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Posts from the ‘Peace’ Category

Apr 19

Transcend to Understand

“Why, when God’s world is so big, did you fall asleep in a prison of all places?”— Rumi

“There are too many people in the world today who decide to live disappointed rather than risk feeling disappointment. This can take the shape of numbing, foreboding joy, being cynical or critical, or just never really fully engaging.”― Brené Brown, Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience

Allow feelings to come, go and pass as they will.
Feel, do not deny.
A full spectrum of emotions without numbing.
Witness them flowing through and by.
The control is not in stopping feelings or circumstances, but not becoming them.
Pause, create space and distance to respond rather than react.
Off autopilot, awake and aware.
In the world, not of the world.
Step back, breathe, transcend, if but only for a few minutes of clarity, of reset.
Accept grace, love, light and a peace that passes all understanding.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” – Philippians 4:6-8

Jan 28

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Enduring

“The insight and wisdom we gain in our journey through love and suffering is transformational and enduring.” Mark Nepo, Surviving Storms

“You may not control life’s circumstances, but getting to be the author of your life means getting to control what you do with them.”― Atul Gawande, Being Mortal

On the path.
Curves, hills, detours.
May you look up, around, ahead.
Wander off trail.
Slowing to see and absorb the full rich view, scenery and beauty.
Seeking and finding joy and delight in ordinary days.
Peace and endurance in struggle.
Blessings in the burdens.
Gratitude and patience in the mystery and unknowing.
Awe and wonder to author your life well.

“The battle of being mortal is the battle to maintain the integrity of one’s life—to avoid becoming so diminished or dissipated or subjugated that who you are becomes disconnected from who you were or who you want to be.”― Atul Gawande, Being Mortal

Dec 19

Passages

“The spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it”― Henri Nouwen

“Awe is the gateway to compassion. It is a deep awareness that we are creators, creators who work with the Creator, in an ongoing project of crafting a world. If we do not like the world or are afraid of it, we have had a hand in that. And if we made a mess, we can clean it up and do better. We are what we make.”― Diana Butler Bass, Grounded: Finding God in the World-A Spiritual Revolution

Unfolding
Unfurling
Unraveling
Renewing
Rejuvenation
Reverberation
Beginnings
Birth
Bloom
May you passthrough the gateway of awe to wonder, joy and peace.

“What we need is here.” — Wendell Berry

Dec 11

The Refrains

“There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” —Rachel Carson

“The earth has music for those who listen.” —William Shakespeare

Entering a holy ease.
Crossing the threshold of wonder where the ordinary is transformed into the sacred.
Temporal to eternal.
The collision of chaos to a solemnity, a quieting, a refrain.
Suspension of time to witness it fully, overflowing with abundance.
A cavern, a corner, a thin space meeting a wide-open field.
Moments where it all makes sense in the unknowing, in the trusting.
Being held and holding back.
Not clinging or clenching.
Rather an embrace.
Unwound and unbound.
Fully immersed in the present.
May you enter, rest and be restored in the holy and sacred.

Peace is this moment. Without thinking it should be any other way, that you should feel some other thing, that life should unfold according to your plans. Peace is this moment.” Dorothy Hunt

Nov 23

Plant Seeds, Cast Light

“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.”― Leonard Cohen

“Empathy is the most mysterious transaction that the human soul can have, and it’s accessible to all of us, but we have to give ourselves the opportunity to identify, to plunge ourselves in a story where we see the world from the bottom up or through another’s eyes or heart.” – Sue Monk Kidd

The holiday season triggers a slew of emotions.
Loss of a loved one(s), recent or years ago, yet still ever present.
Childhood memories – both wonderful and difficult.
Family dynamics, fractured relationships, and the dreaded political pontifications.
We can keep going through the same door and write off the next six weeks. Endure.
OR, we can find the wonder woven in the season of hope and light.
Receiving and giving the gift of grace, kindness, empathy, forgiveness, making way for laughter, joy and peace.
Invite and allow a new story to born within this year.
One seed, one day at a time.
May this season feed and fill your heart with the healing power of love.
Plant hope, cast light.

