Fields of Peace

This morning a friend reminded me that the field has a beautiful sky promising fair journey and maybe fair harbor if we do the work?

Some days, the weight of what lies ahead feels heavy and other days I remember that there are many hands making the work light and the journey a pleasure.

That’s where i need to keep my focus… because as Nell Morton so famously reminded us, the journey is home. Good company makes the journey so much more fun.

The sweetest blessing. Thanks for traveling with me and for helping me keep my eye on the distant prize…

Peace of the Snowy Field and the long Journey to you, my friends. And to me.

Snow Day Peace

We had a very benign snow, there really didn’t seem to be any downsides to this one. No school missed; no parents scrambling to find someone to cover the kids at home. Not enough snow to do much besides ground us for a bit in our neighborhoods.

Lots of neighborhood chats and laughter. It was grand and it was beautiful. Life in snow-motion — ah…

I know if it was all the time, it would be wearing. And had it been a lot more, it can be dangerous. But because it was the weekend, what I saw was facebook filling up with neighborhoods pulling together: everyone came out and streets were cleared, parking spots were made and so were sledding hills. I read about pop-up hot chocolate stands and laughter.

There were a lot of happy children. And a fair number of happy adults.

Snow’s fun. and it’s just beautiful. So here’s to snow days. Here’s to good neighbors! Here’s to the Peace of Now days. Hurrah!

A Cup of Tea for Peace?

There is nothing sweeter than a bit of a gossip over a cup of tea.

What is going on in your life? The answers come out and go down so much more smoothly over a shared cup of warmth in some cozy, comfy spot. And on a cold day? Even more lovely!

Sometimes life really is that simple. Sometimes something sweet fixes what ails you. Put the kettle on for Peace.

Snowy Sabbath Peace

No, really snowy. We cancelled church. I’ve never heard of such a thing! But we’re a regional church so people are coming from long distances.

It’s so beautiful outside. It was gorgeous yesterday when it was snowing and the neighborhood was out in it, and talking to one another. It was gorgeous last night when the snow stopped and it was silent. It was gorgeous this morning when Venus peeked in my window and woke me up. And today it is bright and sunny and the snow is white and beautiful.

Here I am with a day to myself. Reading. Lunch with a friend. A snow angel or two if i can find the space.

I hope it’s a beautiful day for you as well. Peace.

And as I revel in the beauty, I’m so aware of the folk who are snowed in, people who have lost their lives driving in the snow. People who are without heat. A woman I know who is out on the ocean because her boat can’t dock in a city overwhelmed by snow. May they be safe and warm.

And those trees. tracing their wisdom on the sky. May we learn from them. May we consider well the glorious of our world…

Winter Peace — At Last

It started, at long last, with ice on the river. Finally. Winter was showing up. Put on all those warm clothes; it’s mitten season! Hurrah!

And then, last night, snow. Beautiful, beautiful snow.

What I love about snow, more than anything is the quiet. The world stills. it’s wonderful.

Shhhhh. It’s snowing. The Peace of a silenced world.

Yes. I know I am privileged to have warm shelter and adequate food. We’re not frightened by threats of heavy winds and blackouts in the cold. My feet are steady and so far there’s no ice. My prayers are that people be safe…

But here where I live, it is quiet.

I was a bit grumpy when, snuggled in my bed, I heard the snow blower. They’re so loud!

But then I looked out the window and he was cleaning my walks. Um hard to complain too much… Now all I have to do is keep up with the sweeping.

And the muffling snow continues… Naps! Books! Cooking! Shoveling! Delight! and oh, right… finish that sermon!

My wish for you is that there is beauty in the Winter that surrounds you. And that you are safe and warm. May you find Delight. May you find Peace.

Snow! Snow! Snow! Snow! Snow!

(yayayayayayayay!)

Peace of Farming

I live in rural PA. And yet, by and large, I know nothing about farming. I’m a city girl.

Having Dagny, a large animal vet, take pictures this year was a deliberate attempt to move closer to the land and culture I inhabit. Looking at this cute faced little guy, I have to find out about hutches for calves and illnesses calves are prey to and how that’s best avoided.

