Accepting Peace

Choosing one’s own path to Peace is a challenge.

For many of us, I fear, we make our choices as we recognize that whatever place we’re in is not one that fosters Peace in us rather than catching sight of a vision that dazzles and attracts. No not everyone, but many.

Sadly, few of us are skilled in divining what we do want or daring to ask for it — let alone pursue it. It’s too easy to frame our choices against what is wrong with the world we’re leaving rather than what is right with the world we’re choosing.

Neither is it easy stepping out of the status quo. This is a big and powerful river headed in one direction, so swimming to an edge and finding another branch of that stream or climbing out on the land to search out a trail requires quite a bit of determination.

I don’t know if it’s possible to do such a thing freely, without defensiveness. Not choosing what our family, friends, lover choose makes them question their choices. Who likes that?

I do know, for our health and sanity as well as for the future of our relationships, we need to find that sweet, easy conviction about our decisions.

Watching a couple exchanges recently allowed me to look back and wince at my own movement from my theological/socialspiritual roots and consider how lurching a process that was. A good friend said to me then, “Annie, clarify what you DO believe, you can’t just NOT believe.” It was great (if painful at the time) advice. And life is so much easier since adjusting the mantle I’ve chosen to sit comfortably on my shoulders.

It’s a challenge to keep asking ourselves “what do I want” and looking for real answers. Not self-indulgent ones, not the preferencing of me over you… but the deep answer that allows me to be me in relationship, perhaps even consideration, with all others, because I know and take responsibility for who I am and what I believe. And then, finally, I take Joy in it. And in that Joy I find the fuel to move toward Peace.

Self-reflection’s a bitch, isn’t it? But oh, so worth it.

Autumn Peace Swimming

I love swimming. You can’t have read these for long and not have gotten clear about that. And swimming out of doors, whether in a creek, the ocean or a pool. The best. But swimming anywhere? I’ll take it.

The pool where I swim in the winter is in a room on the end of the building, windows all around. No matter what’s going on outside, the water remains a cozy 84˚. The air is even more balmy (unless you get too close to the doors on a winter’s day.). Sometimes I get to the pool in the afternoons and it’s empty except for the guard and I do my work out chatting with Tara and enjoying nature. It’s wonderful. Oh, look, there’s an eagle. Funny that wind last night didn’t take all the leaves off that tree…

But it’s also wonderful in the early mornings, when the pool’s open before class. The ladies come drifting in for their stretching and aerobics classes. It’s such a delight to hear them chatter. Catching up on their days, talking of bargains, of plants and old friends. Giggling. Comfortable in their bodies and in their lives. Grumbling a bit about the inconveniences, but present. Showing up to life and the moment. Counting their blessings and sharing them with the person next to them and the one across the circle.

May I be such a one. Swimming still. Reveling in the full-bodied embrace of water on flesh. Enjoying my friends and the morning gathering. Life is still rich and they’re generous with stories and lessons and laughter. Ah… Keeps me going back because this is the exercise that feels most like joy to me. And that makes the exercise sacred for me. Joy in my body. Joy in my heart. Peace in my mind and soul. It doesn’t get better than this for me.

Happy, Grateful Peace

or is that Peaceful Happy Gratitude? It’s all so confusing… but the video said…. which video? this one… that by identifying actual points of gratitude and then letting people know about your gratitude, particularly the people to whom and for whom you are grateful makes you a happier person. It makes people who are the least happier far more happy than it makes people who are already pretty happy. Maybe they’re already pretty grateful… and maybe they tell people how much they love them and why.

But telling people how much you love them and why is probably a pretty darned wonderful thing to do always and forever. Because even if it didn’t make you happy, it would make them happy… and that would be reason enough to do so, don’t you think?

So right now, I’m grateful for two things. I’m really grateful to those of you who take the time to read my writing and to comment on it. It makes me work harder and think a bit deeper. It humbles me when you write to say it pushed you to think differently about something. Thank you so much.

And I’m also grateful to and for my sister. More and more I realize how much she took care of me and how much she let me take care of her and that makes me so incredibly grateful… even now, when I’m being very sad and grieving… it softens and opens my heart…

For what are you grateful? To whom are you grateful? Why? Tell them. And then? get back to me and tell me how it made you feel… Giving thanks! Feeling Joy. Celebrating Peace.

