Peace Needs More Than Hope!

I used to say "Hope is crap"! Not too Peaceful.

What's really true is that hope alone is not a reliable route to Peace. Here's why. Hope can be an excuse for people to rationalize inaction. And Peace needs all the action we can muster.

Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darvish says "We suffer from an incurable malady: hope". Hope implies that it alone is necessary and sufficient to produce a result. It locates responsibility for what is possible outside ourselves, allowing us to escape responsibility for choosing ways to create what we "hope" for. The Buddhists say that hope is the source of suffering because folks hope for what is not, as a way to resist or avoid responsibility for what is.

Peace requires commitment, intention, action, meditation, prayer, miracles and lots of other things. You can hope for Peace. Please also be willing to be responsible and choose to do something to create it!

Love,

Darlene

Peace Bonds!

Do you remember the Bonds sold during WWI to finance our war effort? Well, now we can buy Peace Bonds! Yes, we can INVEST IN PEACE! Yay!

Two organizations, Nonviolent Peaceforce at www.buypeacebonds.com and Christian Peacemaker Teams at www.cpt.org, use the money to support Peace efforts in militarized areas, non violent intervention, public witness (a most effective way to promote Peace), reporting and advocacy.

So, if you are looking for a gift to honor someone's birthday, or, dare I say it in August, the holidays (only 136 shopping days 'til Christmas), buying a Peace bond is in sync with the true spirit of the season and a great way to invest in a Peaceful future.

Remember, Peace needs you! Buy a Peace Bond today!

Love,

Darlene

Stuff and Peace: An hommage to George Carlin!

When humans lose meaning they often fill the empty space with stuff. Then they attach meaning to the stuff; "my stuff is proof that I am successful". Unfortunately, keeping stuff can be a burden, preventing us from engaging deeply with the world.

If having a lot of stuff points to a lack of meaning in life, I risk losing my meaning when my stuff disappears. Yikes! AND many people celebrated for making a big difference in the world have very little stuff. Fascinating!

Peace and meaning is available with or without stuff. The question is will you find deep meaning in simply being and in being with other beings? How can you have stuff and not make your life about your stuff?

A Peace practice today is to look at the meaning you attach to your stuff. Who are you without it? Do you suffer because of the stuff you do or don't have?

How can you be Peace with or without stuff?

Love,

Darlene

A Peace Perscription from "Dr." Anne LaMott

O.K. She's not a real doctor, but here is a Peace prescription, from Anne La Mott's book "Grace Eventually". "The best way to change the world is to change your mind, which often requires FEEDING YOURSELF. It makes for biochemical Peace........You find energy to do something you hadn't expected to do."

Where in your life do you need feeding, spiritually, emotionally, physically? And if you had that much needed meal, how could you create Peace?

Mangia my friend. Mangia!

Love,

Darlene

A Peaceful Tiger Koan

A monk was hurrying to the Tranquility Temple. It was getting dark. Impatient, he took a short cut through the jungle where he ran smack, dab into a rather large tiger! "Ah! Thank you teacher.", said the monk bowing deeply. The tiger, being tiger and very hungry, as tigers often are, gobbled up the monk and fell Peacefully asleep!

There are many paths to tranquility. None of them include short cuts or hurrying!

Love,

Darlene

"Play what's not there!"

Miles Davis, an extraordinary jazz artist, said, "Don't play what's there. Play what's not there". He risked dancing in a zone beyond the obvious and the comfortable, listening intently, inwardly and outwardly, trusting and discerning a path to an original, joyful place.

He knew that possibility and Peace is found in going to the "not there" places; in the places found when we venture outside the ordinary. There we discover a whole new music. Like wow!

Crazy!

Love,

Darlene

A Peace Practice

What would happen if you said "I love you" at the beginning of every sentence?
What would happen if you thought "I love you" at the beginning of every thought?

Willing to find out?

Love,

Darlene