Today’s Peace, llvl

Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing, Peace is right there… or it’s not. We have to carve our Peace out of today here in this vida local. It’s here in the little days as well as those big swooping fabulous days.

It’s easy to see Peace as outside ourselves, outside our lives. But we need to build structures at home as well as in our communities.

It may look as if I’m talking to you here. yeah, not so much, or well, oh, you two. I’m not good at attending to what’s going on in my life; at keeping the plates spinning… But life is easier when your car’s cleaned and the oil’s been changed, when your underwear drawer is filled with clean undies, when you can see the counter in your kitchen, when you do something little and silly so that you can just relax. It’s better when you spend time on your relationship.

Peace is built on structures. It’s a huge idea that needs great support and attention to the nitty gritty. So, put something away, why don’t you? I think I will… Peace, for all of us. in little steps!

Gingko Peace, llvl

I am a fan of the gingko tree. I don’t know that I ever knew them before I went to college, But over by the library and the humanities building there were a bunch of them. Come fall, they were carefully watched. Everyone wanted to be around as the “gingked!” It was amazing to watch as the trees poured their golden bounty down onto the earth. (It was less amazing to smell it… whew. Decided I should look that up. Here it is from eHow:

“Ginkgo trees are large, deciduous trees found in temperate climates. Hardy trees well-adapted to withstanding harsh urban conditions, they are able to thrive despite poor soil, pollution and packed soil. Female ginkgo trees produce large amounts of seeds covered in a seed coat. Ginkgo tree berries stink because the seed coat contains butyric acid, a chemical found in vomit, which is released if the fruit is allowed to rot.” ok. eww.)
They release in such a short time. It’s amazing. Somehow something gets in that tiny, little tree brain and boom, leaves fall in a glorious golden profusion.

More recently, I love the gingko because they have been planted down at my old town pool in honor of my parents and my sister. There they wave and rustle and will for long after I’m gone… That certainly makes me proud, if not happy.

They herald the end of Fall, they’re late to turn. But they hold on, hold on, and then they don’t and then they presage Winter. This year, they’ve done a great job, Hallowmas is the 31st… and the trees are just now releasing their hold on this beauty. Peace in living with the earth, sweet Peace indeed. Makes you think that Mother Earth and Nature know exactly what they’re doing!

Finding Peace, llvl

There are amazing people who live right around the corner from you — people who can call all things amazing right out of you!

It’s so easy to dismiss where we live as not enough. It’s true, it may not be perfect for you… but it has its good sides, you just have to look around a bit.

I left this region at a dead run when I was a kid. Needed to get to the city and explore that version of exploding life. And I loved it. But I quit my job and went to seminary because I was looking for life that was, i remember saying, more circular, more full. I wanted to know people who polished more of themselves than their work life. I wanted people very like the people I grew up with.

Of course people saw that as my saying they weren’t something enough, but they just weren’t what i needed…I lived in NY. I met people who this was the 80s. People in New York were driven. (and that bothers you, you say, you’re pretty darned driven yourself.) yes, but about totally different things. I lived on the left coast for a while, and that was great, but I do best in small towns.

I know that’s not for everyone, but this is where i get to be me. I get to do good work and I get to have good fun. I know people in all places in their lives, the good ones and the hard ones. And I know people, surprising amounts of people who are really, really excellent at something in their lives. It may be their work, it may be a hobby. Some of those things really interest me. Some fascinate me… who knew people did that????

But wherever you are. there are amazing people. You probably want to know more of them. Harvest Peace. Wherever you can find it. And speaking of harvest… farewell to this gorgeous pic…

Surrounded in Peace, llvl

I don’t live in a perfect community. Neither do you. But I do live in a place where if I need help I can ask for it and be pretty clear that I will get help. I live in a place where if I’m missing or I seem “off,” someone will want to know what’s wrong with me.

That’s worth the world. It’s something worth building. It’s something worth participating in, and maintaining.

