Peace of the Small Bears

We’ve been surprised in town by the young bears roaming the streets and neighborhoods. Mama bears have new cubs, so they’re kicking out the teenagers to find their own territory.

There’s less territory for the bears over the years, and as we’ve moved farther out of town, we get a better glimpse of what has always been true, humans and bears are not good neighbors. They don’t know our bird feeders are not for them.

They’re delighted to find stashes of wonderful seeds just for them if they can just figure out how to have access! (erm… knock them down!)

The joy of small town living means learning the rhythms of the world around us. And occasionally the denizens of the forest wander in, and the game wardens have to be called to rescue them (and us from them) and guide them along.

When it happens, it’s a big deal and front page news and a great opportunity for our wardens to remind us that bears are more than cute and fuzzy.

While all this was happening, I was obliviously kicking my way up and down the town pool, less than a mile from the uproar. The afternoon thunderstorms had threatened in the distance, but nothing happened to interrupt our swimming. Summer during the month of the Thunder Moon: it happens — and isn’t it grand! The bear has a new home and Peace is re-established in the neighborhoods. Hope it’s Peaceful by you, too!

Thunder Moon Peace!

It’s a new month… and there were choices to make about names. Thunder Moon seemed a fairly clear winner given the storms of the last couple days.

This could be a month of seeing what’s true. It’s soon the longest day with the brightest sun for a slow and steady reveal. And there will be slashes of light casting a different look at things… We’ll be waking up early, because the Sun’s insistent. Shall we use the time to step up?

And things can be, should we choose, be shaken up in the time of the Thunder Moon — or we could begin to see that in fact things are already different from what they’ve been, or we’ve thought they’ve been…

It’s time. Are we ready? People, the Earth, All God’s critters really shouldn’t have to wait any longer on us, should they? All in for Peace?

Sweet Reminders of Peace Possible!

The weekend was so incredibly tense so it was just lovely to have a sweet day of community!

No issues to work, no big thoughts to have. The hardest decisions to make were not even whether I should test everything but rather whether I should try something again! Big decisions about whether I should just stand in the splash from the Skloosh, or whether i should get on the silly ride (I did! I did!) Oh, we give thanks for the bounty of food and the abundance of beloved, laughing community!

Four different traditions. All under a yellow and white stripped tent making merry. Life at its summer sweetest. And lots of pictures to remind us we were making sweet memories

And today? I’m going to find some more strawberries on this last day of the Berry Moon. From the way the next moon’s getting off to a start, it sounds as if I should choose Thunder moon. Apparently there were big storms last night, i confess I didn’t hear them. My basement isn’t a swimming pool however, so how bad could they have been?

But today, my dears, I wish you the quiet Peace that comes of great gatherings with good friends — the last sweet remnants of Strawberry Peace and the startling beginnings of Thunder Peace. wow? do we think it’s time to make a stir?

A Berry Moon Sabbath & a Need for Peace

It’s been a very intense weekend. And it’s not over yet. Pant, Pant…

But all of it has been wonderful, even the hard bits. No reason to think that it won’t continue to be the same. Although goodness me… what a journey.

Lucky that this afternoon, I’ll be gathering with a whole bunch of people from a whole bunch of tradition at the local amusement park. The sweetest little park in the world. There we’ll be: Jews, Muslims, UUs, and Christians sharing a potluck and going on silly rides.

There will be work for us to do some other time. But at the moment we’ll be celebrating being neighborly. What could be sweeter? And I’m sure my friend Sonia’s bringing something amazing to eat! 🙂 She always does! And there will be 50+ other people contributing, so look out world! here’s hoping there are some Berries for the Berry Moon! I can’t think of a better Sabbath (well, unless I got to just go back to bed and not move for a couple days!) But what a fun and silly blessing this will be.

And as I’m recounting the abundance of my life today, I’m still seeing two young homeless families on an early morning train… they had each other, and mamas looking out for babies, but not a lot else. We’re a nation that says we care about our children. And yet we don’t. We have homeless babies and homeless mamas. That’s no way to get to Peace. And Peace is where we need to go.

Preparing the Ground for Peace

It’s amazing how hard this work is to hear. Incredibly sobering to think I am called to help teach it.

Because they’re making no mistake about this. If I’m here, they’re clear, I’m here to do the work.

Yesterday was a challenging day for all of us. I knew going in, of course I did, that I was going to be confronting my privilege. I don’t know if my Black colleagues understood how very challenged they and their work would be.

At the end of the day there were a lot of headaches and and heartaches.

Tell, us, you say…

The broth isn’t cooked yet, I can tell you that. It hasn’t clarified. I believe that what will result will be health-giving. For me. For the social service directors I’m in class with. For our communities. And I believe it will set up a fire in our bellies to do the work.

