Peacefully Coexisting

How much more than the title do we need to say?

Side-by-side coexistence… a great start to joyful mingling.

But because we will always have differences, co-existence is going to be a forever thing. We get confused about differences. Our intolerance causes a lot of problems. It causes a lot of violence.

I find this shocking and wrong. We must find our way to Love. Love is the answer to co-existence. Love brings us to Peace. We come to Love by way of our commitment to Peace. It’s all connected. Coexistence. Love. Peace. There’s a holiday wishlist. There’s a holiday to-do list!

And on the joyful coexistence list? It’s the Winter Solstice today. It’s really one of my most favorite days. Most people cheer because they think the days start getting longer… actually, they really hang out for a few days and stop getting shorter. But I love the Dark. I love the candlelit Mystery of this time, the songs, the story-telling, the discovery of new facets that only seem safe to examine in this sweet soft time. I also love the cold, crisp starlight of Deep Winter. Oh, hurrah.

Alternative Advent – December 21: 25¢ if you have a gas/electric law mower. Ha! No lawn; no lawn mower! I should probably give money for my wild joy at not being personally responsible for a particular piece of turf!

Reveling in the Peace of Advent

Happy Holidays! All of them! I love this season for so many different reasons that I did as a child. (although Santa, still love me some Santa) I love the Dark. I love this cold quiet time of the year. Tiny sparkly lights whether in the sky or on trees are an additional pleasure, but… just the Dark.

And then there are all those moments. Some are simply solemn. Others are joyfully festive.

But I take this period seriously… It’s the end of a year, time to take account. It’s the beginning of a new with hopes for something better, something more, something Peace. My job today is to revel in that. To let that sense of wonder vibrate through me like the sound of a bell in the cold dry Winter.

Peace needs us. It needs us, it seems, more than ever. It’s on us to appreciate the Peace we have and to keep it growing

Alternative Advent for December 17: 5¢ for every reusable water bottle in your house (or car!).

Remembering the Peace of Advent

One of the hard truths about this time of year is that we are forced to confront what we may have missed, or have lost. For some of us, those of us who are very privileged, the holidays have been sweet, families have been united and traditions have traveled between the generations. But even those people have lost beloved family members who are no longer there.

It takes a while to recalibrate. It takes a while to decide to focus not on what i don’t have but on what is there. It’s important for me to honor the heart of the holidays, both religiously and communally. But it’s also time to cut out the pieces of the holiday that no longer fit.

I love to think of the root of the word remembering … to re-member, to piece back together. To take the remnants of the good and to make something beautiful from it.

It takes a while to demand (of yourself) the space to celebrate holidays in your image in a fashion that suits you. But you are worthy of that. If you’re alone, find other people who also are. Or celebrate another holiday and make that yours until you can reclaim your own for yourself.

Remember the holidays… Feel free, not to long for what you once believe you had, but to create that which celebrates the deepest possibilities of life. Savor the Dark. Explore the Mystery. Be amazed by the Wonder. Gather with those who love you as you are — even if that means you’re alone and loving yourself fiercely.

Allow your holidays to be filled with Peace. Share that with others. Remember. Make that cloak of beautiful memories and move forward with joy. Peace be with you. Peace be with us all.

Alternative Advent December 12 – 15¢ if you have dishes in your house. There are actually people in our Susquehanna Valley who do not. So be generous. if you have more than one set, try 15¢ per set.

Peace of the Dark Sacred Night

There is such beauty in the night. Too often we ignore it, brush by it, try and light it up.

What is most wonderful to do is to linger in it. To go out into its silence and breathe it in. To honor the Dark as well as the Light. To honor the traditions that celebrate this dark Beauty.

The night is also a gift. Particularly here in the country, where we don’t worry as much about the violence that hides in the night. But we cannot let them steal it from us. There is a movement dedicated to safety for women in the dark: Take Back the Night. Yes! Let us do that very thing. Honoring the very holy Dark. Honoring the Women and Men who have always honored the flow of time. Finding my place in that long river of souls that know that nature is a thing of balance and that balance is to respected.

And this night? this is a dark, dark night. No moon. The sun is late to rise and early to bed. Winternight. The Earth is getting ready for rebirth. But that’s a time away from now. Right now we have Beauty and Abundance and this Dark and Sacred Beauty.

Let us go out into the Dark in the winter and breathe in that crystalline air, rejoice in the stars. Let us simply be at Peace in the night.

Alternative Advent, December 11: 2¢ for every bar or dispenser of soap in your life. Don’t forget all the stuff under the sink, in your linen closet or in the laundry room… You thought, oh, two cents. Hah! it adds up.

Anticipation: Peace of Advent 1

Several years ago, I did a bunch of meditation cards for Advent. There was a word for each day. It was great. A couple weeks ago i looked at it.

Now? It’s totally missing from my computer. Can’t find it anywhere.

I guess that’s an invitation — and isn’t all of Advent.

Today’s word is Anticipation. This week is about Hope.

And if you’re doing the Alternative Advent Calendar, which is an opportunity to put money aside for a cause based on all the wonderful things you have in your life, today’s invitation is to put in 10 cents for all the hot water taps in your house. I get off easy. My little rental only has 3. 30 cents for me.

You are cordially invited to donate to the weekend food back pack program that my community supports here in the Susquehanna Valley. You can find out more about the LOVE Project (Let Our Valley Eat) here.

I love Advent. I love the Dark of it, the Quiet of it, the Introspection of it. I love the Peace it brings to me and the way it asks me to bring Peace to it.

Ahhhh… I’m going to revel in every day. If you read me, you’re going to have to as well! Peace!

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.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

Tag Archives: the Dark