Peace Is For Everyone

It’s so hotly contested, but prayer may never be used to exclude people, it may only include people.

When you are in a group that prays in a certain way… a community of faith then prayer is a signature of that group.

But when the group is a public group, particularly a state run group such as a school, official prayer doesn’t belong.That’s the law of this country and I believe, as a minister, a good one. People pray differently or not at all. This is not a Christian nation. This is not who we were founded to be. If you’re proud to be American, be proud of what the country was founded to be.

But there are other reasons that I think prayer isn’t sportspersonlike. Nothing to stop someone from a quick prayer before sinking a penalty shot, although, as a theologian I would argue you would have done better to practice and the Divine shouldn’t be responsible for compensating for your lackadaisical approach to discipline.

But if the bonding is happening only with a few, even with most, and you’re leaving people out of the circle, then they are outside the circle not just at the beginning but also for the game. If they’re pretending, to fit in, then you’re still excluding them and reinforcing the fact that they are not really part of the group. This isn’t going to lead to good results for individuals or for the team.

This is all in reference to an article that talks about a school system that has been notified it must quit “official” prayer and come into accordance with the law. It says it’s a successful team. Does that mean it wouldn’t be successful if they don’t pray? Is there a reason they’ve got a coach? Because it is her/his job to teach a team the skills and reinforce the discipline to play the game well together.

A winning team will have a variety of players to enhance the program. A team that is inclusive, rather than exclusive, can have extraordinary results if you make space for new approaches.

People bring their religious selves with them wherever they are. What’s important is that they live what they believe rather than just talk about it.

I know, I’m an old Peacemaker. I believe that it’s the role of prayer to bring people together… and demanding that the Divine lead your team to victory over another… doesn’t fit that bill.

Prayer is not the only way to help people bond. Be your best self, find other ways to bond with people who are different from you.

Give Peace a chance. And follow the rules of the country.

Shoring up the Peace Path

We can’t neglect the infrastructure. Although we have. And we’re paying the price.

Our social infrastructure doesn’t seem any better than our roads or bridges. We need to smooth out interactions, we need to forge connections.

There’s lots of repair to be done. We need to invest in the structure a bit so that life can be a bit smoother. We need Peaceful interactions between folk and we don’t have them. We need safe bridges — on the road and between groups.

I’m going to have to think more about this… but something’s bubbling.

In the meantime… make some Peace! smooth out the road a bit. Southern Poverty Law center is having a press conference to discuss the more than 800 hate events it has documented since the election. We need good bridges.

We need to be the bridges to Peace…

Peace in Black and White

Sometimes, although not always, it helps to move some of the extraneous items and look at what is. To look at it in its most simple format: black and white.

The color is important, because Life is full of color. And the color shades what is true. So this isn’t a long term solution. But I think it may be part of the solution. Peace in black and white.

Sometimes the simple elements give us good cues about where we are and the plans that we might make. At that point we in add the color back in and see what we learn in addition to what we already know. Peace in living color.

Peace is very simple and it’s very complex. So are we. So let’s look at Peace in every color and hue and gradation, because we have to give Peace a chance.

Finding Peace When Winter Threatens

I like Winter. Don’t get me wrong. I like starry nights and snowy days. I like cozy candle-lit rooms and reading and writing and eating clementines.

But not unlike Summer, Winter must be respected. All these Summer fans forget that people who lived without air-conditioning in their houses and cars were not always so sorry to see summer end. Winter offered respite from working in the fields and gardens as well. It wasn’t that there wasn’t hard work, but there was time in the dark for stories and mending of lives and the tools of our livelihoods.

But in this picture, snow threatens. I actually like snow… but the picture captures ominous. And threatening is the way I’m feeling about my world right now.

We can wring our hands, or we can prepare. We can ask ourselves how we will work for peace. I’m not great at countering what’s going on… and besides, we don’t know what’s going to happen. But we can build relationships and connections. We can practice radical hospitality. We can prepare to wage Peace. We can practice. We can Love.

Leftover Peace

We have somehow fallen, together with my husband’s family and a couple friends, into a cozy habit of Second Day Holidays. I was introduced to Second Day Christmas in Sweden. At the time I was there, there were strict social laws about what you did on Second Day Christmas. On Christmas Eve and Christmas day you were home with your family. On Second Day Christmas you went out and visited friends and exchanged any gifts you might have with them.

It was wonderful.

