What is it like to taste peace? I know it may sound like a weird question but Thomas Merton invited me to contemplate that question in his journal entry from January 3rd and 4th, 1968.
Evening—new moon—snow hard crackling and squealing under my rubber boots. The dark pines over the hermitage. The graceful black fans and branches of the tall oaks between my field and the monastery. I said Compline and looked at the cold valley and tasted its peace. Who is entitled to such peace? I don’t know. But I would be foolish to leave it for no reason. — January 3 and 4, 1968 (The Other Side of the Mountain: The End of the Journey)
Tonight I stepped out onto our deck on the first night that I was able to see Sister Moon this year. Merton’s description of the evening moon and saying Compline at his hermitage is such a beautiful and sensory experience. Being in the presence of Sister Moon was indeed one of those moments of peace.
This taste of peace took me back to the nighttime walks in the Rocky Mountains where we lived for five years. How many times (day or night) did Denise and I simply take in the breathtaking beauty of this sacred space.
The experience we had simply being in the presence of the bull moose pictured above defied description. A sacred and holy moment that I can revisit by sitting in silence and closing my eyes. We could literally taste the peace of that moment.
Sister Moon, Brother Moose, and the invitation to simply be and embrace the moment… what a gift from our Creator. Perhaps Thomas is inviting me to spend more time embracing and tasting the peace that surrounds me. It is an invitation to “Be Still” in the present moment.
The word that chose me for 2022 is Sabbath. Sabbath… a sacred pause… sacred rest… where one can, if their spirit is open to it, taste the peace which is offered to us by our Creator. I invite you, dear reader, to take such moments as a holy invitation to taste the goodness and peace that is right in front of you.
Journalists, scholars, and politicians have been speculating about the likelihood of a second Civil War in the United States. Our divisions have deepened over the past decade. They were on appalling display in the insurrection of January 6, 2021.
We differ sharply over ideology, race, economic justice, and, increasingly, over devotion to or aversion to a personality. Even more troubling, violence has become an all-too-common strategy for resolving our conflicts.
— Read on jakeowensby.com/2022/01/07/a-paradoxical-kind-of-power/
“Imagine if every schoolteacher was given training in restorative justice, conflict de-escalation, mediation, and trauma response. Imagine if our police academies mandated undoing racism and nonviolence workshops for every new recruit. . . . Imagine if our media institutions supported artists who use their art to heal and help us progress as a society. Imagine . . .”—Kazu Haga
“Nonviolent transformation requires of us the spiritual discipline of mindfulness, of attending all of our experiences and embracing the seeming opposites—death and life, sorrow and joy. The spacious consciousness that will grow from this openness brings with it joy, an inner peace, and great strength for the work of choosing life and in so doing, transforming ourselves, families and communities.”—Mary Litell
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a long day, Lord
It was good to be at work for a while
Yet tonight my fever returns as COVID appears to linger
As I pray for our community, nation, and world
I pray for sanity and mutual care and cooperation
I pray that the light of the Prince of Peace will indeed shine in this darkness
Lord in your mercy, hear this humble prayer
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
“Every day nonviolence invites us to move . . .
From mechanistic to organic
From dualistic to holistic
From event to process
From react to reframe
From extremes to complexity
From fragmented to integrated
From unhealthy to sustainable
From violence to wholeness.” —Pace e Bene
“When we practice watchfulness, we become aware of the wonder that surrounds us. Walking the path of wonder is a radical act in a world numbed by cynicism and despair.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Earth, Our Original Monastery: Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
What holy surprises await you when you pay attention?
“We learn to practice nonviolence one step at a time, one choice at a time, one day at a time. Through our daily nonviolent choices and actions we each, in our own way, move the world in a direction of peace.”—L.A. Season for Nonviolence
Verse of the day
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.
– Matthew 6:28
Voice of the day
Consider the lilies of the field, my friend — their beauty as well as their impermanence. Their lack of competition. Their stunning diversity. Let’s imagine a world with fewer thrones, more fields.
– Rev. Kyndall Rae Rothaus, Thy Queendom Come (2021)
Prayer of the day May I be like one of your lilies, always turning toward the field.
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”—Arthur Schopenhauer
