The Peace Stall

In every step of the work we do, there will be times when progress is, at best, invisible. We may move forward and back over one marker of progress, we may even lose some ground. At that point there is nothing to do but sit on the mat and breathe. You may want to check to make sure that the progress you’ve made is secure and well-grounded. And eventually you may need to take more aggressive action. But often you need to let your work catch up. Sometimes you need to let the environment catch up. You always need to find that balance between waiting and ignoring; but really waiting has its place.

It’s frustrating. But the weather does try to remind us that nothing happens in a hurry. Right now we’re noticing that Spring doesn’t happen in a day. One warm weekend, everybody’s running around screaming, “Spring’s here, Spring’s here.” They pack away their winter clothes and then wonder why they’re nursing colds and freezing. (Um, perhaps because the mercury isn’t going to make it over the freezing mark today.) But it will come. And if we’ve been doing our homework on our Peace project, it will come along as well.

Turn your attention away. Clean a closet. Meditate. Read something delicious. And then and only then, get back to work. The frustration is simply a good sign to do something else for a while.

Peace of the In-Between

I don’t do a lot of sacred fire building these days. It’s a ritual that seems to belong to my California life, although, who knows, maybe having spoken these words, I can resurrect the tradition somewhere! I was never officially trained as a fire-keeper, but I’ve watched many a woman and man carry out their work. It’s a lovely and deliberate way to invoke the Directions and their strengths.

To invoke clarity, passion, visions and groundedness on a regular basis is to invite ourselves to live deliberately in the midst of those things. It’s very powerful. But too often when we’re calling the Directions, we forget the importance of the places in between.

The more I do this work, the more I realize that it is in the places in between where the real work can and does happen. It’s where Peace happens. Few of us are completely this or that, we’re all soft and beautiful blends of many things. It’s there where things are less defined that it’s easier for us to meet one another in the in-between places. Our hard edges don’t fit together well, but our softnesses allow us to lean against and into one another.

The wonderful thing about writing the musings and then writing about them is the gradual opening of a topic. Here at the end of these few paragraphs, I realize there is far more to write about the in-between places than I have already. I suspect there will be many more references to the in-between places as we move through the Peace Year. It will be working me and teaching me.. as a teacher used to say. I’ll be exploring the grey spaces for the glimmers of Peace. What a privilege to be writing. Thank you.

Sacred Peace of the Month

Or should that be Peace of the Sacred Month? Titles. They’re not always easy!

But here’s my point. Each month the Earth has different work to accomplish. This month it’s about returning (look, the swans are back!), defrosting (oh, look, mud) and pushing (I can get this green shoot out of this bulb!). The winds scour away the dead wood. The skies can’t decide whether to rain or snow, but they’re dropping as much moisture on us as possible.

If we decide to honor the Earth’s cycle and concentrate on doing things in tandem with the cycle, our work will progress much more quickly. That would mean that our work this month would be the beginning of manifesting our dreams for Peace. Put small pieces of your dream to work. See some preliminary success. Notice what doesn’t flourish. Figure out where the obstacles are and set about removing them. Allowing yourself to succeed will encourage you to keep trying. Peace needs you to keep trying.

And there’s a bonus with this process. At the same time you’ll be paying attention to and honoring this astonishing Earth and your particularly beautiful region. This will offer you Peace even as you’re making Peace.

Peace Evangelism

More and more evangelism has become understood as a Christian activity. But the world is Greek and the activity ecumenical. Peace is possible. Peace is desirable. Peace is what we were born for.

That’s certainly news to start spreading. Disregard the media’s addiction to bad news and horrifying stories. Let’s concentrate instead on how neighbors respond when tragedy occurs and how we can make a communal difference when change is needed. Let’s tell the stories of how we saw two friends laughing immoderately in a restaurant or sitting in silent contemplation of a beautiful sunset. Let’s tell of couples who get along and travelers who made friends for a lifetime in a place very far from home.

Let’s spread the good news of Peace insistently. Let’s build a hunger for the good news.

