Tag Archives: stepping up

Peace of January Dreaming

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Astonishingly, it’s the end of January. If I hadn’t been counting the days off one by one, writing a new musing every day, I wouldn’t have believed it. Zoom, one month gone. It’s blowing away, here in this neck of the woods. After a day of wildly unseasonable warmth, the temps are dropping and the branches are whipping around. I saw a poor misguided earthworm last night who was pretty sorry about the torrential downpour and going to be even more upset about the temperature drop. The Worm Moon isn’t due until the end of month… that’s when the soil’s supposed to warm enough for them to come out again.

I’ve had the quote from Helen Keller open on my computer for quite a while waiting for a chance to use it. It seemed right. We are meant to dream out loud and in color. We are meant to take those dreams and make them real.

It’s not just that the world needs our dreams of Peace, because they do. It’s because we need to dream and to make our dreams come true. It fulfills us. It allows us to live our lives to the very edges. We are invited to become explorers in our own lives. Another great quote, this one from Earl Nightingale, a motivational speaker and spoken word artist, showed up (don’tcha just love the Universe?), “Don’t give up on a dream, just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” And won’t it just? Why not be the best you? The best you is the one that’s having fun!

Peaceworking

If you’d have asked me about my greatest fears before running off to peace camp with ThinkPeace Workshop for Girls this summer, after I got past the actual camping part of it, I’d have had to say, I worried about how the girls would get along. I am happy to say that all my fears were ungrounded. (I was ungrounded, I got to sleep inside on a bed! whoopee! Imagine the delight of an Aging Indoor Priestess!)

But I’m here to report that Peace-working causes actual Peace to break out. I’m not saying there weren’t rocky moments and the girls weren’t girls, but they were kind girls. They were involved girls. They were caring girls. Maybe crossing out were, substituting are. They are adorable, strong, funny, smart, wonderful breaths of air and hopes for a new world. They are girls.

These lovely young women watched movies that broke their hearts and challenged their senses of what is fair. They participated in projects that acknowledge that the world is not easy or gentle but are designed to change that. They spent some time writing their ways out of own troubles and then envisioning ways to help World Girls move out of their own. They saw their privilege and looked for ways to leverage that. I’m not sure if they’re clear that’s what they were doing, but that’s what happened. And in their free time, they played, sometimes like the young women they were, sometimes like little girls, running in the back yard, playing in the pool. More friendship bracelets were made than anyone would have thought possible. (As a child of a child of the Depression, I was astounded by the supplies they ran through!) People’s fears were soothed.

And they spent most of the week in a puppy pile on the couch and floor in the Gathering Room. They solved problems together. They traded taking the lead. They included everyone and they worked to their strengths. They stepped up

They didn’t do this on their own. Peace doesn’t break out spontaneously. The week was carefully set up. Boundaries were set. A covenant was drawn, agreed to and pretty much followed. And that week, girls made a difference. In their own lives. In the lives of their companions. In their Leaders’ hearts. And maybe, just maybe, in the way the future grows.

That’s a pretty good outcome from a week of gathered girls. Sing Ho! for the Peace of a Girl.

 

You Are So Welcome Here

My friends,

I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. I’ve been agitating about how I might make a difference in the bullying epidemic in our country. Every year 13 million kids are bullied. That means that at least that many children are bullying, probably more. In my little bucolic valley, in the last 2 years, 5 children have committed suicide because of bullying. What we don’t understand is that it’s not only the bullied who commit suicide, the bullies do as well. They are also severely damaged by their part in the violent play. We need to find a way to make this violence stop.

Too many of us can look back at our past and identify a time or place where we were far less kind than we might have been. We may even have been actively unkind, even threatening. As kids, we might have been confused about how to get out of the cycle. As adults, if we’re willing to examine what we did, we’re ashamed. But shame doesn’t help today’s youngsters.

So I decided that I would make a video and identify myself as a concerned adult, living in Northumberland, PA who was willing to talk to our children and their families, their friends, and even their harassers. I may not be able to help you myself. But I can help you find support. This video is not only a declaration of my willingness to help but also an invitation to you to consider whether or not you might not want to declare yourself a supportive adult.

I know that I am very lucky because I work in a denomination and a congregation where I can step forward. Because I can, I must. Not every clergy can make such a video without jeopardizing her or his job. But there are plenty of us, willing to help who can do this.

I’d like to create a network of folk criss-crossing the country who will step up and volunteer their support to these vulnerable kids. My video is longer than it needs to be. I used a professional videographer. Your video can be a 30-second video that says who you are, what you do and where you’re located. I’d like you to post it to the Sacred Village FaceBook page. When we start building some movement, my web-gang and I will figure out what comes next.

I hope you’ll also tell people about this post. I hope you’ll like the video and send it to friends with the same request. I hope you’ll tell your friends on FB both about the video and the campaign.

You and I are a powerful force — either for inertia or for the good. Help me make a difference. Our kids deserve it. We deserve the kids that will grow up free from such bullying. Can my little video make a difference? Can yours? We won’t know until we try. Won’t you stand with me, open your arms and tell the children how welcome they are to talk to you?

You Are So Welcome Here – Long Video

In the meantime, here are some resources to offer to both children and adults who are looking for support. And of course, don’t forget about the new social services resource, 2011.

GLSEN: Gay & Lesbian Educators Network homepage.  http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/home/index.html

Kaiser Family Foundation, Children Now, Nickelodeon (2001). Talking with kids about tough issues: A national survey of parents and kids.  Available from http://www.childrennow.org/index.php/learn/talking_with_kids/

PFLAG: Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays homepage.  Available from http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=194&srcid=-2

Skiba, R. & Fontanini, A. (2000) Bullying Prevention: What works in preventing school violence. Available from: http://www.indiana.edu/~safeschl/

“Stop Bullying Now” (2010). Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Available at http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov

The Trevor Project: Preventing GLBTQ Suicide: www.thetrevorproject.org/