I both eat meat and dairy. I work to be deliberate and conscious about that. I know others make different choices. It helps when Dag tells me which farms to buy from because they take the best care of their animals.

Wise folk say know the people who farm our food. I like that. I also like knowing the vet who cares for the animals. And I love the pics she sends me.

I love the call to consciousness. What we do has impact. How we live makes a difference. We must make Peace where we live.

The Peace of Being Who You Are

The eagle in this picture is so glorious in his existence.

Animals are who they are. That’s all they know how to be. That’s all they know who to be. And they know it’s enough. So they sit and preen in the sunlight. Not for us. Just because it feels wonderful.

Too many of us spend too much of our lives trying to be someone we’re not. Eagles don’t have that complication. Find food. Eat. Share with your mate and your children. Nest. Protect your mate. Sit on a branch in the sunshine.

Our lives may be more complicated than that, but they’re often not as complicated as we make them.

Sometimes, it’s just about being beautiful and allowing others to enjoy… Sometimes we might turn our head in a different direction to find our Peace. Because the world needs our beauty as much as it needs our brains. It needs our Love as much as our strategy.

Peace. What if we could make it simpler?

Looking through the Windows of Peace

The photo is so beautiful. Here we are there it is. Do we move through to the bounty? Or live where we are. The wheat is young, just now making its presence known… but it is growth and a reminder of what to come.

Here we are on the other side, the side of the dormant vines.

It’s so easy to see them as dead — but it’s Winter, they’re sleeping. They’re readying themselves for the next big show. It’s not easy work. It’s so easy to assume they’re lying around doing nothing; that only the green stuff works.

Because of this, we often don’t give ourselves enough rest and enough time for preparation. We don’t honor the cycle. Or is it that we think it doesn’t apply to us?

Peace is on both sides of the window. The winter wheat has been engineered. Sometimes it helps to remember that, even as we bask in its beauty.

Peace. And thank goodness for windows and the reminders they bring of where we are and what lies ahead.

Peace in the Dead of Winter.

It’s been cold, cold, cold… There’s something pretty wonderful about that.

I have the clothes. I make sure I’ve got lotion on my face and hands. And off you go, invigorated.

Shockingly, here we are at the 19th of January, what meteorologists call the Dead of Winter and this is only the second time we’ve had bitter cold. The light is slowly changing, by the end of the month we’ll have almost enough light to wake a ground hog!

Yes I know it’s cold. This is what winter’s about. Pests and Germs are dying as we complain about the cold… But heat up yesterday’s soup and admire the beauty!

The cold, clear Peace of the Dead of Winter be with you.

Soup and Peace

There are days when only soup will do the job. For whatever reason you’re feeling less than your best self, a bowl of soup can help to make your world right again.

Especially on a frigid day like this, it’s a great thing to set a pot of soup simmering on your stove. Your house fills up with steamy goodness; the scent alone says you’re taking care of yourself… You empty the refrigerator and make something wonderful.

It’s good for so many reasons, not the least of which is it uses up the things in your cupboard and fills you up without demanding a lot of the Earth. My friend makes soup for his mom as she ages, because chewing is harder. She gets to have favorite flavors and the comfort of a family recipe. Soup nourishes and nurtures.

I don’t make enough soup. Partially that’s because i live alone and still haven’t learned to make soup for one person with only a little left over. Oh, put it in your freezer, people say. Really? I’ll never eat a gallon of soup. Still you find ways. You also find the places that keep soup in your life. Happily there are a couple restaurants now that focus on soup.

Sometimes, when there are things going on in people’s lives or your own, there is nothing sweeter than sitting down and sharing a bowl of warmth. Whether, spicy, hearty, delicate, it comforts and sustains.

Sometimes Peace really is that simple. Soup doesn’t answer all the questions in life, but it can give you a pause from the madness. Sweet comfort alone or shared. There can be Peace in that, if we’ll allow it!

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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