“You will learn a lot about yourself if you stretch in the direction of goodness, of bigness, of kindness, of forgiveness, of emotional bravery. Be a warrior for love.”― Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

Oct 11

Refraction

“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths, or the turning inwards in prayer for five short minutes.”― Etty Hillesum

“Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.”― Etty Hillesum

May you seek peace today and find it;
May you seek peace today and embrace it;
May you seek peace today and give it away;
Guided by light, joy, gratitude;
Reclaiming, renewing, refreshing peace;
Changing the world, one person at a time.

“A desire to kneel down sometimes pulses through my body, or rather it is as if my body has been meant and made for the act of kneeling. Sometimes, in moments of deep gratitude, kneeling down becomes an overwhelming urge, head deeply bowed, hands before my face.”― Etty Hillesum

Sep 11

Peace and Light

“Who knows why God allows heartbreak, but the answer must be important enough because God allows His heart to break too.”― Ann Voskamp, The Broken Way: A Daring Path into the Abundant Life

“May we all receive blessing upon blessing. And may we realize our power to bless, heal, and renew one another.”― John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Invocations and Blessings

On this 21st anniversary of 9/11, may we seek and strive for peace in our own heart so we can achieve peace in the world.

Abundance over scarcity.
Enough over more.
Empathy over self-centeredness.
Love over hate.
Blessing, healing, renewing.

“What you encounter, recognize or discover depends to a large degree on the quality of your approach. Many of the ancient cultures practiced careful rituals of approach. An encounter of depth and spirit was preceded by careful preparation.

When we approach with reverence, great things decide to approach us. Our real life comes to the surface and its light awakens the concealed beauty in things. When we walk on the earth with reverence, beauty will decide to trust us. The rushed heart and arrogant mind lack the gentleness and patience to enter that embrace.”― John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace

May 30

Remember and Plant Peace

“We take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” – Cynthia Ozick

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15:13

On Memorial Day, we remember and honor those who have died while serving in the military, making the ultimate sacrifice for others, for freedom. To go beyond self into the rocky ground of other, the sacred land of service.

We all want to be remembered, to be seen. Heroes and ordinary humans. Be grateful for those who rise above self to give to others. Honor by following their lead in everyday service to others through kindness, generosity and love. That is how we can best serve and honor those who have given so much not only for their friends but for all.

Sojourn the daily path with acts of love. Plant seeds of peace wherever you pass.

“No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.” – St. Ambrose

Apr 11

Restoration in Progress

“There is an eternal landscape, a geography of the soul; we search for its outlines all our lives.” – Josephine Hart

“Poetry is often the art of overhearing yourself say things you didn’t know you knew. It is a learned skill to force yourself to articulate your life, your present world or your possibilities for the future.” – David Whyte

May you be restored each day within.
Pruning, burning, rooting, seeding, growing.
Pay attention to your internal landscape.
Nurture, garden and tend to it.
Peace in the world begins with self.
Restoration in progress.

“If you keep the Sabbath, you start to see creation not as somewhere to get away from your ordinary life, but a place to frame an attentiveness to your life.” – Eugene H. Peterson

Jan 18

Blessed are the Peacemakers

“Peace is its own reward.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“Peace is its own reward.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” – Saint Francis de Sales

May we jump to kindness rather than conclusions;
Acceptance rather than approval;
Slow to judgment;
Ease in the struggle;
Ease through the struggle;
Ease over struggle;
The calming voice that brings peace;
Observing, listening, questioning our assumptions;
Entering the current of love and generosity without prerequisites;
To notice rather than be noticed;
To encourage rather than criticize;
To listen and not solve with trite answers;
Responding with the beatitudes rather than platitudes;
Empty your jar of kindness with wild abandon, expecting nothing in return;
Cast light and love with fervor and abundance;
And in all of these impossible, counterintuitive, unwarranted, ridiculous, undeserving acts, change the world.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
Be one.

“We will not have peace by afterthought.” – Norman Cousins

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