Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Ode to a Marrying Child
Take today as a day you'll treasure
In your dreams, in your memories.
Feel the strength in his arms,
The love in his eyes,
The hope in your hearts.
Linger in the moment
Knowing moments morph
Into days, years, lifetimes.
Don't wonder what the morrow will bring.
But instead think of today, the beauty,
The friends, the overwhelming love.
The joining of two lives into one.
The days ahead will bring their own charm,
Many very unlike today's.
Some days you may wonder how and why
What road to take at the fork,
What hill to climb next.
What advice can a mother give
On the day her daughter becomes a wife?
No advice, only love, prayers and delight.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Just what is the purpose of a grandparent after all?
Some folks think a grandmother should stay home and provide a warm and loving environment for her family, especially the little grandchildren as they come around.
And believe me, this is one of my fondest memories of my grandmother! She was always around baking chocolate chip and coconut lace cookies. When I stepped into her kitchen, the first place I headed was to the cookie jar for a handful of her sugary, moist, rich cookies. And along with me came all my siblings and cousins!
So today, I often look critically at my role as grandmother.
What are grandmothers for these days? Are we to be just like the grandmothers before us?
I've tried the baking thing, but these days parents are very concerned about how much fat and how many calories their kids get. So some of us have abandoned the homemade cookies, replacing them with yogurt and applesauce (mildly sweetened, mind you), fresh fruit or carrots.
But grandmothers are much more than a source of snack to her grandchild. Even if some of our grandmothers didn't obsess about their roles years ago, a grandmother today has the responsibility to pass on the wisdom she has accrued through years of living on this earth. She must be sure that she administers this wisdom in small doses here and there, mixed in with the fun stuff that is so important to all very young children.
For example, let's say we're out for a hike and we see litter scattered every which way. How about making up a game on who can pick up the most litter in five minutes? Of course, you let the grandchild win, but she also has that principle built into her psyche.
"It sure looks prettier out here when all the litter is cleaned up. I bet the bugs and chipmunks like it better that way too."
Games, sporting events, movies, and other special activities are wonderful treats for the grandchildren. But I think we also need to be careful not to dissuade our grandchildren from taking an altruistic look at life. There are hungry people out there. Some are kids their age. We drink from a reusuable container (preferably not made of plastic) because we must preserve all the gifts earth gives us, so their grandkids will have fun, too.
A ballgame is just that. It's a game. It's not a matter or life and death. There are more important things going on in the world on the day of the Super Bowl than a football game. No matter who wins tonight, school will be in session tomorrow and we will find other things to do after school that aren't based on how the game went the night before.
Many of us adults have grown up to be lulled into a kind of trance that we inadvertently pass on to the generations who follow us. We have become engulfed in celebrity news, in home decor improvements, in our alma mater's football team, our Facebook friends and other distractions that are slowly eating up more and more of our time.
As a former organizer, I can see the effects. Many people think they can preserve our earth just by sending an email or two. To bring about peace, we sign a few petitions. To end hunger, we take a couple cans of beans to the next baseball game.
But change, and even simply preserving our environment, takes more than token efforts carried out during half time of a football game. I'm afraid that far too many of us have put our distractions into the top tier of our life, relegating much of the important stuff down there with emptying out the litter box.
So how did I get from the idea of writing about the sweet little granny who always had cookies in the cookie jar to Grandpa and Grandma sprawled out in their easy chairs cheering on the good guys in game after game after game?
What got me from there to here is the idea of conspiracy. (Yep, some of us see those behind every tree!)
But seriously, there are people in leadership who would love to see us zonked out in front of our TVs, watching the most recent reality show or ballgame or celebrity news program. The more zoned out the population is, the less they'll hold their government leaders accountable, the less likely they'll take time to study the issues and vote, the less likely they'll attend public hearings, rallies or protest marches, no matter what side they're on. They just don't care!
And most likely, they'll also be the folks with the huge garbage bins loaded up with pizza boxes and beer bottles on garbage days. There will be no sign of a recycle box anywhere. They'll drive the car two blocks to get a bag of chips rather than walk there. Every light in their house will be on, not just in the room that they're in at the time.
