Movie Theaters of Peace

I am not the world’s biggest movie buff. I do love our little meticulously restored Art Deco theater in town, however. There used to be thousands of these, and now simply a few remain. But ours is gorgeous. And the beauty is a big seller for the woman who goes to movies sometimes begrudgingly. In addition, they have butter, real butter, for their popcorn. Large buttered, parfait style, please… (they layer it!). If that doesn’t help me wander a long way down the Peace road, what would?

I try to be judicious about movies if I’m going to go. A long time ago I decided no violence. I keep trying to find movies that lead me toward possibilities and hope. Or giggles. I’m big on giggles.

Every day and every day as i see more ugly parsimony taking over my country, I try to push more hopeful encouragement out. We can get by with a little help from our friends.

Together, let us watch films that encourage us to keep building Hope and Peace in the world.

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.

Building Dreams, Building Peace

We have to start somewhere to build our dreams. We have to start where we are.

Some dreams are quiet and personal; others demand public acknowledgement.

Sometimes we just have to state: “I am here. I have dreams. My dreams and I matter.”

We must take the wisps of dreams we begin with and give them a good foundation. Dream in Hope, build foundations of Peace.

That is the way to realized dreams. That is the way to Peace. Let us begin.

Rainbow Peace

Rainbows are wonderful things. They are beautiful and ephemeral. But they are also enduring symbols of strength and unity and promise.

We’re going to need that hope in the year(s) to come. We’re going to need to be that hope in the year(s) to come.

More than ever, we must be the Peace: quiet, enduring, and beautiful — like a rainbow.

Hope and Love and Peace

There is so much ugliness in the world. Some of it is huge and stunning. Other pieces are simply small and petty. Today I’m tired of it. Today i long for something different, even while knowing we’re what needs to be different..

It’s time to say no to hate. We can’t do that by being hateful. We don’t need to allow hate, but we don’t need to join it.

So no. Peace, I say to you, Peace. Real Peace. Peace with Justice. Peace with Hope. Peace with Love.

I’m sorry, I’m not going to let any of us be lazy about it. Too many lives at stake. Peace be with you — and with me. That’s all I’ve got. Today’s a good day to Peace.

Lookin’ for Hope and Peace Wherever We Find It

You never know where you’re going to find the Hope you need.

So you have to keep your eyes open. Sometimes it shows up in the most unexpected places.

And when you need it and it appears, you say yes! thank you!

Thank you to Hope! Thank you to Peace.

Mountains of Peace

Tall, majestic, enduring. These are great qualities to inspire us.

Obstacles. In the way. Less exciting. But inspiring nonetheless — if we let the challenge settle…

And perhaps, we might see them as less than in the way, and more the way.

The way to Peace lies over the mountains. Even in the flat lands there are mountains between Peace and us. We must negotiate them to get to the Peace we want.

So no, I don’t climb mountains for recreation or because they are there. I climb them because the perspective can change my life, the way inspires me to adapt and the companionship (or the promise of it) encourages me to continue.

There is Beauty. There is Hope. There is Challenge. And always, always, always, there is Peace.

Dawning Peace-making

Any day’s a good day when you get up after a meeting on hope.

Yesterday I sat with a group of people who are beginning to work on racism and white fragility in our region. The organizers are young and earnest, but the people who gladly showed up are not all young — although most of us are earnest!

It was so hopeful.

And so we work.

And then we go to bed and get up to a world with just a bit more joy in it. There’s so much going wrong, but joy can bubble. We have to clear out the springs of Joy and Peace so that they can bubble freely and we can drink deeply.

Dancing for Peace (and Sanity)

Dancing’s a wonderful thing. It gives you joy. It expresses sorrow. It helps you hang on sometimes when the hanging isn’t easy.

And yet, we don’t dance enough. Not in public. Not even in the privacy of our own homes. Not with our friends. Not with strangers, Not with all sorts of folk.

One of the things I love about my husband’s Monday night gig, is that all sorts of people come. Lots of people with whom I have lots in common and lots with whom I have nothing in common. And we dance. And we laugh and we hug and we go home and we can’t say we don’t care about the people who care about life differently than we do.

And now, probably always, but now, there is reason to dance, because life is hard. But dancing can give us some hope.

And that’s grand. And that’s dancing. and that can lead to Peace.

Dancing, yeah.

Shadows and Peace

We live in a world dominated by fear. Maybe that’s always so. Maybe because I came up in the generation I did, graduating college in the mid-70s, there was the thought that things could change — and would keep on changing.

I guess they did, but the clouds above aren’t big and white and fluffy, hopeful sort of clouds, they are grey and low-hanging. They are clouds of fear and hate.

I’m astonished by the hate. I realize I’m hopelessly naive about the hate and the fear. Between my family, my religious up-bringing, my year abroad as a Rotary Exchange Student, and my tiny, little women’s college attended in the 70s, I really thought we had the blues on the run. I’ve seen hope triumph and assumed it triumphed forever. It didn’t.

The stupid, hateful fear-mongering that is going on now, the casual disregard for one another’s humanity is horrifying to me. And it’s so big. Hard to know where to enter the fight.

As always it comes back to our choices. We can’t give up on the macro level, we have to participate. I do best working here at home with like minded people. Tiny little acts of love and courage. But we cannot be out of touch with those who do the other work. They are our neighbors too. We can help them keep believing that there are reasons for Hope, that change is possible. We must feed and nourish their souls even as we struggle to find ways to feed and nourish the people of our towns and cities and countrysides.

Under threatening skies, let us build shelters for our neighbors and ourselves. Let us build enclaves of Hope and Beauty, Art and Commerce. Let us understand that storms pass, because they do, however horrible they are in the meantime. But in the storms, we can be the light and the hope. We can push back the hate.

If we believe in Peace, we must do so.

I believe in Peace.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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