Friday, September 18, 2015

CHOOSING PEACE


           For most of my adult life, I've focused on exploring, experiencing and expressing an inner path to personal and planetary peace. It's been my work, play, passion and pleasure.  It's richly rewarding work, but filled with plenty of challenges and confusion along the way. Engaging in this process of reading, writing, contemplating and communicating about the power of making conscious choices in daily life can feel very fertile and futile by turns, because there's always more to learn.
           
SHARING GIFTS
            Over the years I've had the good fortune to share this work in a variety of contexts: concerts, classrooms, congregations, corporations - and, of course, the Celebration Circle community. I can't speak to the value of what I'm able to contribute to the effort, but time and again, I'm amazed at the deep feelings I receive from other peacemakers I meet on this path. Their gifts can take many forms, each with its own weight and measure to add to my inner treasury.
 
            That was definitely the case last Sunday, when a sweet, nine-year girl named Cira shyly handed Zet a tightly folded note after our Closing Circle. If you can read the words of her poem in the photo above, perhaps you understand why my eyes started welling up with tears when I saw it. But, just in case the words aren't legible on your computer or mobile device, here's what she wrote (with a few spelling changes for clarity):
 
Sometime I wonder why
there's so many cruel people in this world 
and helpful, kind people too
 
It's your choice if you
want to bloom like
a rose or rot like
[an] apple core.
 
Everybody has a blooming
flower inside of them.
 
Thanks so much for sharing your gentle reminder, Cira!
 
With gratitude and blessings,
                                    Rudi

         In the spirit of sharing peace, I am playing music for a production of "Waiting For The Moon" at the Carver Community Cultural Center, 226 N. Hackberry at 8:00pm tonight. This dramatic performance combines the powerful words and imagery of local Syrian poet, Lahab Assef Al-Jundi, with contemporary interpretive dance by Fa Winsborough and Stardust Dance Company plus music by Swami Ananda Nadayogi. This performance speaks to the peace efforts and the lives affected in war torn Syria. Tickets are $20 and available at the door. For more information visit the Carver website here.

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