Committing Peace

I’m a woman full of dreams and plans. I’ve gotten better as I’ve aged in bringing plans to fruition. But I realize, that whatever my plans, there is a thread to my life. When I plan with that thread, when I at least recognize it, my plans flow along a lot more fluidly. One of my friends would tell you my calling is to be with those who are dying. It’s true, I’ve walked with people up to death and celebrated their lives afterwards.

But I think the crux of my gift is to be present. That’s what I’m good at. And it’s sort of hard, because I’m also a doer… So those two things struggle in me for supremacy. Both have their value. But for a high energy person, I’m good at being present. And I really work well when I’m present for a specific project and then to leave when I’m no longer needed. Sometimes I feel as if I’m a gadfly because other folk have the gift of constancy, instead of my short intense forays into presence.

My friend Jean has the gift of hospitality. Through her great food, she nourishes not only individual souls but also the sense of community. Many of us have been made welcome at her table. Some people build houses. Others build organizations. Some just keep things humming along.

If we do those things at which we are best with open hearts and minds set on Peace… the world begins to change. And when we do those things we’re passionate about, people want to join us. Life can get deeper. Life can get broader. Life can become simpler and more beautiful and oh, by the way, better. Joyful, even. Peaceful.

So, what is it for you? what do you do best? How do you make Peace. The world needs us desperately. We need to stop the violence. We need to stop the hate. We do. right here. so we can call upon our neighbors and get other people involved. and slowly, slowly, slowly, and then perhaps not so slowly, the world will change.

Water Peace

I had a couple very wonderful water moments on this cruise, so i can’t say this was my very most favorite water moment, but it’s got to come close. To be floating in a pool that’s rocking on the ocean… the water is warm the wind is wild… yep. pretty spectacular. and an interesting blend between a completely sybaritic experience and worship! I can’t separate them. the only thing better would have been to have been naked… but the other ship visitors were probably not ready for that!

(And just fyi, should you ever be seasick on one of those large vessels, floating in a pool is a great place to be. I remembered that from an earlier cruise.) Look, helpful hints AND theology!

The wonders of Nature and the sweetness of hedonism… it’s a pretty wonderful combination.

Peace Adventure

No really, I didn’t plan this when I set out to write about a month full of words we might want to live into. But on the day I write about adventure, I’m off on one! Today I climb on a bus to New York with about 35 other people to attend a gallery opening.

My sister’s bestie from high school, a woman with whom she got up to all sorts of shennanigans while being 11th grad Girl Scouts traveling across Europe, has her first gallery opening in New York City.

It’s so easy to turn your life into a rut and never climb out. And yet, the trip to school is an adventure if we exhale that breath we are holding. We’re alive. We’re with people we love (even if at the moment we’d like our cheeky child to be kind just for once be pleasant to her sister or brother), and life is therefore grand. What do we notice as we travel the same ground day after day.

I think one of the most important periods of my life was the time I went to feed my mom two times a day for two plus years. Not only did I never exactly know what was going to happen when I got there, I began to pay attention to the landscape. Oh, not always, there was plenty of routine, but there began to be places where I could tell that summer was folding his tents or spring was making her way. Suddenly the everydayness of it became exciting.

But it’s important to take adventures outside our daily lives. Because they teach us so much about not only others but also about ourselves and our ruts. Once we peek our head over the rut, life looks very different. Once we’re outside, we begin to notice that there’s a huge difference between peaceful and Peace. We’re working toward Peace. Being peaceful is helpful but not mandatory. Adventures? I don’t know if they’re mandatory, but they’re a lot of fun! (even if slightly scary in the moment!)

And of course for me, today is sort of a practice adventure for a HUGE adventure. On Friday, Deb and I go to Philly and spend the night. Saturday we get on a plane to Vancouver. Sunday we get on a ship to cruise the Alaska Inner Passage… and then days later a train to Denali National Park. Lots of fun ahead. And no internet. and I’m not sure how much cell phone coverage. Lots of being present to the moment and the beauty and my beloved sisty. Maybe some self-reflection. Definitely some memory-making. Lots of blessing counting for my sweet love and rich life. Oh, Hooray! Oh, Joy! Oh! A two-week Sabbath. Oh, Adventure!

The Peace of New Beginnings

Such an incredible, bittersweet moment. My darling goddaughter is crossing the college stage today. That’s all sweet and wonderful. She had a good experience in college. She has a dream internship. If only her mother were here to watch. Yes, I know, watching from heaven, but still… I want her here. One of those days when Maggie will be so sorely missed, by all of us, and especially by that sweet young woman who will always be my girlie.

