Sweet Unwaited Gifts of Peace

I didn’t know what was waiting at Deb’s house when I went to get the photos. (It’s always going to be Deb’s house, just like my car is always going to be Deb’s car.)

I’m a pretty confident person, so I knew I’d at least look relaxed and engaged while i was there.

But obviously not completely relaxed. Deb had one of Mom’s irises copied into the lunch bar. Was it still there? I have no idea.

But the house looked sweet and appreciated and they’re so happy there. so good for them. And I don’t have to visit very often.

But he had these photos. Did I want them. How did I know? I figured they were probably just photos of Deb’s life in Bloomsburg, but it was so kind of him not to throw them away, so, I said, yes, please.

And then avoided picking them up. because… I’d have to go to the house to get them…

But there they were. My Nana and my mom, sisty and niece. in soft, sweet, living color. So potent, this picture of these beloved women.

And he walked me outside and we looked at deb’s redbud which was blooming like crazy and at the holly, which needed some attention, and at the maple which grew from my parents’ maple… and saw how his roots are entwined with ours. And intellectually, I thought how great and in my heart I screamed I want my sister. And meanwhile I talked with his dad about music and Steve and him about the house and the pool.

And what a sweet, sweet gift he gave me. There are a whole bunch of kinds of Peace in his gesture. My job now is to come to terms with both the Peace and the connections, however that gets done. Giving thanks for his kindness.

Peace, Good Deeds, & a Flower Moon

It’s good to do things for one another. It’s good to gather together as a group and do things for one another. It gathers us into community and makes us feel good that we’re doing important things.

It’s also good when what we’re doing isn’t necessary because there is no healthcare. That makes me so sad. I believe so strongly in healthcare for everyone. Yes. I know it’s expensive. And everyone needs health care.

I don’t mind paying taxes so that our children aren’t the most endangered and the hungriest. In fact, I want that. I want our corporations stepping up and paying their fair share. I want rich people to do the same.

And in the meantime, I want people kicking in the money they have to send people to Key West before they die. It makes us feel good about ourselves. And the person that’s dying gets to have a little slice of life and make one last set of memories with her friends.

That means everything, doesn’t it…

There’s Peacemaking in this… And so we gather under the Flower Moon and watch Love and Friendship blossom between strangers helping one another down the road. It’s a good thing. Creating community is good work. Sometimes it’s hard work. Sometimes it just feels good to do what’s right.

Dashing Flower Moon Peace

It’s no wonder people think we’re the center of the Universe. The other night, driving home along the river, it seemed so clear that the Moon was chasing me until she caught me and showed me the good road home.

In moments like that, it seems so easy to think we’re communing (ok, maybe it’s just me) with the Moon.

Because her soft light is reflected, she’s so much more approachable than the sun, at whom you can’t glance directly.

I love the notion of that intimacy, and I’m sure the Moon doesn’t mind the secrets I share. Maybe the Moon Goddess cares, maybe not, but she’s never disabused me of the sweet silliness of it.

And I love how she finds me and spills that golden path across the water. Swimming the Moon path may be one of my favorite things in the whole world… I love how she softens the landscape so that we can see possibility and move slowly toward our work of maintenance and restoration.

It’s such a private and quiet moment of Peace. The utter stillness and sweet contentment reminds me in those moments, that we are on this Earth to notice these moments and to help one another find the space for Peace, with ourselves, with the Earth, with one another. Let us Peace by the light of the Moon.

Choosing Love & Peace in the Flower Moon

As always when I’m in one place with a bunch of people I love, I get confused because all the other bunches of people I love aren’t there.

Love is a wonderful and mixed up thing… and creating family is so important. The Flower Moon is also known as the Mother Moon, it’s about figuring this stuff out. Who do we love? Who do we Mother? Who do we Family?

Love is a deliberate choice. It’s fraught with knowledge and boundaries and it’s hard work. It seems so easy at first, but it requires attention and awareness.

Peace is like that too. It’s not just the honeymoon, it’s the careful and deliberate intention to be at Peace, in Peace, in love with Peace demands.

We need more Love. We need to create more Family. We need more Peace. And oh, right, it’s on us. It’s important work.

Going Home Peace

Families. They need tending. And the rewards are phenomenal. And at the end of it I find myself delighted, exhausted and confused.

Delighted because it is good to be together.

Exhausted because it’s all on all the time. “I haven’t seen you, how are you?” “Oh, we have to go here? let’s go!” So rich. and tiring.

And Confused… how can all this love not be connected to all the other love?

Where are our kids? Where’s my sweet village? Where’s beloved Sweden? I find it fascinating that I, who never had kids, gets the most excitement over watching my niece Sarrah’s littles find their place in the greater family. When Naim (that face) walked over to see his Aunt Grancy, lay his head on her belly and wander away… heaven! And yet, hunger at the same time.

Love on the borderlines, it’s a lovely thing. and for far flung family, maybe it’s always this intense.

But I confess, I’m glad to be traveling home today… quiet time writing in an airport, a familiar drive home, and tomorrow, a walk along the (my!) river to ease me back into the day and life!

