Thursday, June 18, 2009

Peace

I closed my last blog with Paul Trueblood's lyrics from And Peace Begins: "An open heart, an open mind, just being kind and Peace begins". (I notice I'm always capitalizing Love and Peace these days - they're such sacred words to me.) And musings about Peace have been popping ever since. I'm reminded of Dr. Gerald Jampolsky, author of many books including Love Is Letting Go of Fear and Teach Only Love, being queried on a talk show about what really makes us happy. He replied very simply, Peace. I remember thinking at the time, what an interesting response that was. I'm reminded of Michael Beckwith on Oprah's Spirituality 101 show last week, responding to a women suffering in despair over the havoc in her life caused by her current financial losses. He asked her what quality she would have to birth to bring herself Peace of mind.

Then there was the Embrace Life group. Years ago I co-hosted a group for cancer and AIDS patients with a lovely and wise woman psychologist. It was a very intense and fulfilling experience for all concerned. We called it Embrace Life because we both agreed that, though critical illness is an important chapter in our lives and we have to take responsibility for doing whatever is required to assist ourselves through the process, we also need to be heartily involved with our lives, our loves, our interests above and beyond our disease. The men and women attending were all in treatment and a few of them did die during the course of our gatherings. It was always sad, and we would sit with such gratitude at how undeniably blessed we were by the meaningfulness of this person's life to ours. One evening, a group member arrived and shared that she had gotten results from her latest tests and that the cancer had metastasized. She was a thirtysomething woman and as we silently sat and received the blow, she went on to say that all was fine. She was so grateful to have been with us and had learned so much from the group, that she felt totally at Peace. It was perfectly OK - It was fine. She was fine.

Then there was the woman who approached me to make a personalized tape for a friend of hers who was dying. Embedded in his favorite music, I think it was Mozart, I lead this older gentleman in a guided meditation taking him deeply within to the place of profound Peace that we all share. He feebly reported to his friend before he died that he finally knew what life was all about. Peace.

In the light of the stunning outbursts of violence recently causing the deaths of Dr. George Tiller and the security guard at the Holocaust Museum, Stephen T. Johns, I'm reminded about being a 'Peace-breather'. Shortly after 9/11, Ryan Kelly of the NYC Ballet wrote: "I'm trying to breathe peace more than ever this year - like rain forests that oxygenate the earth, peace-breathers might pacify the planet ..." I feel that the healing balm of Peace is mandatory to defuse the very prevelant upset in our world's energy field at this time. And surely, committing to being a Peace-breather is a great way to birth and anchor within ourselves - Peace.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

What to do?

I woke up this morning feeling a little queasy and when I questioned that within myself, I flashed on President Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Elie Wiesel speaking at Buchenwald yesterday. Clearly they had all been profoundly moved by their tour of this place of unspeakable horror. And we were all reminded of the potential within we humans to perpetrate such despicable acts upon each other. Moreover, we became sickeningly aware that such brutal behavior still holds sway in many pockets of our world. When will this cease? What can we do? I'm reminded of my musician friend Paul Trueblood's song "And Peace Begins" which opens with the lyric: "An open heart, an open mind, just being kind and peace begins". So simple, so obvious, so needed from all of us.