Peace at the Grave, llvl

My Swedish sisters like to tell the stories about Deb’s funeral, which they attended, and John Johnson’s funeral, about which they’ve only heard (and gaped in astonishment!). No one dances in the aisles or blows ashes up in watermelons in Sweden… it’s a shame, really. Because lives are pretty wonderful things and should be celebrated.

But they get the courtesies right. They bring a flower to the funeral and take it forward to place it on the coffin and say thank you and goodbye to their dear friend.

And when people are dead, they visit the graves.

All my Swedish Moms are dead now. I’ve had three who really took me under their arm and one who was always generous and welcoming. Each time I arrived in a town where one of those mothers was buried, there was always an excursion to visit the grave. This is the first time I’d ever been able to visit any of these graves, except for Lorraine’s Mom…

But off we went. And it felt wonderful to be able to say Goodbye and Thank you and tenderly touch the flowers placed on the grave.

Death. It’s just one part of the journey. But the grief of losing gives way to the joy of having had, and then it’s important to tell the stories and dance and laugh. Because just like Love, and Laughter and Peace, Death is… Life is not as sweet without it.

Serendipitous Peace, llvl

What are the odds. On the right street, at the right time. Just two minutes either way and my friends from six hours away would never have seen us walking into the parking lot behind the house. The two couples had met four years ago when Bengt and Titti came north to Lorraine and Kjell’s stuga to meet Steve and me. So much fun.

I hadn’t told any friends on the other side of Sweden I was coming. The travel is too much. Sweden is, after all a big country… and after the train problems I just described, It’s not as easy as it should be! And it all seemed pretty safe. It was not as if I was going to run into anyone, right?

But there we were. Off all the towns on all the streets, they had to have had lunch at that restaurant and finished at exactly the right time. Lorraine and I were just coming home from sending home a package and there they were. We jumped around a bit, hugged a lot and took them home for tea and coffee. We jammed a weekend’s worth of catching up on four years into an hour. We laughed. We cried. We hugged some more. And they got into their car and drove away.

It could not have been a sweeter encounter. And how serendipitous. Forty-five years of love, running into itself on a small street in a small town far away. This woman knew and loved my family and in that odd way of Exchange Students she is my family. Sometimes Peace is the sweetest of surprises!

Swedish Sabbath Peace, llvl

This morning there is indeed Sabbath Peace in our hearts. Lorraine’s son called her about 11 last evening. He’d just seen his aunt’s post on Facebook. Her son was missing. He’d fought with his parents and stormed off. He was drinking, they knew that. He can’t drink on the medications he’s on, they knew that. He hadn’t shown up the evening before for an 11 o’clock meet at a concert.

What to do, what to do? They called. They posted on FB. People shared. His sister and her friends shared. The rest of us just hoped and prayed and willed best outcomes. But people came forward to comfort and to reassure. It’s happened to me, I’ve had that fear; yet it was ok.

Most of the time it is ok… but sometimes it isn’t. But there you were, willing to take a moment to think about a young man you’ll never meet and a frantic mom and dad. To hold your friend who holds her friends. Community, with the loosest of connections, but stepping up to be community.

So today, because of where I am and because of who you are, I’m counting blessings and giving thanks. For all the places we miss the mark, there are plenty where the arrow flies true. Thanks for being those well aimed friends. Love, it’s for everyone. Peace lies in our hands, which today were very capable. We must remember how capable we are!

Exchange Student Peace, llvl

I still remember the day I left and the day I came home. August 5. June 13. On either end, I spent two weeks with the other exchange students; the first two studying Swedish, the last two touring Europe. But in between, a life-changing year.

My world was changed beyond recognition. At seventeen, you assume the whole world is what you know. This was such a gentle way to understand how much bigger the world really is. My understanding of culture, politics, religion and love exploded and never fit back into the same box.

I was lucky, no doubt about that. The family was great. My Mama was a great second mama. And she was seasoned. She’d already sent one child off and had one child in. She’d send off 3 more. But we were a great fit. 40 years later I was privileged to do her memorial. Two of her girls, my Swedish sisters, would come to my wedding. And later to my sister’s memorial. Family was created and then it was nurtured.

And so the first part of my stay with them was at this summer house that I’m staying in now. Two of the sisters I met that first day were together yesterday. We went to lunch with my friend Lorraine. And we laughed. And ate. And looked at glorious scenery. And visited the garden where Mama’s and Papa’s ashes were interred.

