Write with TLC

Every time I start to write this I get start hearing George Michael's voice singing "Charity is a coat you wear twice a year" from Praying for Time yet what I want to write about is being thankful... Sometimes I think thankfulness is something we put on like a scarf to go with that charity coat twice a year. I wonder... I wonder... Oh, God, I wonder why is that thankfulness only seems to matter in November? Why is it that charity only seems to matter in December? Why is it that we want peace on Earth and love for all mankind from Thanksgiving to Christmas? Then the rest of the year, we support war and violence and greed while we blame our fellow man for circumstances beyond their control. Why, oh, why? It seems like it's so hard for us to see the world around us through clear eyes. And then I wonder... I wonder... Oh, God, I wonder would we even bother to be thankful that one month a year if we didn't feel obligated   inspired by the approach of Thanksgiv...

Peace is a practice, not a goal. I used to think if we could just reach peace, everything would be perfect. We'd somehow transform into utopia. But, at the same time, I didn't believe peace could ever be truly achieved. In my search for peace both in my own life and in the world around me, I've come to see peace as more about how we live, think, and interact than it is about checking off a box as a mission accomplished. That shift in perspective has made my goal to cultivate a climate of peace in my life much easier. If we live in a climate of chaos, then chaos is what prevails in our lives. If we live chaotic lives, we bring chaos to the world around us. If we allow the chaos in the world to dictate our lives, we bring chaos to our lives. Early in my life, I thought life was chaotic and there was always some catastrophe lurking around every corner. I accepted that as a reality that could never be changed. I never felt a moment's peace while in that state of ...

Words are powerful... Words hold the power to heal or to hurt. Words can unite or divide. Yet, how often do we say words without considering their impact? Denying the words said doesn't erase them. Taking them back doesn't undo their damage. I can remember so many times when words cut me to my core, words that the speaker probably doesn't even remember saying yet they stuck in the recesses of my heart and mind and spill out when I'm feeling particularly vulnerable either as a way to erode my self-esteem when I feel confident or to feed whatever insecurity has risen to my thoughts. When we spew words of hate, hate spreads. When we spew words of violence, violence spreads. When we spew words of chaos, chaos spreads. When we spew words of cruelty, cruelty spreads. When we spew words of divisiveness, divisiveness spreads. So it would stand to reason, that words of love spread love. Words of peace spread peace. Words of encouragement spread encouragement. Wo...

In a world where it feels like chaos dominates our lives, it can be hard to recognize peace when it arrives. Sometimes, though, we have to grab the little slivers of peace that sneak into our lives and cling to them like they are life preservers. When all we see is the chaos and pain life offers, peace slides into the recesses where it hides leaving us to question if there really is such a thing as peace at all. We spend so much time highlighting violence and hatred and vitriol that we ignore kindness and love and compassion. Not only are we surrounded by the chaos of violence in the real world, but we surround ourselves with it in our entertainment. We invite chaos into our lives even when there's no reason. We binge watch the violence in fiction and pretend like it's separate from real life. We want justice against the chaos even if we can only find it in the violent acts of fictional good guys exacting revenge on fictional bad guys. But, I wonder if we've become so...

Love... Peace... Hope... Life... Love is where it all begins. I look into my heart and find that without love none of the rest is possible. I decided several years ago that I wanted to live from a place of love. I wanted my actions and my words to be guided by love. It's not always easy, but my life is so much more peaceful and hopeful and... well, alive when I live from a place of love. When I saw Mimi Lenox's choice of Peace and the Power of Love for the theme of this year's blog blast for peace, I did a little cheer sitting at my desk. Perfect... Then I saw her announcement about the 30 Days of Love Challenge leading up to the blog blast, and I smiled. I thought, easy enough. After all, I already live my life from a place of love. I've got this... Then I completely zoned it and missed the first two days... I took a deep breath, loved myself a minute and forgave myself for my imperfection. In the past I would've spent days berating myself. I would...

I've been pondering peace all day... well, since I learned that today is International Peace Day. Peace is important to me. I've participated in the Blog 4 Peace project the past two years, and I always come back to the same thought. Peace begins with me. Peace begins with you. Peace begins in each of our hearts. I listened to the anthem for this year's International Peace Day, One, and I felt... well, sad... There is so much disconnection in our world. There is so much us versus them. There are so many labels. There is such a strong push to control one another. There is such a strong push toward greed and materialism. It leaves me wondering why, if so many people can see us that we are "one", that we are more alike than unalike, that we are better off united than divided, we end up right back at this place where hate, division, and vitriol rule the day. Then I look at social media. The world works by keeping us divided, by telling us what to t...

Words in the hands of love - what a powerful concept. When I read this was this year's Blogblast for Peace theme, I felt a shiver of joy spread through my body. I'm more than a tiny bit in love with the power of words. We live in a world where it often seems like words have been stolen by the hands of hate. As the vitriol spreads, so does the chaos. Chaos destroys peace. When we make the effort to put words in the hands of love, peace blooms into beautiful meadows of wildflowers blowing in the wind. Mimi Lenox, organizer of Blogblast for Peace, asked people to participate in a 60 Days to Peace Challenge in which participants came up with one thing every day that could lead to peace. As I focused on peace each day for a single action toward peace, my thoughts always returned to one thought. Peace begins within. To cultivate peace in the world, we must first cultivate peace within our own hearts, minds, and lives. When we live lives immersed in chaos, there is no way to...

Dona Nobis Pacem translated to English is Grant Us Peace. I love the idea. If only it were so easy... Peace isn't a gift another can bestow upon us; however, peace is a gift we can join in bestowing upon the world. As I think about what peace means to me, I find my heart racing and my breath becoming ragged. Peace isn't as much as about avoiding war and violence as it is about finding connections to one another. Peace comes when we learn to celebrate our differences rather than use them as excuses to hate. Peace breathes when we learn to acknowledge what we have in common with the person we consider the "other" in this world. Peace happens when we reach out helping hands to not only those we love but to those we deem as enemies. Peace spreads when we learn there is no such thing as an "other" because we all inhabit this Earth together. Peace requires we take action. We can look for ways to resolve our problems without needing to exert our power. We can...