Balancing Peace

Peace is no different than anything else: people go about it in different ways. What’s hard is that there is in the nature of Peace the imperative to work together. When someone’s approach is so different as to be alien to yours, it makes working together challenging, to say the least.

I work best alone or in consultation with other people who work alone but who are interested in pursuing a particular goal. I can play well on teams, where we each rely on our own expertise, but do not do particularly well in institutional settings. My independence can be an irritant and I can find that work style fairly irritating. I went to a meeting the other day and was reminded that it’s not that I can’t play well with others, I just don’t particularly enjoy organized play! Only team sport I ever competed on was swimming. You put your head down and swam your heart out. That works for me.

When I was a kid, I was good at the massive eyeroll about the slow steady nature of institutional work. Now that I’m clear I don’t have to participate, I can appreciate. Because after all, I really want to do only the work I’m good at. That means there’s a whole bunch of other work to be done. I finally got smart enough to look around and see whose work was complementary! At work for instance, I rely on my Director of Religious Growth and learning to supply denominational enthusiasm. When I started to work there, I knew I needed to find a residential UUist. While profoundly UU in spirit, I’m interested in local or regional community and Peace building. I want impact. I can do that work because Sara reminds me where the institution supports that work. She wants process. Luckily we adore and respect one another and are happy to see through one another’s eyes now and again.

Sara’s pretty easy to love and she’s a grown-up and knows her strengths, which makes it very easy to work with her. We laugh enough and make enough progress that it seems she feels the same. We also trust one another to have the best interests of the community on our hearts. And we rely on each other to do the work we can’t do… and we both cast around to find someone to do the work neither of us are gifted at. And that is Peace. It isn’t my working like Sara, completely out of my element, or her working like me, completely out of her element, it takes both of us doing what we’re excellent at and accomplishing our shared goals. We’re building community the only way you can, together, and we’re building it on our differences rather than despite them.

This works for us because we each know ourselves pretty well, we have enough explicit, shared work, goals and values and we are willing to figure out out how to stand together… but as our buddy Mr. Gibran says… not too close together!

Peace Dream Slivers

Reading the newspaper is a huge part of my prayer life. At my best, when I read, I try to focus on the places in the world in need of peace and send them prayers of peace. There are some that I can then act on, and some I must simply keep praying on.

I work to stay centered on lifting up (or as we say in FB parlance) sharing only those things about which our prayers can move us forward. I am easily moved to outrage by stupid stuff, so I try to save my outrage for the stuff that matters. Violence against Women, for instance. You’ll see me be fairly outraged about the ongoing use of women and our bodies and our safety as a tool in war and our complete disregard of that reality. Yep. Outrage. But I try not to rile (too much) when a member of the larger clergy community (using that term oh-so-loosely) is a jerk. There are as many jerk ministers as there are jerk anythings; we’re just more dangerous because we have pulpits.

Well, now that I have that off my chest, perhaps I can get to where I was going when I wrote the title. Peace Slivers. Little pieces of Peace. Sometimes they’re a broken off bit of a larger dream, but sometimes they are tiny little dreams that can actually be carried out. Maybe by you, because it’s a tiny little change you could make in your life that would make you more peaceful, or even your corner of the world. Like smiling at strangers on the street. That can make everyone’s day sweeter. But maybe by someone else. And when I say someone else, I’m not thinking about those, “oh, hey, here’s this thing that I don’t want to do, but if I ruled the world, I would make everyone do it: kinda thing. No, I’m thinking about looking at a tiny little something and being struck by how much that thing is tailor made for someone you know. It may in fact be so tailor made that they already do it.

Nothing spreads peace faster than noticing someone for doing something wonderful and complimenting them on it. And sometimes you can help someone notice the impact they have… or the impact they could have. “Oh, you do this so wonderfully, have you ever considered adding this little thing to what you’re already doing?” or “Wow, have you ever thought about this being your work, you’re so good at it and it gives you such joy.”