These women have taught me to look for sisters and for friends in unlikely places. The boundaries between us were not large. But when you’re taking first steps, that’s a good thing… Peace is made up of small steps. Love and laughter and food ease the way. Beautiful views can help. So? off we go… more Peace. More Laughter. More Food. More glorious Nature!

Everyday Peace, llvl

Well, I’m off again today, this time to visit Cecilia. Lorraine and I get on the train in just a few hours. But before we left, I had this lovely slow day catching up on things, doing things that are completely Ann… writing my blog, writing a musing, prepping some weddings. A sweet, sweet day.

Even with fun, you have to take a pause once in a while and come back to self. It’s fun to recognize how very much I like my life and my work. And even with fun, once in a while you have to stop…

And stopping in a garden full of flowers, friendship and writing? that’s pretty heavenly!

I’m not sure when I’ll be back to this… can you imagine, people a) have summer homes and b) don’t always have wifi in them. And that, means going with the flow! Peace. It arrives in so many packages. We have to keep sampling, until we find it. Well, by Monday, certainly.

And we have to keep finding new ways to work on Peace, because what we’re doing isn’t edging the world forward, is it…

Joy, Joy, Peace, Peace, llvl

I believe it’s important to live into Beauty and Love when given the opportunity. And I believe it’s important to make the opportunities. What a delight to be living that out. Almost moment by moment. It’s so rare for me to be here, that I’m working very hard to experience every moment. I’m working — or not working — to know Peace from the inside.

I’m not silly enough to think that I must know personal Peace to work for global Peace. But I am smart enough to revel in what’s here. To notice. To rejoice. Those are important, don’t you think? I’m so privileged to be living back into these friendships and this beautiful country.

To be in the sea is such a delight for me… It’s full of memories and pleasure and so much joy. It buoys my heart as well as my body. And to share that with friends, friends who belong in different lives… the joy deepens!

There we were, dashing about cleaning up the house and making and assembling cakes. Four people; four cakes. New marketing idea for USA: cake bottoms! I was charged with the meringue whipped cream fruit cake. stacking, I can do it! Lovely, lovely, lovely!

And now, it’s time to pack away these beautiful thoughts and move on to the next, oh, my goodness, wonderful island. My soul continues to expand.

And at the same time, I think of the places and the people whose lives are not filled with expansion. I hold my friend Sonia in my heart, whose family still lives in Palestine and who is building a house there. Whatever the problems, bombs are not the answer, not, not, not. We must do better…

And those of us who live in Peace must pay attention and be grateful. We’ve got to help Love to conquer Fear. We are the ones the world has been waiting for… Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me. and you. Peaceful Prayers be with you, my friends.

Sabbath Seal Peace, llvl

Well, it doesn’t get much more local than yesterday. It was hard not to be present to every seemingly perfect moment. The day before was the day of seeing the seals. They were hilarious. Look, the neighbors dropped by! And there they were in a big-eyed smiling circle, just hanging out…

Marg, my first Swedish sister, who lived at my house when my brother was an exchange student, took me out for our daily constitutional, hup, hup. We ended that with a plop into the sea. It’s gorgeous on the coast, but there’s not a lot of shade because it gets scoured by winter storms. So the water felt wonderfully refreshing. Silly Swedes were saying, oh, how warm (70˚!)… i was gasping a bit, but really… it was so clean and clear AND it was warm enough to discourage man o war jellyfish from the day before. yikes.

I need to fasten this ability to stop daily life and be present to the moment in my brain. it’s good to do this now and again. look at this. look at that. look at this. oh, taste this. summer, summer, summer. sea, wind, water, sun. and love! 45 whole years of it.

Tomorrow I move on, and I’m both sad and excited. This time is so worth the work and the wait and the resources required. I tried to think yesterday… didn’t work to well. Love will keep growing if you just pay attention. Connections will be woven.

Today is Sunday and there’s a cake party underway. two cakes being baked. I’ve been assigned to assemble the meringue torte… under strict instructions. but what the heck. meringue, raspberries, blueberries, whipped cream. for that, I’ll follow anyone’s direction, do it just the way they want.

Yesterday was a tired day. couldn’t remember how to walk or speak swedish or do anything, so i stuck to doing the dishes and folding up the wash.