Right now in my faith community, there are a few people facing huge obstacles. It feels wonderful to know that people are gathering around. In a couple cases, there’s not much one can do but sorrow… but to know you do not grieve alone is very reassuring.

I’ve watched this happen in my beloved small town as well. People have needs and friends do what family cannot. Partnered relationship is lovely, and I treasure mine, but the embrace of the community is both supportive and restorative. I certainly felt that love and support as my sister was dying. I don’t know how I would have borne that without you.

This personal response is why I’m so pushy about feeding our local kids. I want our hungry children to understand that there are people in their community who want them to succeed, people they can turn to when nothing’s going right.

If you do this right, if you don’t make this about an exclusive club, this is a Peace that can seep out to bathe more and more people in the love. Last week in the Diwali ceremony, Anjalee finished with something like You are Home and welcome… and you are Home and welcoming… beautifully capturing the notion that there is a place where you are welcomed and a place where your work is to welcome… one and the same place. Let us keep building communities.

Fall, Sabbath, Peace, Beauty, llvl

We can’t know how many more of these days we’ll have, so I want to take advantage of this one. Welcome to my vida local… it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

One of the great joys of writing my musings and this blog is being seduced into discovering the beauty of the moment. It’s so beautiful here, so there are lots of those moments. Mountains, trees, fields and streams… pretty good building blocks for Beauty.

And Time and the lingering over it are pretty good building blocks for a Peaceful Fall Sabbath.

Next week it could be gray and cloudy. But it’s not today. Indulge yourself. Savor the day and the weather and whatever else comes your way. Yesterday it was folks standing around outside carving pumpkins (not me, no don’t be silly). To get there, we had to drive past fields where local Amish farmers were using teams of horses to pull the feed corn being harvested. Then you drove down into a valley filled with color and that small beautiful creek where only months ago I found myself sitting watching the world drift by. Today it was so still it looked like a lake, holding nothing but an occasional leaf and the reflections of the trees and the sky. Picture perfect…

Somewhere, someone said something like: “Delight is the only response the Creator desires from the created.” Today’s a good day to practice!

Your Piece of Peace, llvl

You do the work everywhere you can make a contribution, but, there are a lot of advantages to being involved in Peacemaking in your little vida local.

One big one is that you can get very clear what is needed if you’re partnered with the right people. Where do you get the intel you need? When you can get it from the source, that’s great. Our congo is supporting the school district back pack programs — but we’re really supporting the school district as they try and support their kids.

A short flurry of emails with the program director yesterday and we have our marching orders. The school nurse needs clothes and shoes for the kids. So, we can start working on this. We can buy them 6 bins and fill them up with pants, shirts and shoes for boys and girls in the requisite sizes. Because the children have no shoes. Somehow that’s the most painful statement I’ve ever had to make. The children have no shoes. And no clothes.

Pam thinks I’m enthusiastic. Well, yes. But I’m also realistic. These babies need this. And we can do it. So why wouldn’t we? Why wouldn’t I ask you? No reason whatsoever. What is your piece of Peace? If you’re not absolutely clear, the best way is to try something little and see if it makes your heart race. If so, do a little more. If not, try something else… You’ll get there. and in the meantime, you’ll do little bits of good wherever you are. And your community will be better for it. So will you. Peace, an addiction to cultivate. Step up into Possibility.

Peace and Welcome, llvl

I was busy having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day yesterday. (goodness I love Judith Viorst!) Mostly because I slipped. I know better. We all know better.

You see a conversation that looks rational but isn’t. And so you respond. What were you thinking? So then you get to be whiny about the conversation and really disgusted with yourself. Because you’re not going to make a difference. And particularly me, I’m not a rational builder of arguments. Too bad they weren’t teaching debate when i was in high school, i could have used the critical process encouragement!

Nonetheless.

