Yes.
I was 20 when I met Steve, and he was 21. I keep thinking he's 46 today, but no, it's a few more years than that, and it makes for a nostalgic day. The fog is cooperating, sitting on the ridge, hesitant it seems, to enter. It's paused to offer ease.
An incident occurred in my neighborhood recently that has me thinking why we have wars. We now have an email community between the households. I don't know the number of people, but it is hundreds. The Friday before Memorial Day weekend, the local high school seniors had a scavenger hunt. Fences were "tagged". The high school was blamed, though it was not a high school sponsored event. Vitriol ensued, with a proposal that we put cameras in our teeny-tiny local parks. Parents of high school seniors defended their children. There was talk of the "good old days" when things like this didn't happen. I'm not sure what good old days we're talking about, since I'm guessing the coliseum walls in Rome sometimes had graffiti, but according to certain people, 20 years ago, all was perfect around here. We've lived here almost 35 years, and yes, it's always been perfect, and, yes, ... and yes, and yes.
Yesterday, I learned who the "perpetrators" were. They have nothing to do with the high school. They are children. There are three, and hearing their story, compassion ensues, and I think of the wars around the world. Can't we pause to hear the story? Can we listen, moisten in compassion, understand?
My book group met yesterday to discuss "aging as a spiritual practice". We each read different books, and talked about the deaths of our mothers, and what we each might want when we begin to transition. I learned about an "ethical will". It is a love letter to your family, to those who survive you. In it, you share your values and what has guided you. Some people begin right now, and then, add to it daily, monthly, or yearly. I am with what I might want to say, what I could say, and I hope, I pray, I live the words each day.
Peace! Love! Blessings!
Kindness!
Embrace! Connection!
Joy! Appreciation! Gratitude!
Trust!
Feeling Safe with Embrace, and learning to Listen, Listen, Listen, in every possible sort of way.
I think now of the Tower of Babel. May we learn one language. May we share and amplify the language of the heart, the language of peace.