But in the meantime the chopping, slicing and dicing is laborious. Yesterday my Black colleagues had to deal with the fact that the in addition to the pain they felt as they’re disregarded in their work is only part of the picture. They also sat through hearing that the work they’re doing may be, by its very nature, damaging rather than helpful to the constituents they work with. The trainers’ argument was compelling enough that no one was really thinking the trainers were wrong… It just makes you tired… and sad.

There was lunch eating with kind, but confrontational women. Even with the best of intentions, we often miss the point. Or at least I do.

And after lunch the work was about White folk… You couldn’t have listened to the morning’s talks and not known this was coming. It was about the privilege we have at every moment of the day conferred upon us by a system built upon people’s being one down.

My work this weekend, so far, has just been to stay open, to try and hear what’s being said. To hear the critical analysis. To hear the way the world impacts people of color. To hear the pain of these highly educated, well-paid, very talented executives.

And then to allow myself to feel my own sorrow, to see my unconscious acceptance, and to not let any of that stop me from being part of a group who does things to make a difference.

To recognize that I’m only a Peacemaker when I’m making Peace for everyone. I’m only a Peacemaker when I’m waking up, stepping up to the hard work of social action. When I’m creating not only the beloved community, but the just one. No Justice, no Peace, Bob Marley told us. I’ve sung it… have I ever really listened to the words? or listened to my heart after the words? we need to… the world needs us.

Ah, The Peace of the First Swim!

At last! I finally got it together to get to the pool and buy my membership. It’s cheeeeep when you’re over 55. Set up my locker. Settled in for the long haul! Sooooo happy.

And the water was delicious. It’s a great pool. It was about 6:30 and there were lots of parents there with their toddlers for a postprandial swim to get them tired out for bed.

Only sore point? The music. It has a great beat for water zumba which is mostly what i was doing, but the language was all about sex and oooh pretty explicit… and also demeaning of women. So I’ll have to pull on my curmudgeon outfit and talk to the very young staff about why a) babies don’t need to listen to any of that shit and b) it’s really sort of anti-feminist if you listen to it, and that they might not want to give those messages either… gagh.

But really, it was heavenly… There is nothing sweeter for me. There are so many memories. love, love, love it. Peace of a whole summer’s swimming to you. But oh, i’ll miss my swimming buddies…

The Right Side of Peace

The picture said too much. Fear. Dissatisfaction.

The words said more. No one who’s different. Not in my backyard.

We’re better than this. I don’t really know that I’ve got much more to say than that. We’re better than this and there are ways to fix some of the problems that people other than us encounter, if we weren’t so damned afraid… of what, we’re not sure.

But I’m pretty sure the “people no one wants” are the symptom; not the problem. Our closed hearts are also part of the problem…

We don’t want to be the people in that picture. We want to be Peace. Let’s do the work. It’s a beautiful day out there under the Berry Moon, really, let’s do the work.

Community Peace in the Berry Moon

Overcast or not it was a lovely June day in the Berry Moon. Perfect for fêting two wonderful people who had done so much for the community.

Doug and Margie Sturm were extraordinary, but they were also very ordinary folk. They were both teachers, she taught countless high school kids to love literature; he taught religion and poli sci… and hurrah for that combo! Depression kids, they knew the value of hard work and had the knack of finding ways to get things done.

They believed strongly in the value of community, starting an organization entitled Community Alliance for Respect and Equality. They were warm and witty and engaging and people participated, sometimes just to hang out with them… and why not?

It was so fitting that the day in their honor was a day for soliciting volunteers fueled by fun music. The community gathered and a good time was had by all…

Peace is Possible… but you have to step up to do the work. Doug and Margie stood up and stepped up to the task. They loved broadly and boldly. And oh, they had great kids and left a trail of disciples behind them. Let us give thanks… and go and do likewise. Peace. Your community needs you!

Patchwork Souls for Peace

Some of us, and I think it’s more of a what is thing than a good or bad thing, have what I think of as patchwork souls. We have walked many paths, sat in many kitchens drinking tea or beer or whatever the local brew is, talked in many languages, whether they were of a nation or a clan…

And there is for us, particularly as we begin to understand it, a great joy.

However, it also means that there are paths and kitchens and languages that are lost or abandoned. And then there are pockets of remembered joy, sealed perhaps with some scar tissue of grief. Because there are some places, for so many reasons, to which you can never return.

I do think it helps us, as we come to the Peace-making process, to understand how many different hearts with their own languages of Love need to be engaged and how much space needs to be made for different approaches… May we be Peace and Possibility.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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