But whatever we do with the scraps, it’s worth saving them up into a container. Then on a rainy day when we need a little Peace success, we can pull one out and work on it. Or perhaps we can go through our Peace scraps with a friend and see how this little idea of ours fits with that little idea of theirs and pretty soon we can start a Peace joint venture. We’re not here to save the world on our own. We’re just here to do our work. Our work is Peace. Peace is a communal effort… and communal efforts can be, should be fun. Peace slivers — they’re good for what ail you!

Bumps in the Peace Road

I lead a fairly privileged life, and I am incredibly grateful. I’m also fairly well protected, much of that protection comes from being well-loved. Here in the center of PA, I am an opinionated vocal laughing outloud woman leading a church that’s a happy amalgamation of so many points of view. For me, it’s heaven right here on earth. I’m proud of the work we’re doing and I’m pretty darned happy.

It took a while to find my place here; But I had old contacts to lean on and met and fell in love with one of the Valley’s most well-loved men. So being a Goddess-worshiping religious radical seemed to just get folded into their notion of Ann and I feel welcomed and accepted most of the time. I get to be me, right here in River City. That’s priceless, and believe me I’m aware of how lucky I am.

There are a lot of women ministers in this valley. I am neither the most radical nor the one accomplishing the most. Good women doing good work. I’m in great company. There are also good men doing good work, but this column isn’t about that. Life has changed in these local churches as more women ministers show up ready to serve in rural PA. All in all, there are more women in ministry now than there have ever been. That’s as true here as anywhere else.

So I am surprised when I garner hostility or outrage for who I am and what I believe. I mean, geezum, folks, if rural Central PA folk of many faiths and traditions can happily check with in with me on a question about their elderly parents or join the UUCSV in a fund drive for Staten Island Residents affected by Hurricane Sandy, you don’t get much more accepted than that. When the staunchly conservative republican woman stops by my breakfast table to remind me to remember to vote, life is good.

Then this winter, out I went to Palm Springs — California, that is, to find people horribly overset that a woman was performing a wedding ceremony, wondering about what kind of new-fangled tradition UUism was (um, about 1530ish?) and whether I was pushy enough to call myself Father Ann. (uh, really?) It was sort of funny, no one’s questioned me about my bona-fides for years, especially since i took on weight and grey hair. (And of course, in the meantime, lots of women were still getting ordained and flooding the market with a new kind of capable, caring ministers.) Not so funny, of course, were all the underlying hostility toward a lot of traditional targets, which I was kept busy addressing. And then, back home, the other day I ran into someone who just, to use a Swedish verb, nonchalanted me — just pretended I wasn’t there. (did i mention the weight gain? I’m there.) And this wasn’t at all belief related, because he made sure not to ask anything about who I was even though we were doing something together. He had something he had to do, and I didn’t want to make him nervous, so I let it run.

These days, I’m actually pretty secure in myself. It’s been a long journey to this point. But now? I love my work, I love my life with its web of friends and family, I love this beautiful, needy Valley filled with incredible resources — not the least of which is music. I’ve fallen jelly-side-up and I’m aware of that, I’ll tell you. So I don’t really have a personal response other than… oh, well, that was surprising!

But it does make me sad as I think about the distance that I forget needs to be covered for some of the world so we can move into greater Peace. I forget that I can’t just be looking ahead, and have to be looking behind for work that that needs to be done to pull people into the present. Some of that I won’t be able to do, this is why we all need help on the road, because you can do work I am incapable of doing and vice versa.

It’s easy to be outraged, but it’s not really useful. In this case, I am not wounded, although one of my sister clergy might not have the support I have. But there are so many who are not safe. So, may my experiences serve as a February wake-up call. And if we feel outrage, let it only be used for fuel and not for endless venting. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and dig a little deeper. Our world needs Peace. And we’re just the people to handle the job. There’s work to do in the world and work to do right here at home, wherever home is. And if you’re asked who told you that, tell ’em Father Ann, a witchy woman of Peace. Shalom, Salaam, Peace everyone!