I have (of course I do!) so much advice for her and for anyone else who might be listening. But mostly, my dear, I want you to cultivate the knack of happiness and a great big hunger for a better world for everyone. Life is so grand. Sure, there are hard times, but drink it in, do your part, and revel. It’s fleeting, this life thing, you don’t want to put off being filled with the wonder of it all. you don’t want to, as some wise person said: postpone joy. And dream very large dreams… and then make them come true.

I’m off to get ready. You’re already ready! Make the most of it. I’ll be watching and loving you with open (but supporting) hands and an open and loving heart. You’re ready. I almost am. and… You’re off!

I love you. I love you all. I have such great anticipation to see what you’ll accomplish and who you’ll become.

and oh! Stay in touch. Visit your auntie!

Peace, Love(Flows), Happiness

I don’t know that I could be happier or even prouder. It was a crazy idea and an ambitious goal. To ask 1,500 for $10 to aid recovery work on Staten Island and to take some relief workers a party.

Lots of heads were shaken (that’s ridiculous!!), lots of sighs were heaved (here we go again!), but everyone set to work with a will. And we did it. Did 1,500 people contribute, nah, probably only a thousand. A thousand!!!! A thousand people gave a little so that displaced seniors in Staten Island can have a house with ramps and lifts and so that some still displaced people can get a bit of rent relief.

And now we’re off on Saturday to do some work and to take some relief workers a party. A great band. Great food from here and there… and 50+ volunteers. Get on that bus, folks, there’s a party going on. And you’re the reason.

Keep having those crazy ideas. This really is how Peace gets planted. Love will continue to flow. Joy and Happiness will abound! Let’s go. Gratitude overflowing. Happy Dancing. Pride in the achievement. YES!

Firecircle Peace

There’s something about sitting around a fire. The silence that descends is companionable. The stories that break out tend to point to life’s sweetness. Songs often find harmony. Laughter is often hearty but gentle. We don’t do this enough to give our hearts Peace; we don’t often consider it as a Peace-making tool… and yet people have gathered around a fire for years, drummed sang, told stories and kept soft silence. Maybe we need to get out there more and invite others to join us. Being present to one another. Making memories together. What’s not to love?

My nephew and wife have built a home with some land around it. Not far from the house is a big fire circle with plenty of room for lots of chairs around and a roaring fire within. Saturday night, the rain cleared and the weather was cool enough to make the fire enjoyable and not too warm to make a fire unbearable. And there we sat, enjoying the night. It was wonderful. And we didn’t even have s’mores!

Inside, someone’s cute baby was making the rounds, as wannabe grandparents reached out arms to cuddle and soothe. Scottlyn was perfectly willing to indulge us with smiles and coos… hunting for parents only when hungry and then moving back to the center of everyone’s attention when needs were assuaged.

More babies. More fires. More Peace and Joy in families and friends. That’ll keep that Peace spreading outward!

Sneaky, Squealing, Silver Peace

There are many things that enable Peace-building. We make it perhaps because of our similarities and across our differences. Both attract, both interest. For me it took going to another culture to realize I came from a culture. At 17, what I experienced in my little world seemed to be the norm. It was shocking to find out that the Swedes, outwardly so similar, had a distinct culture. And I was off…

But I also think it’s the laughter at ourselves and life’s predicaments that can unite us. We all have some equivalent Nature stories. One may come from the desert and one from Pennsylvania’s verdant Spring, but everywhere Nature sneaks up on you. Many of us who live here have brushed against a lilac tree on a day after a rain and had a lovely lavender blossom dump a flower-full of rain on us. I remember a time as a child, all unwary, I pulled a flower to my nose for a sniff of Spring and got a faceful. I squealed and laughed and looked around shamefacedly hoping no one else had noticed. If someone did/does, in that laughing is the rueful acknowledgement that they too have been caught by Nature’s natural sneakiness. We’re always making memories… and if we’re smart, we’re finding ways to take Joy from them. Stories like this are great to tell and open to all sorts of sly embellishment.

And so, my friends, I wish you the Peace of rueful self-laughter while caught in Nature’s embrace. Laugh kindly when you notice someone else’s predicament and share your story. That’s one simple form of Peace-building. There are many more.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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