The Peace of Christmas Come and Gone

This is a hard day for me. First Christmas without Deb. The reality of so many wonderful family Christmases, the remembrance of family gathered last night, and the beauty of family close by and far away, my dearly Beloved and my dearly beloved… and the sweet sadness of a woman missing, calls not made, hugs and kisses not given, conversations stilled.

I miss her. Terribly. I think about my friend without her husband. My nieces without their father. Our church without our Charlie. And my friends who have lost and lost. The loss is always true, always there, a small payment for the joy of having loved, but still… On a day when there is Hope, it is Hope despite the breaking hearts… and the Love which you all share with me.

There is so much that has been beautiful about this year. I am grateful for my Peace Path, for Love Flows, for my writing… and for all of you. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve, the people who trust me and the ones I trust. Broken-heartedness doesn’t render me unable to serve and it doesn’t touch the Laughter. Thanks be for that.

And the Christmas question… can we allow (can I?) — despite aching hearts and broken promises and tattered dreams — Christmas to come? Come with a renewal of hope and faith in Possibility. Come with the enjoyment of family and friends. Come with its own urgency to Peace. Come with healing on its wings?

I hope so. And till it does, as it does, Deb, I miss you so much. And I fantasize, because we know nothing, that they keep Christmas in heaven (may there be a heaven) and you, at last, at last, at last, have your kids and your husband around the Tree and parents checking in… all hearts mended, all problems solved. And you’ll know we’re coming along some day…

And so, I will pick up the living room and put up the tree. And Steve and I will call the kids and celebrate… For I believe in Christmas and I’ll keep Christmas Day. And it will keep me until my heart is healed because I have kept it with you… and the many people I have loved… living and dead. Peace be with us all.

Wonder at Advent Peace

This is a night of wonder: Whether you’re awaiting the birth of a babe or the flight of reindeer or a moment of quiet, let heaven and nature sing…

I’m in a tough place right now… missing my sister, too many deaths around me, people living in impossible situations, it’s a bit overwhelming. And yet Christmas comes. For me, there’s the sweet familiarity of carols and ancient stories that remind us of great possibilities… and things that happen that we can’t even begin to understand…

don’t wonder at babes in stables, talking animals, angels in the heavens, reindeer in starry skies, fat guys in skinny chimneys, and presents under the tree? you’re missing a lot. how about the sweetness of friends and their generosity? all pretty wonderful. and a day of peace… can you let it be that and can you let it be wonderful?

Have I said in this blog that a bishop at a recent ordination meant to say we need to become apostles of the truth… and he said impossibles of the truth and I thought: brilliant!!!! Let’s be Impossibles of the Truth. and here’s the Truth: Peace is Possible… there is much to wonder at in that!

the awe is palpable on this night of Love… Happy Everything!

Expect Advent Peace

What if we just did that? What if we just expected it to be Peaceful and then acted as if it had happened? How would the world change?

This isn’t like wishing for a pony for Christmas, this is expecting that you will care for all ponies because ponies are needful.

This is an expectation of yourself that you will be Peace. In Advent, in the sacred season of coming into being… This is an unwillingness to expect any less, not only of yourself but of others and then loving yourself and your neighbors when we fail and encouraging us all to try again.

Expect Peace. The world needs you to ask the very best from it, to not settle from less. Part of expectation is going back again and again and again, and asking for more. Advent: Hope. Love. Joy. Peace. The hard work of Advent is expecting all of that. C’mon, I have great expectations of us.

Joining Advent & Sabbath Peace

At last, the fourth and final Advent candle: Peace. Do we understand that we are responsible for Peace, responsible for being Peacemakers? Not just smoothing things over, although calming rough waters is important; but acknowledging our similarities and celebrating our differences. The prayer might read like this: “May I be a person who encourages that which is right and just. Let me stand fast for my beliefs and cherish the work of Peace. Blessed Be.”

To that we add (join? connect?) the Peace of the Sabbath. A very weird warm humid Sabbath here in Central PA. Today it’s 59 headed into the 60s, by tuesday night it will plummet into the teens. And the stinkbugs are out. blech. I know, as Bill Staines says “all God’s creatures gotta place in the choir.” Obviously fragrance is part of that choral arrangement. And I’m not properly appreciative. But if the verb is join, they’ve just joined the heavenly chorus. (can you hear it?)

But the harp is sounding. We are to join the chorus for Peace. We are to be the chorus for Peace. (wow, weird dream flashback, I was joining the men’s chorus in my dream — given my cold this morning, not inappropriate, i’ll cover the bass as long as it’s only one squeaky note. But the men’s chorus just practiced on a better day!)

Ok, back to Peace. That’s what it’s all about, wherever we go, whatever we’re up to, we just get back to Peace. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.

Harmonize in Joy for Advent Peace

I find singing harmony far more fun than singing alone. When everyone has to listen to each other whether or not you’re singing lead, it’s so fun. And when you’re singing lead, in some ways your choices are narrowed. You sing the tune. You hold the center. It’s not about being Ms. Bigshot, it’s about holding the clarity while other people weave around you. Because if you start wandering off, your harmonizers have nothing to hold on to and you make them look bad.

If you’re a strong center, then everyone else gets to lay back and take risks. And if a risk goes awry, oh, well, the center held, try again. Ready to take the risks for a while. Find someone else strong enough to hold the center. Ah-mazing! And then everyone needs to adjust as a new singer starts. Where is the center of their notes?

