Deer Hunting Peace

This is not a facile connection. And yet. It is the first day of Deer Hunting Season. Our schools are not in session because of it. I could have written on something altogether different. But in my part of the world this is a big reality.

I eat meat. I’m a rural Pennsylvanian. My being squeamish about this is simply my pretending that the animals I eat were alive.

I know that many people around here depend on that meat for their dinner table. And some just like the taste of venison. Aren’t free range animals what we aim for? And I know the herds need to be culled so that the animals don’t starve to death this winter. Because that is not a way to die.

So i ask only that people be very careful. I have friends and relatives in the woods, please use your safety rules.

And be grateful to and respectful of the animals being killed. They too are our relatives.

Oh, and butcher it properly so you’re not driving around with a dead animal on the front of your car. Ick. Reminder to ann. Stay close to home these next couple days. so you can miss that sight. And oh, FB will be a bit fraught as well. As I said, I’m a rural Pennsylvanian.

Peace, folks. And be careful out there.

Sabbaths, Cycle of Life, Peace

My morning started in Beauty. I rolled over, and there was Miz Moon shining in my window. Hello, Thanks for dropping by. Thanks for watching over us.

I’ve had a busy week, so I’m happy to consider a day at home. It’s all been wonderful. But — enough. So today, Sabbath. Reclaiming my space from the detritus of travel and finding my rhythm at home.

Starting Advent. hmmm. not set up for that, but oh so ready… This afternoon the first candle will be lit:

Advent’s first candle is Hope. As we share the dreams we harbor for our lives, our families and for the world, let us reassure the world and one another: We are called to carry Hope in our hearts. Let us be those who offer visions of a better world and who work to make those visions reality. Blessed Be.

Today is a jumble of thoughts isn’t it? Moon? Reclaiming? Advent. (Hurrah, White Christmas!!!! Favorite Christmas Movie EVER!)

And lastly, I am so grateful to do the work I do. This week, in particular, I’m grateful for the celebrations of the cycle of life. I love it all. The brand new babies. The joining of lives. The new homes. The retirements. Even the memorials.

Such Peace as we begin my favorite season. I hope there’s Peace at your house and in your heart as well.

Thanksgiving Peace Again

So many things for which to give thanks.

So many things to remember. And yesterday, we made new memories.

It’s a great holiday, isn’t it, Really just created for the opportunity to build more memories. There are new members of the family to braid in. Such sacred work.

As a kid, you’re at the mercy of the family… and hopefully for everyone that’s a lot of mercy. But later, it’s a chance for you to construct love as you want to see it.

Yesterday we laid a great framework for family… I feel so blessed.

I hope you feel that way too.

Peace be with you all, my friends. Peace. I hope you enjoyed the holiday and the full moon as much as I did.

Thanksgiving Peace

It’s a pretty miraculous thing. A whole day dedicated to giving thanks. A sacred holiday. A sacred season.

Which means being aware of just how lucky, how blessed we are.

It feels so luxurious, so delicious.

Which, I guess is part of the reason that I don’t get the whole shopping thing. Here’s a day to be dedicated to just being. MMMMMM. Well, being and being aware.

There’s a long and luxurious list of things and people for which I am grateful. For my love. For my family and friends — for each and every one of you. For music. For fun. For my work. Oh, I’m so grateful for my work. All of it.

Today, in particular, I’m grateful to be the family priestess, grateful I’ve honed this craft so that the wedding I’m about do will reflect the Love this couple feels for one another.

I’m a bit grateful that the mourning is far enough back that I can think about how happy i am that those people were part of my life. Grateful for the love of so many.

And so I give thanks. I hope you have a wonderful time doing the same thing. I hope you’re engaged in making many lovely memories! Happy Thanksgiving. Blessed Peace.

Long Night Moon, Lunacy, Peace

It’s the Full Moon. Only this one and one more Full Moon this year. Only one more time to be infected with the joyful Lunacy of 2015.

The Full Moon is a time to dare. It’s a time to accept encouragement. It’s a time for boldness.

Every Full Moon that happens, i say, Oh, this is my favorite one… and sure enough, this is my favorite one. (at least this month!)

