Tag Archives: Peace
It Just Was
Excerpted from A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton, ©2012: “You should get some sleep,” said the bear. “I’ll keep going for a bit. It’s a nice night. Thought I’d row for a while longer and take a look at the moon.” “Look at the moon?” said the boy. “Why? It’s …
Criminal
“War and the large military establishments are the greatest sources of violence in the world. Whether their purpose is defensive or offensive, these vast powerful organizations exist solely to kill human beings. We should think carefully about the reality of war. Most of us have been conditioned to regard military combat as exciting and glamorous– …
WE decide
“We need to decide that we will not go to war, whatever reason is conjured up by the politicians or the media, because war in our time is always indiscriminate, a war against innocents, a war against children.” ~Howard Zinn
Winding Down
Joe Biden has made it clear that America will still drop bombs and assassinate people in Afghanistan, because if we don’t bomb and assassinate people then terrorists might bomb and assassinate people– and bombing and assassinating people is Wrong. The logic is unassailable. As we finally wind down the Bush Family Wars, we leave Afghanistan …
Peace ☮
As I drove home from the grocery store this morning, I saw something a little unusual. I was stopped at a red light, and noticed the man across from me was scowling and flipping off each car as they drove by. When it was my turn to pass him I decided to beat him to …
Be the Stillness
“Learn to be silent when everything else is an uproar. Be the stillness within the constant motion.” ~Nicole Addison
Protest
The largest peaceful protests in American history were against the Bush family’s Middle East Wars. Protesters applied for permits, assembled peacefully, and picked up after themselves when they were through. Local merchants loved them: they stayed in motels, bought t-shirts, ate in restaurants. The economy boomed. Not surprisingly, they were completely ineffective. Lately we’ve had …
The Guy Who Shook the Jar
“If you can catch about 100 red fire ants that live in the southwestern desert and also about 100 of those large black ants that live there and drop them in the same jar, not much will happen– until you shake the jar vigorously and dump them out on the ground. The red ants will …
Ah.
In a wonderful article from Harper’s Magazine, No Time But the Present , Alan Jacobs argues that reading old books makes our lives better: To read old books is not simply to escape our current condition of frenetic standstill, the torrent of data and demand managed moment by moment (though, to my mind, occasional escape …
August 6, 1945
August 6, 1945 by Millen Brand Excerpted from Local Lives: Poems About the Pennsylvania Dutch, ©1975 Fred Braun has just leaned out on a low windowsill that needs painting. There are cracks in it, but so far they have let no rain through. They can wait a little longer. This moment is his to enjoy, …
Unfold
“They talk about angels, but what if the angels are within, and all we need to do is unfold our wings.” ~Gabriel Andreas The quote above is available on a greeting card at the artist’s website, HERE.
For The Pleasure Of
“It is not sitting in order to struggle to get enlightenment. No. Sitting first of all is for the pleasure of sitting. Walking first of all is for the pleasure of walking. And eating is for the pleasure of eating. And the art is to be there one hundred per cent.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
Disentangle
“Meditation teaches you how to disentangle yourself from the thought process. It is the mental art of stepping out of your own way, and that’s a pretty useful skill in everyday life. Meditation is certainly not some irrelevant practice strictly for ascetics and hermits. It is a practical skill that focuses on everyday events and …
Battlefields
“Look deeply at your anger as you would at your own child. Do not reject it or hate it. Meditation is not to turn yourself into a battlefield, one side opposing the other. Conscious breathing soothes and calms the anger, and mindfulness penetrates it… You don’t need to discard or repress anything, not even your …
Half-Mast
Brimfield, Ohio, is a very small town. It was where my father was born, and where I was born. It has pretty much been swallowed up by the larger communities that surround it, but when my father was a young man it was just a few hundred farmers and their families. Nevertheless, he knew two …
Small Grey Pigeon
The artist doesn’t share her name, and uses the online handle “Ink.” You can find her on the web HERE.
Say “Bless You”
Yoko Ono’s Cleaning Pieces CLEANING PIECE I Write down a sad memory. Put it in a box. Burn the box and sprinkle the ashes in the field. You may give some ashes to a friend who shared the sadness. CLEANING PIECE II Make a numbered list of sadness in your life. Pile up stones corresponding …
Don’t Do It
“It’s easy to focus on the negatives in your life and start complaining about what’s not good enough or what’s lacking. Don’t do it. Because it will steal your peace and you’ll never be satisfied with what you have, always wanting more. Don’t let your hearts be troubled.” ~Ismail ibn Musa Menk
Take Inventory
“Buddhism teaches that joy and happiness arise from letting go. Please sit down and take an inventory of your life. There are things you’ve been hanging on to that really are not useful and deprive you of your freedom. Find the courage to let them go.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
Framing the Question
“When we start to feel anxious or depressed, instead of asking, ‘What do I need to get to be happy?’ The question becomes, ‘What am I doing to disturb the inner peace that I already have?’” ~D.T. Suzuki
Abbie's Tree House 