Oh, it’s a good metaphor for this Peace-making thing. First you find the tune, then you find the grace notes that embellish it, all the while listening to the other singers so that your grace glides lightly over their grace. Peace! Harmony! and Understanding! Yahoo. That’s what you want in this season of Holidays! Making Magic. Making Memories. Doing the hard work and having a fine time as you do it. Joy! Joy! Joy! Deep in my heart.

Calm & Joy for Advent Peace

Funny, Calm and Joy seem rather at opposite ends of the spectrum, although who’s to say that Joy can’t show up in a lot of ways? But I’m wondering if we don’t need to calm ourselves so that we can see the joy.

It’s so easy to get agitated about the yucky stuff. And then we start to spin. And spin. And pretty soon, it’s difficult to see the path out because what we see is the spin. One big exhale and an inhale later, the spin can stop and we can begin to see the the steps.

Calm owes a lot to good breathing. You deal with what’s in front of you. But when things are grand, then it’s fun and even good to jump for joy. As kids we know the joy and jumping connection. As adults, we’re really rather more attached to jumping up and down in horror or rage. Those are situations that require a calm heart and a reasoning brain. The Jumping is just a distraction, a way to let the rage and the horror win.

Now Joy is an entirely different kettle of fish. Joy bubbles out of us or radiates depending on how open we’re willing to be and it infects others if we let it out. Again, would you rather people caught the Joy or the rage and horror?

So calm yourself deal with what’s going on, and open to the Joy of simply being alive and sharing this Life. Wow! You’re here! Celebrate! Dance! Peace!

Connect to the Joy of Advent Peace

EEK… almost forgot to connect about connecting. Happy Holidays! I’m running around like a fool… I had food and money cards from church to get to our local food bank. Do you think my family is expecting gifts? hmmm. I admit it, I’m a failure as a gift giving Grannianni… I find other ways to connect! I need to find more and better…

The holidays, which ever one(s) it is you’re celebrating, are a great opportunity to connect. You know me, I’m a big proponent for celebrating lots of holidays. (There’s no place like your home for my holidays. It’s my new favorite song!) But remember you don’t need to connect with people who don’t make you happy. Lonely is far better than actively unhappy at Christmas. Lonely can be experienced (connected with) and then connections can help smooth a path and perhaps change your holiday experience.

And if you’re alone? Perhaps you need to take this time to connect with yourself. Make your space wonderful. Feed yourself healthy foods. Plan what you want to do next. Take steps toward the best you!

Connecting. It matters and it helps. Peace is all about connecting the dots and connecting the hearts.

Revel. Joy. Advent. Peace.

I’ve always loved seeing, reading about, imagining what were known as Christmas revels. Wild dancing, feasting, drinking, firelight, yule logs and drafty manors. The rhythmic thump of feet hitting the floor in intricate country and court dances.

Those people worrying today about putting the Christ back in Christmas as in the olden days maybe should understand much of Christian revelry is ancient and interfaith (if by interfaith, we understand that every tradition that touched it put its stamp on it.).

I’m a Unitarian Universalist, so plurality delights rather than threatens me. The more the merrier. What do you know from your searching? And believe me I get it. I am grateful for the understanding and the wonder that the birth of a small babe brings. Whether or not you believe more about that babe, it’s astonishing that the birth calls the world to a halt.

But in the cold and the dark, people gather and people dance. In the face of a dying year, people revel in the life that flows through them. Dancing in the face of death. Demanding the stories that remind us that life continues beyond us. And yes, celebrating babies. (and, perhaps, making them? Baby it IS cold out there!)

So, revel. Enjoy. Revel in the possibilities. Revel in the Peace. Revel perhaps for Peace. Remember all the wonderful things that make life worth living. And then live!

Share the Joy for Advent Peace

Sharing the Joy… and most specifically my joy in you and all you can do.

When I stop and think about my life, I’m astonished to realize how many wonderful people I know and encounter. Sure there are those, who, shall we say, fail to live up to their potential. But then, if I look in the other direction, there are hosts of people who are quite lovely and filled with talents and gifts that they’re quietly realizing.

It’s a lot about where we put our energy and our focus isn’t it?

And if I’m looking at you with awe and wonder, why would I fail to share that with the world? Because if I can help them take a wonder-filled work, and they can help others, pretty soon Peace will begin to break out.

So try it — notice how grand a couple people are and then share that with them and with the world. Fill up with joy and let it bubble over. Share the Joy. Live for Peace. The holidays are hard enough with all the frenzy. Give your self a chance to count some blessings and get centered in how abundant your life — and the world — really is, and, then, celebrate!

Elate, Joy, Advent, Sabbath, Peace

Well that’s a mouthful! But a fun one!

The third candle is Joy. Part of life’s journey is enjoyment. Are you quick to smile at a baby or laugh at a joke? It’s amazing how much better a day is when we make the effort to be joyful. People respond to joy. Life is short, let us live into it.

May I take joy in the dailiness of life, revel in its opportunities and in the people I encounter. May I be filled with wonder and amazement at life’s beauty and bounty. Blessed be.

And the today’s verb is to elate. To be elated. To allow the Joy of this Holiday season to move you to gratitude, certainly, but also to full on appreciation of, elation in the moment.

Here the white stuff makes me incredibly happy! Last night I got to go out and walk in Winter Wonderland. It was gorgeous. This morning I’m far more elated now that the snow is off the car and I believe it will pull out of the parking spot! But really, enjoy it! It’s the Sabbath so you might give yourself the chance to lean into the feelings of happiness. Thank Mother Nature for the snow and the beauty. And then allow yourself to feel it! Elation! ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Sacred Village

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