It’s cold, it’s clear, and it’s beautiful. I am full of energy and thanksgiving.

Tomorrow, I get to do what may be my favorite wedding of my entire time. My 71 yo cousin is marrying her 78 yo beau and they are as giddy as any 21 year olds. And ain’t Love grand!

Peace be with you. Safe travels to all who are on the road this weekend. Safe home when it is over. And Hurrah! and Peace! and Joy! ‘Tis the season!

A Quiet, Fall, Sabbath Peace

I spent yesterday cosseting a cold. I’ll do a few more things today. But not a lot.

My guess is that nothing I do will be visible — i’ll work on the infrastructure of my life. There are sweaters to be straightened, a cabinet that needs to be emptied and then rearranged.

There may be a walk outside in the newly changed season. It is now late fall, and the temperatures are where they’re supposed to be. The leaves have finally blow off the trees.

Nothing extreme… but little accomplishments that will give me time to think about the upcoming holiday season, the things i’m thankful for, the things that are ended.

Time to make space for that which is to come.

Peace arrives in such small incremental measures. But we must keep open to its possibilities. Enjoy your day. May it be filled with Peace. May it be filled with Love.

Oh, That Moon. What Peace!

I’m in love with the Moon’s Beauty. It’s not just that she changes with the cycle, she changes with the seasons as well.

I’ve spent a year looking at her, a year being blessed by her beauty. It’s been a year blessed by slowing down and being present to what is.

I keep thinking wherever we are, she smiles on us. Isn’t that a call to smile on everyone?

Isn’t it a call to smile. a call to Peace? May we offer Peace to the Moon so that she may shine that back on the world.

Into the Woods for Peace

We take the beauty of our woods for granted. And then we see another forest, equally beautiful, and remember how beautiful our forest is.

I don’t get out enough. Every time I”m out, I realize… look… look what you’re missing.

The world is so beautiful.

If we don’t get out to treasure it. We won’t notice as its beauty disappears. Its future beauty is on us.

There’s Peace in the woods in Autumn —Each season has its own Peace Let us go out to the woods and find it.

The Peace of Long Nights

Today is the Dark of the Moon. Our Beautiful Moon has her face turned away from us and she’s smiling at the sun.

Tomorrow when she turns back to us, it will be the beginning of the Long Night Moon.

“Come down, into the Darkness, let the one who wants to be be born.” (i tried to find alink to that song, and can’t)

There’s lots of beauty in the darkness. Lots to explore. Many candles to light. Many stories to tell.

We make such a big deal about the horrors of the dark… and wind up missing what it offers. SAD is real. But for the rest of us? we miss something when we don’t explore the dark — its meaning, its hope…

So today, when the Moon has turned her beautiful face away, I celebrate the starry dark. Celebrate with me, will you? there is Peace there.

Peace of the Long Night Moon to you, my friends.

Starry, Family, Sabbath Peace

Every once in a while you should have loaner kid sitting on your couch. Not that I have my own kids, but loaner kids bring another take. If they’re nieces and nephews, there’s trust and laughing and fun things to do, so you’ve already cut through any awkwardness.

You learn a lot about each other. They get another look at adulthood. You get a dose of what’s up right now.

And then, if it’s this fabulous young woman, she reshapes your hair, goes uncomplainingly to party’s with 70 yos and to smokey bars to see a new band. She then demands you stop and take a gander the stars (she IS an evans child… my parents would be so proud! and so will her bennett/hermanson parents be!)

And the next morning, she uncomplainingly goes to church with you. That’s a niece! And a darling. Lucky Auntie.

She’s my cousin’s kid. Back when we were losing family at a fearful and awful rate, the cousins one generation down from mine were saying, our family is too small, we’re claiming one another and my generation was saying, we didn’t know one another growing up, we’re going to know one another now. We live into that every chance we get.

So, a visit from a niece. It’s a wonderful way to spend a weekend. and a great way to spend a beautiful, brisk fall Sabbath.

Enjoy the day. Today I’m celebrating the Peace of developing family. Whatever you’re celebrating I hope it’s lovely.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

Tag Archives: seasons