The Flower Moon rose full and beautiful as we sat around the fire. Wayne reminded me that it used to be the hot tub. shhhhhhhh.

And Peace was right there in all the chaos. And when the chaos is simply Love and Joy and a lot of activities, I give thanks! And Sally laughed!

Peace, Community, Sabbath, and a Full Moon

Gathered community. Gathered community knitted together — or more correctly, gathered community knitting itself together around relationship and commitment and family.

What is intimacy? What is family? what is celebration?

These are not daily conversational tidbits in our life… and yet what prepares us?

This wedding was presided over by two judges and a priestess. (sounds like a movie, no?)

Lots of stuff was swirling around the gathering… and we rode the waves. As I told you, I found myself in the catching position… and another new nephew, and another new nephew and another new niece… and zoom…

and on the Sabbath, we all rested. family tradition mimosas for brekkie. (over hotel waffes and birthday cake, goodness gracious, pleeze, may there be protein soon.) civilized coffee in a foo foo hotel. a little writing. a nap coming up.

And more family. wonderful kids who have wonderful kids.

Peace as a jigsaw with lots of little pieces… being slowly fitted together. leisure. no need to hurry. we’ve got most of this day.

Peace be with you. and catch tonight’s Full Flower Moon. I’ve got a date with my pillow.

Families, Flowers and Peace

I’m a very lucky woman. I have a very interesting family and I like them.

Yesterday, at one event after another, I walked into the arms of family members. Children scoring soccer goals, children reading all 41 books on the Maine reads, children loving bubbles. Cousins delighted to see one another.

My nieces and nephews.

My cousins and my brother.

We didn’t know one another well, growing up. Now we’re sharing stories and lives and food and laughter. And swimming. well of course swimming. Even though the pool is outside and even the Maine kids are whiny because it’s so cold.

And then all the others at the wedding. Interesting people with interesting stories.

And the Flower Moon on the river? and the hopping town? just lovely.

It’s important to weave yourself into your tapestry every once in a while, make sure the threads are still attached. It’s a whole different kind of Peace than I work on most of the time. But I’ll take it.

So Peace to you, my friends. and go fall in Love with Love. and Joy. and Family.

And if we’re going to talk about Peace, remember, if you will that the local synagogue was defaced this week. Hold them in your hearts and let’s figure out how to step up and step in in these moments. Because it’s so not ok. More on that later this week.

Family Peace in the Flower Moon

It’s been a long haul of sad commemorations in my family.

So, it was with great joy I hauled out my marrying dress and headed out to my nephew’s wedding. I’m not really doing the marrying, just a little part, so this marrying dress is red rather than my oh-so-stylish-and-clerical black.

I’d packed it down in my suitcase and was driving down the road when my cousin Kate called to say that Wayne’s, now her, daughter had eloped. Boom. another nephew, complete with a boychild. (Oh great, another child to be a mediocre auntie too. Ah well, luckily I’m the crazy auntie when they see me! After all, who’s bringing the pez and the bubbles to the wedding? Okay, okay, dear friends gave them to me for Easter, but still, I know how to use them. After all, being Evanses/Bennetts/and all the other things that come after, we’ll be logging a lot of pool time! Gotta have fun options!)

Twenty six of us will gather. There will be a lot of holes, and as I write this I’m missing Deb like crazy. Tomorrow by the pool and Saturday, I’ll miss the elders. But I’m grateful for what I’ve got — because what I’ve got is Love and some very sweet Peace.

and whoohoo… a celebratory cocktail will be enjoyed in the Clinton Library. That’s worth the price of admission (which is grown up shoes) right there.

Peace, Love and Happiness, World. Here’s to wild, riotous and passionate Happiness.

Flower Moon Peace and Joy!

Ah, Spring. The Flower Moon — doing her job.

Out in the woods to revel in the beauty. These hardies don’t belong here, they were brought from the Mediterranean and Asia Minor and have been cultivated for a very long time.

The ones in this little valley were planted by a homestead, i’m sure. The homestead is gone. The flowers persevere.

And the Evanses. hardships notwithstanding, have persevered mightily.

So we’re lucky. We’ve found our Peace.

A friend reminded me of what’s going on in Europe where huge batches of people from entirely different cultures are arriving in their countries, escaping their own, but wanting to establish their own culture where they are, rather than moving to where they’ve moved.

That’s a different issue. I’ll get back to it. But today’s Peace and beauty is what i had for the moment. Tomorrow, I’ll be writing about family Peace.

Migrating Peace in the Flower Moon

In Swedish the word for immigrants is invandrare… those who wander in.

That certainly describes the people who first came to this country… We wandered in from other places. Certainly our first people were hunter gatherers. Who knows how long it took before we started bringing our plants with us whether by mistake or on purpose.

And if we came in the time of the Flower Moon, when things will grow willy-nilly, then we started bringing in invasive species.

Throughout history we have wandered. Throughout history we have invaded new territory so that we might live better.

Sadly, as soon as we arrive, we often start thinking that no one else should come after us into what is now “our” place…

So much to ponder here. What does wandering Peace look like?

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

Tag Archives: peace