food and drank cool things.

There’s really not a better way to say good bye to summer. Thanks for what we had! Come back, we’ll miss you! And oh, this one last dance!

What a fun time was had by all. (if only sweet pea had not been sick.) 🙁

I like all the seasons. I try very hard to like every day. But Summer, I do like what you have to offer.

Peace and thanks for stopping by and staying for a while. Let’s dance some more! Let’s celebrate!

There’s a Lot of Work between Here and Peace

After the happy dance for completed work yesterday, the reality set in.

There are miles to go. I’m not going to say before I sleep, because we’re going to need the sleep to keep going.

It’s a journey.

There is so much work that needs to be done. And for each of us, if we choose it, so much that we can do, something that is specifically geared to our talents that is helpful. As Mahatma Gandhi said: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in service to others.”

Yeah. I’m on a soap box… I keep thinking about the hungry kids. I can’t solve the employment problem which is really at the heart of this… I can just ask for money to feed the kids while someone else does their part. What’s your part in Peace?

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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