We finished the evening sitting on the patio until it finally got dark at about 11:30 (sun went down at about 10:10!). Two of Marg’s friends dropped by and there was a lot of laughter and tales of days gone by. Life is for the Living. the Sabbath is for the noticing. (I’ll be noticing the four cakes!) and for the reflecting as I pack down my suitcase for the next time… Heaven has been spotted many times. The bad news is that there are 4 inch slugs in Paradise. and i stepped on one… urgh. Peace. Gratitude. Beauty. Wonder. Love. ahhhhhhhhhh. Keeping the sacred in the sabbatical.

Peace Dreaming, llvl

Dreaming… It’s so important… Imagining something bigger is the first step to Peace. To envision sitting someplace with people unlike you in appearance but so like you in heart and soul; people who live somewhere so different from where you live… ah… that is a great and luxurious pleasure.

Dreaming is more than day dreaming, dreaming is serious business. It’s fun to simply float along, but it’s good to have a dream that looks to become reality. That sort of dreaming stretches our hearts and our heads…

It’s been fun to go to sleep on this bed with the map on the wall above me. and of course central to the map is Sweden. My whole life changed in Sweden… For a lot of reasons, I relearned friendship. I learned to speak another language and thus listen differently. I lived in another culture. I lived in another family. I was transformed, my heart fundamentally altered. It was such a wonderful experience. I came from such a safe wonderful but supremely little world. And then my life was broadened… even though I moved to another little world…

I love sitting betwixt and between… being here and remembering that life can be restarted… and looking at home where life is also burgeoning. (Deb Slade always knows how to capture our attention, doesn’t she?) Love. Peace. Growth. Possibility. The world really is much bigger than we think. Let us give thanks for the Wonder of it all!

Chocolate Cake Batter Peace, another llvl

Wherever you are life goes on. (it went on so quickly, I didn’t have time to write yesterday, first time in a long time!) I may be looking out over one of the prettiest harbors in the world, one that is far from my beloved coves on the Susquehanna, but put a two year in the kitchen with adults and an emptied bowl of chocolate cake batter, and it’s the same. Spoons out and dig in! So la vida local is always la vida even when the locale changes from place to place. It’s all about making memories, creating family and laughter and love!

So interesting to drop back into life after 6 years. My friend’s mother is gone now, I had hoped to see her once again — She said when I left the last time, “I will probably not see you again, but it was nice to have known you…” I’d hoped she was wrong, but… no. And my friend’s children, one with a child of his own, are fully functioning adults… and yet, it is life, it is the same, rich and sweet.

Fish and fish and fish. and sweet times. The wind’s blowing and it’s chilly, but still so beautiful. I’m a little cloudy still from too much sleep after too little, but I’ve been promised a brisk walk around the village to clear my head.

I’m always amazed that you can move so easily between lives… i guess i think the secret (for me, at least) is to remember that while their life is foreign to me, it’s local to them, so it’s about fitting myself in and not comparing, just enjoying. And the cake was as good cooked as battered… because cooked it had strawberries and cream… yep, the wonderful thing about this local life is that strawberries are just now coming into season! yay!

Peace be with us, Peace be with us all! Summer’s Peace. Peace of the laughter of small boys. Peace of dear, long-time friendships… Peace.

(I’ve promised to blog on another site here on sacredvillage, but not today, and maybe not tomorrow. getting my Sweden legs… and more importantly Sweden head… Jet lag takes me somewhere cloudy, indeed)

The Peace of Love Sabbath, llvl

Saying I love you, right out loud. It’s what the world needs. More love, extravagantly stated, more love, outrageously lived. More love. “There is more Love somewhere!”

Yesterday, after viewing pictures of one of my grooms being fêted at his job in this little central PA town, I said that what I felt was the right song to sing right then was Bob Marley’s “Redemption.” Staying the course makes the difference. It’s so important that the laws change. It’s great that the church turns out for the weddings we’ve just had. But we’re UUs, you’d expect that. We’ve worked on ourselves, signed petitions, and not always without effort or halting, opened our hearts and our doors. But the proof of change is in every day people’s getting it.

And they do. So, let me say to the other whole bunches of lot of States: Be not afraid. for all the brouhaha… the people are leading on this. And haters aside, they’re leading to Love. And the haters are loud and ugly. but they’re not the majority any longer. Marrying for Peace: an idea whose time has come.

Love, Love, Love, Love, crazy Love. or as Mr. Seeger might have sung: God’s countin’ on me; God’s countin’ on you! And sometimes, we just see God through. And if that’s not enough work to take the Sabbath off, i don’t know what is. Life is sacred; our job is to cherish it! Happy summer.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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