Veteran Peace

This holiday was always important to me, because I believed my older sister when she told me the world was not working because it was her birthday. She was an anchor in my world, so why would that not be true?

Once a year, people pull out the red, white and blue and say “Say Thank You!” And why not? Those people in harm’s way?

But it’s not an easy thank you for a woman who wishes the world were working on Peace not on controlling properties. It’s not easy when I think about who gets sent to fight wars, who wouldn’t have health care for their families without their service and who spends their lives avoiding anything like service.

It’s not easy to listen to politicians extol the value of the military and watch them cut services to Veterans. Something like 85 percent of our homeless are former military. There are huge negative impacts to “serving” the country, soldiers are discouraged from seeking help that should be part of service. Living in the line of fire and killing people, even people you believe are evil who may in fact be evil… these things are not good for your soul. The physical extremes they endure mess with their bodies and their minds.

So my Veteran’s Day prayers are mixed. I pray in thanksgiving for those who returned and those who sacrificed. Those who made difficult moral decisions to serve in other ways. I pray that we make a different homecoming for those who served, that we demand better for them of our leaders and ourselves, that we make a space and a place, that we fight for their Peace as they volunteered to fight for ours… I pray that we begin to speak up, act up, think up about ways to promote Peace… not to avoid war… but to move toward the joyous possibilities. I pray we will be kind to one another we who are on such different sides of this confusion. I will pray for the safety of the men and women (no longer boys and girls) in service and that their sweet and beating hearts may never have to take another’s life.

And in the midst of it all on this Armistice Day, this remembrance of the War to End All Wars that Ended Nothing…

I also remember that it is my sister’s birthday. And she is no longer with me. And my heart is still tender with loss.

Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me. Let there be Gratitude as well.

Obliging Peace

As a kid and a non-Catholic, I was always intrigued by the notion of Holy Acts of Obligation. As an adult with an even less Catholic viewpoint than earlier, I’m even more intrigued — and less tied to what they really were and more interested in what I think they ought to be.

For instance, thanksgiving. Not the day with turkey and all its fixings although I’m a pretty big fan of that, particularly fixings! But the action. The making reflexive of the giving of thanks first thing in the morning and the counting of blessings at night.

Each day is a gift. And if I treat it so from the very outset, it’s more likely to become that in fact. And I’m alive. I have great memories AND great prospects. And the present is challenging and engaging.

And so I give thanks. For all I have and all I am and want to become. And when I do, when my feet hit the floor, I am a different person and my day is filled with possibilities.

In my thinking about thanking, I also consider the countless religions that have small prayers to take you through the day… what would those thanksgivings look like, I sometimes wonder for those of us who live in today’s world… I may explore that… but at present, I will give thanks that I have friends coming to help me say good bye to my sister, to hold me upright when it is time, and that I may do this for the sister I loved so dearly. I give thanks that I have a cozy home and friends and family who have helped me reclaim my place in it in the aftermath of loss and grief. I give thanks for a wide-flung community with whom I laugh and kvetch and wonder…

I give thanks because life with all its challenges is mine to explore.

Foggy Peace

Luckily for me (and for you if you’re following me!) the world is willing to remind me why we keep working for the good. There is so much in life that is challenging, desperate and sad… that serves as a reminder of the many ways we can we work to make life better.

At the same time, there is Beauty that reminds us to pay attention. No matter how cynical we get about the “system” there is beauty to pull us back. Whatever else we pray/acknowledge/express… Thank you should be our first prayer and our last of the day. Giving thanks for what is opens us to see more Beauty. Seeing the Beauty and drinking it in fuels us for the work to be done… If Gratitude is not one of the direct routes to Peace, it certainly smooths the path.

Every time I cross it, or watch it, or sense it, I’m grateful for this incredible river.

Tomato Sandwich Peace

It’s a day of turmoil and sorrow over here in Bloomsburg… and so I’m leaning on the small, sweet things to get me through the day. Part of what’s odd about letting your sister go is realizing that the traditions you’ve always kept you’ll now be keeping alone.

So, take Peace where you find it, my friends. And make it everywhere you can. When you sorrow, it’s perhaps even clearer that there is no place for separation. The love pouring in from Face Book and email is amazing… love from people I do not know and that my sister does not know. People are walking these journeys everywhere. I think of people in war zones who need desperately to know that we understand their sorrow. Reaching out hands and hearts around grief is a very sweet gift. I thank you for the love. I reach out my heart to you, and I rejoice in your prayers for our well-being.

And now… i think I need a tomato sandwich…

Peace Away, Peace at Home

I’m not an outdoor kinda girl, except in theory… and of course, unless it’s a beach or a lake or a pond in the summer. I’m probably the only concrete Pagan Priestess you’ve ever met! But I know how important it is to our well-being to be in nature. This cruise was great this way, it was sorta like living in a travelogue! Look, Nature! Over there, Beauty! (My friend and I loved the list of things that made your brain work longer, brushing teeth, lowering your cholesterol, drinking green tea and watching nature shows. pretty doable, eh?)

But we all need a break from our lives to be able to see our lives. And we all need to make a pilgrimage now and again to a place that reminds us of our insignificance in the face of such grandeur and abundance. We need to practice awe.

This trip offered me that opportunity. Where do you go to be amazed back to silence and Peace? Where are your prayers for a better world startled out of you? Alaska did this for me.