It’s a bit ironic, as Margaret says, because I feed left overs to the ones I love the most. But it is (drumroll, please) deliciously ironic (rimshot!).

These second day gatherings are relaxed with little to do but press the buttons on the microwave. There’s no frenzy about preparing or eating. And in this year’s case, we’re building on a visit we just had from Steve’s (now my) kids. So we’ll be cozy and warm and filled with joy and thanksgiving (and Thanksgiving food).

We’ll keep a close eye on the eagle nest to see if they won’t dash up and down the river to amuse us. But mostly we’ll just laugh. And we’re pretty much on the same political wave lengths, so we won’t have land mines to negotiate.

It brings me new life and love. It eases my heart, because the holidays were always so filled up with my family — Steve and I are relative newcomers at being family to one another. And almost as long as we’ve been together, my family has been aging or sickening and dying. So day-of holidays can be hard.

Enter his lovely brother, sister-in-law, and her family, a few choice friends, and love and Peace arrive on the second day. We’re taking our extended family and friends and deliberately making family. I am truly grateful. I hope you all found Peace on the holiday.

I hope we all make Peace going forward. We’re going to need it.

Thanksgiving Peace 2016

Thinking of all of you wishing us Peace and thanksgiving in this tumultuous year.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t escape thoughts of Standing Rock and watching America break Peace with our Native Americans. I’m heart-broken, horrified and trying not to shut down. Need to stay aware of what’s happening.

We all have a delicate balance… Gratitude is always important. And there is so much for me to be grateful for. I hope there is much for you…

And there are many who are frightened. And many who do without. Let us remember them. Let us be generous as well as thankful.

But let us also be thankful for food and family — and as one friend reminded me, but many of you celebrate — football. Demand Peace at the table. I know there’s not much hope for that in the den in front of the games! But cousins are together; let us be together in Peace.

Giving Thanks for Peace Received

Looking at empty fields can remind us of how long it is until green begins to sprout — or it can remind us of the bounty the field offered up to nourish and delight us.

It’s our choice — do we choose to see the lack or do we decide to be filled with the memory of goodness?

I don’t know whether it was my mom who said this, but somewhere I found this and it’s become part of my personal mantra… begin as you mean to go on… I’m going to choose thankfulness.

I’ll keep deliberately choosing it until it becomes a habit.

There’s a lot of fear out there, it’s good to strengthen ourselves with all we have. It’s good to give thanks… Nothing prepares us better for generosity than gratitude. Nothing prepares us better for Peace.

If you’re traveling this weekend, please come safely home! I’m grateful for you and treasure your life and love.

Reminders of Past and Harbingers of Present/Future Peace

Early this Spring the trees budded and we rejoiced. And then they leafed and we were so pleased with all the new green rustling. In the summer, they offered us shade… we enjoyed the shade right through the warm fall… and then were amazed as they oh-so-slowly this year transformed into their Fall Beauty.

At last, the trees let go to settle down to sleep. These leaves drifted onto the river and are off to become sediment and mulch for the land downstream.

Beauty fades and becomes new Beauty. The Beauty of the tree branches, the Beauty of enriching soil. This is the way of the Earth. Let us build Peace on such beauty. Let us build Peace.

Peace from the Little Things

Let’s hear it for the little things. Let’s hear it for those who take the time to make the little things lovely.

And then let us dedicate ourselves to saying thank you. Practicing not just generous tipping but also that looking your server in the eye and saying thanks, this little gift changes my life.

When people do things that make you stop and notice, stop and notice. Be appreciative.

The more appreciative you are (not smarmy, just appreciative!) the more generous and painstaking people will be with the next thing they do.

I believe that Gratitude and Generosity beget each other, beget Peace.

The Peace and Beauty of the Day

Every day you get up the world is in the midst of being beautiful. I’m writing that today when it’s grey and blustery… when it’s November to its very core.

Some places they’re celebrating snow… not here of course. Welcome to Snowhole PA…

I’m simply delighting in the leaves swirling and dancing in the streets. I get to go to wowrk and do things I love. And then I get to come home and be with friends and family, family, family… my birth family who are local are coming to dinner to meet my beloved family who have arrived from California. Last night I held grandchildren in my arms and two amazing women who have allowed me to call them daughters of my heart. Way to go Steve Mitchell… thanks for the great gift of Love!

The times are as turbulent as the wind. But Love is as constant as time — if we let it be so. And Peace is there for the making.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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