Peace of Synchronicity

Synchronicity is an odd thing. You actually have to be focused on something for it to start working. It’s a two-way tool. You can start thinking that humanity is worthless and there’s nothing but pain and suffering. and you will see not only pain and suffering but begin to think that humans can only work to create pain and suffering. Or you can notice pain and suffering and begin to do something about it. It is always good to notice pain and suffering. But the human task, I believe is to begin to alleviate it. Each step we take gives those who had been formerly hopeless footsteps in which to follow.

And if we decide to take those steps, it is astounding how often we are met. Once you start the journey, you begin to notice other folks going along in the same (or even same-ish!) direction. Steps toward Hope. Steps toward Love. Steps toward Peace.

And then you start chatting, and you figure out how your goals intersect. And if they don’t you just gratefully accept the surge of energy that comes with knowing that someone else is doing their work. A recent poem, circulating on line by Shiloh Sophia ends like this: “There is only one thing I know that is the remedy for this over-culturation that keeps us captured from our soul’s deepest song. It is this: To declare your sacred work.” And I would add to this wisdom, to declare your work sacred. Because if we treat what we do as sacred, any parts of it that are not will fall away. We will become happier and healthier as we honor our life and its path. And sacred work does sing to other sacred work.

And when we’re singing in harmony, the music moves us along. (Am I working too many metaphors here? It’s happened before, certainly!) I guess it comes to this. We’ll start walking. We’ll keep our eyes and ears and hearts open. We’ll assume that those we meet are good-souled travelers who might want to walk with us a while in the general direction of Peace.

Peace of the Pieces

And Pieces of Peace…

I have been thinking a bit about the fact that we’re already looking at the last days of January. Aside from the normal, how the heck did that happen… in terms of looking at the year as a building process, it’s almost time to move on from the dream phase of the year. That means we need to begin to assemble our dreams, lay out the word fragments, the pictures, the blank spots, the allies on a board. Can you yet name your dream for the coming year… are you ready to commit to bringing Peace into your life… and into others’?

I’m not always a vision board kinda girl, but they are helpful for some people. Because part of my goal this year is to see the pattern in what i do (which is not my Peace dream — although it might bring me some!!), I am going to start laying things out.

It doesn’t matter if you have a complete picture… pieces will continue to emerge over the coming year, but it is good to have a name and an (even a fuzzy) outline.

I started to write this this morning and then I got sidetracked by our snow day. And that? is the nature of peace… it is piecemeal… work here, play here… that way lies Peace. So may you assemble the pieces of Peace you are gathering… and my you revel in the pieces of Peace you are granted. (if it’s not raining, go sledding!) Balance the work of Peace with the play of peace!

Peace of Mentors and Friends

My mother was a particularly good role model when it came to mentors. She was a pretty good mentor as well, but she taught me the importance of mentors. She also taught me that mentors came in many different packages and were not necessarily older than you.

She was a painter. She put that on hold when she was raising children, and the second I went off to college, so did she. For 25 years, she took art courses, studio and art in the dark. She sculpted, she drew, she painted. She scandalized her hometown “girls” by taking life drawing courses. She learned from profs. She learned from students. She took advice and gave it back.

That’s a big key with mentorship, I think. Our best mentors not only help us to see our path and keep walking on it, they ask us, even demand, that we inform their journey. “Grow up! Stand strong! Be a player in this game of life!” they exhort us. They urge us not only to lead by example but also by kindness and by teaching.

I have been so lucky. I have sat at the feet of and carried the bags of great mentors. We’ve laughed ourselves silly together. And I feel the continued pressure to “get up offa that thang” and do my work. Part of my work is mine and mine alone. And part of my work is showing the way. I am very grateful… and I hope mindful.

If you don’t have these people in your life, you start looking around. Because you? are worth it. And because your dream of Peace is just a small fragment of the Peace mosaic… but without it, Peace is not complete. Mentors need to mentor, it’s their gift. And if you’re working your gifts, you’re the best sort of student to come along in their life, because they can point to your work with pride and say “I encouraged that wonderful person and his/her wonderful work!”

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

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