Honoring, Seeking Peace

Today is a day of remembrance for all who have served and all who have sacrificed. We remember not only the soldiers, but also those who supported and those who waited for those who never returned.

It should also be a day of commitment. First, that those who are in harms way will return to a warm welcome and not just adequate, but excellent care.

Secondly, with our global reach, we must find new ways to build peace so that such sacrifices can be looked back on one day as inconceivable and unacceptable. That will happen only as we turn our considerable power toward Peace. May it be so.

Rest in Peace, Beloved. Your homes are now in our hearts. Our prayers are with your families.

Peace Praying

Some of us had never been invited, because our traditions weren’t understood as part of the fabric that held our community together. It was never malice that excluded, but the reality was there was just no space, not even a consideration of space. Some of us, who were invited, never felt comfortable going, because our sisters were not invited. For most of us, the project of taking on such established institutions was daunting and it’s always better to be known as standing for something rather than against. Many of us shifted from foot to foot as the National Day of Prayer approached.

This year, a group of us had been gathering. A group of women, united not by the same faith, but by the disciplines of faith and the calls to leadership, had been meeting for coffee and conversation. We recognize each other’s work and challenges. We’re coming to know a bit more about how different faith traditions impact those two things. We’re laughing a lot, and our deepening friendships and collegiality, and oh, yes, support, improve and deepen our ministries. And laugh. Where two or three (women) are gathered, there will laughter be also… even if there are tears.

So, here came National Day of Prayer and the chance to add something to our community rather than distract. We decided to undertake a Prayer Vigil. We handed out assignments, I asked my friend Jen Curley to design a logo and we made pins so we could look official Then we invited our communities, gathered and prayed. First Annual. My friend says if 6 people come it’s a success. We had 3 or 4 times that many, and at least that many again of Women’s Interfaith Clergy Group. Prayers, poetry, and prose were read. Songs were sung. Silence was maintained. Gongs were sounded. Cookies were shared. Peace was sought; and indeed made. Next year it will happen again, may the weather always be as lovely. We’ll invite more people.

We also invite you to pray for peace, for 5 minutes every day during the month of May, sometime between the hours of 6 and 7 pm, knowing that people of different faiths and traditions are doing the same. May you pray with some question about what you will bring to the Peace process. And then may you put your prayer to work in the world. Peace. It’s in our hands, hearts, minds, souls… Let’s get it out into the world where it belongs.

Hooray for this group of average wonderwomen going about their callings. Hooray for whatever group supports you in your work. Hooray for more Peace in the world.

Everywhere, Peace

The events in Boston have kept many of us riveted to our TVs or computers. It was difficult to look away, difficult even to remember that only halfway across the country another tragedy had occurred and even more people had died and houses had been lost along with lives. Was this a tragedy caused by indifference rather than intention? It may be hard to tell, since it seems there has been no oversight on this company for many years. But as in Boston, there is no way to protect yourself from such a thing if you’re going about the business of living a life…

Which leaves us all with so much work to do. I do seem to keep ringing this bell don’t I. But as our worlds get larger and larger, thanks, in large part to technology, we have to pay attention on so many different levels and in so many different arenas. Eyes and hearts open. Hands out. Brains engaged. Hard work to make this world safer, sweeter, saner.

Harping on Peace — nice double entendre, eh? I work to keep the tune palatable to the ear and keep my fingers in practice so that I can continue to play. Because if we keep doing our work, the chorus is only going to swell! But my dears, offer up your prayers for Peace and then do the hard work of praying, the getting to the business of bringing Peace to our beloved Mother Earth.

The Peace of a New Pope

May it be a Peace-filled reign. He’s kind and gentle they tell us, and oh, may that be so. He’s taken, for the first time, the name of a saint who cared for both the people and the animals, and that is a blessing. He’s a Jesuit, so he has been taught to think broadly, deeply creatively. May he lead with Justice and Mercy all his days.

And yet, i think of the things he does not favor, and has spoken actively against: married priests, woman priests, gay marriage and homosexuality, liberation theology. In all of these things he lags behind many of the people’s understanding of God’s Love. May he be transformed by his office into a leader and healer of the Church and the world. Both are sorely in need.

Peace be with you, Francis I. Our prayers and hopes are with you.

The Sweet Taste of Peace

I’ve been imagining Peace tasting like a rich combination of spices and honey. The spices would come from all over the world. You would add your concoction to some honey from your hometown. Imagine being the people who would build this elixir. You would need Tasters and Noses from every part of the earth trying this and trying that, figuring whether the mixture would “play” in every corner of the world. Ah, what titles: The Nose of Peace. The Tongue of Peace. (when it comes to bells, we’d need an Ear of Peace, but for the drums, merely the Heart, don’t you think? And Peace Perfume, that makes us move toward one another in Love and Peace, swoon.)

I wish i knew the someones who could do this work… wouldn’t it be fun to be invited in to taste Peace One and Peace Two, to decide which you liked better. Maybe every region would have its own Peace concoction, with an International Committee of Peace Spice Concocters. Oh, I like this dream. Imagine how drinking such a tea would make you feel — full of prayers and the counting of blessings; full of hope for the world and love for all who live here. Peace.

And imagine the aftertaste of Peace!

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

Tag Archives: prayers