There’s no parsing away people’s right to be themselves. You want to decry acts of violence, I’m with you. Let’s say no, and start saying yes to Peace. But really, it’s time to understand that the minute you start bleating about anyone’s right to be who they are, from whatever, culture, race, gender orientation, religion, you are immaterial to the discussion. That privilege is gone. Welcome to the cruise to nowhere, and it’s beyond me to care that you’re still pontificating.

Love. It’s what we have to work with. It’s what we have to work on. (and Justice, let’s not forget Justice. Divine Justice.) I’m tired of cleaning up after all y’all as you take away time and energy from the important questions. Do the children have enough to eat? Do they have clothes and shoes? Do they play well with others? Certainly those are the most important things, arent they? Cause if you think society works and gay marriage is going to upset that, you don’t know anything about gay marriage and less about kids at risk.

Peace Creation Process, llvl

Yesterday, I was invited to watch a play being born. Lots of research had been done beforehand. The playwright had requirements for good plays. He had some answers to how this man and these incidents might be shaped into a play…

And then he invited in the actors, the costumer, the set builder and said… what about this, what about that. And they had answers and concerns… concerns about the action, concerns for their troop, concerns about the history and who could play what roles. Two of us were outsiders and we could ask different questions.

It was an amazing process. I didn’t feel as if I had a lot to bring to the party, as I’m a lousy historian and certainly pretty ignorant of the process and demands of plays… I was only invited because I’m the UU minister and this is a play about our valley’s important UU, Joseph Priestley…

But it was astounding to watch something beginning to take shape. I’m reminded of a friend’s explaining to me that the accurate biblical translation (i’m also a lousy biblical scholar and no biblical linguist) was “in their image, created they them,” indicating that the divine had many images.

So creation was a collaborative act in that particular understanding of the act. It was certainly mimicked here. Even though at the end, one person was going back with assignments, his task was now informed by critical input. It was fascinating.

And it helps me clarify how we best build Peace. If we each work on the pieces we know best, but we invite in the insight that other pilgrims offer us, Peace will be more stable, more lasting — and more fun…

Peace Feast, llvl

Go out into the garden and see the bounty remaining even after that first frost. Oh, you’re like me? Try this: Go to the market and notice all those richly colored foods piled up around you. yum. Mother Earth is proudly trotting out her fall bounty. It’s up to us to enjoy.

It’s also a good prompt to share that enjoyment. Eating together is a lovely way to build Peace. Discovering what kind of spices you use on these fall delicacies gives me new ways to enjoy old favorites. (Just found out that my friend Ed likes nutmeg on roasted Brussels sprouts. I have another friend who eats it on broccoli — but she’s Dutch so of course she does! That Dutch East India Trading Company made its mark on its home country.)

And the foods are good for you and beautiful to see. What more could you want? Company, you could want company to enjoy the Feast. Get together, say a prayer of thanksgiving and enjoy the feast. It’s an interesting question to look at who you celebrate with. How many people that you invite into your home look like you? How many look very different from you? Have you considered your hospitality as part of your Peace efforts?

Part of the glory of living a vida local is to enjoy the seasons. Make Peace. Eat good food with a friend. And while you’re enjoying, feast your eyes on Deb Slade’s pic! MMMMM. Now that’s delicious.

ChaCha for Peace, llvl

It’s all about the little steps. But if you know me, you know little steps to Ann mean Chachaaaaaa!

It makes a difference if you decide to view the obstacles in your journey as the time you step back and take a good look at things. The side steps can be waiting until the time is right or a simple dance for joy.

Now it’s true you have to pay attention, you can wind up dancing the chacha in once place, but you can also cover a lot of ground if that’s what you decide what you’re going to do. You just need to watch where you’re going.

But the notion that your work is tiny steps, some of them to the side, and some, heaven forfend to the back, is a good one to carry with you. The thought that all that stepping can be a dance to enjoy… if Peace is just a plod, we’re never going to enjoy it. Self-righteousness is not enjoyment… (i may have tried this so I have some insight… ahem.)

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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