So for our grandkids' sake, let's show them what real older people are and what we care about. We are concerned that the world we are leaving them will be able to support their lives and their kids' lives. But most importantly, we want to leave them with responsible values and priorities to guide them in their lives.
May they always like a distraction or two! And may they also know that distractions are just that. Real life in the real world calls them to develop critical thinking and courageous involvement for its constant improvement.
Are we as grandparents providing them the models they need?
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
From the fires of struggle to a skip in her steps
Her steps were like skipping as she walked home today,
Not the normal 65-year-old beginning to feel her bones.
She had been through the fires, the valleys, hell and beyond,
But today, she felt loved, needed and as confident as hell.
She paused a minute, wanted to frame the moment,
Squash the doubt that this was a dream, not realty.
Would she awake and find another cloudy day,
One of bitterness, working out the struggles,
Repeating the coulds, shoulds, the if onlies?
But no, the sky was now blue, with the puffiest of clouds.
The breeze kissed her smiling face, tossled her hair in play.
The sweet lady felt like she was emerging through a door
Into wholeness, fulfillment, understanding, cleansing from her soul.
No, couldn't be. This just had to be a mirage!
Her hell couldn't be over, not yet, the hurt wasn't complete.
Maybe it was recess. "Don't get your hopes up too high.
If you do, you're only due for a great big long fall," she said.
But the smile remained, widened and adorned the aging face.
She opened her door, and saw on the wall the stories of her life.
Stories of confusion, running away, fear, wisdom, holiness
And the search for freedom within.
Had it really come at last?
Maybe life was a thrill to walk through, to lay in,
To love in and explore in.
No wonder the spring in the step, the spark in the eye!
A spring of optimism, of love, of possibilities had come at last! Sphere: Related Content
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Come celebrate in Asheville International Day of Peace Sept. 21, 2010.
Come to the Asheville City/County Plaza on Tuesday, September 21, 6:30 PM to celebrate the wonders of a peaceful world when Peacetown Asheville observes with others around the world International Day of Peace.
Asheville is such a breath of fresh air for many of us here. We have local chapters of Veterans for Peace (never knew such a group could exist until I moved here) and War Resisters. We also have Women in Black and Raging Grannies. We have concerned clergy who join together with us to counter-act the possible burning of Korans scheduled to happen this coming Sept. 11th. These same ministers stand in unison with local LGBTs as they advocate for inclusion in the mainstream of society. We are a city that sees risks and then walks into those risks with a smile and determination, willing to be vulnerable for what is right.
And this is what we'll be doing on September 21st, as Peacetown continues to advocate for de-escalation of forces in Afghanistan and continued withdrawal in Iraq. We lament the funds and lives that are wasted in the Middle East while families here clamor for health care, food security and decent jobs. Participants will remind our leaders to lead in speaking for us in the halls of legislatures in the state and national spheres.
Church bells will ring, drums will be pounded, stones will be left at our local Peace Pole near the City/County Plaza. We hope to have an abundance of youth involvement as we pass the torch to them in the continued efforts to make anti-war and non-violence into positive words that are among peace. Seems that the English language did a great job at creating words that represented violent conflict, but was so unused to peace that the language makers never thought of creating equivalent words that meant the absence of war and violence.
We will hear from a variety of faith traditions as well as those of no faith in a higher being. We will examine the words of other cultures as they look at peace. We will hear proclamations from our Buncombe County Commissioners and our Mayor. And finally we will release white doves as we all join hands and hearts determined to work for peace in the months and years ahead.
The next step is to get you there. And you. And you! Your children, your grandchildren, your exes and current partners. When it comes to peace, there is no room for conflict. Peace begins in the heart, in the home, the neighborhood, community, city, state and blossoms at the national and global levels.
Will you come? Will you put aside the destractions of momentary pleasure to enjoy this pleasure of true brotherhood and sisterhood? If you can't come, ring your bells at 6:30 PM, Tuesday, September 21st.
Life is grand, but it can be truly magnificent if it is a life that celebrates the wonder of peace!
Let competition subside. Now is the time to cooperate so everyone wins and lives in peace here, in Afghanistan, Israel, Iran, both Koreas, Europe, Africa, all of Asia, South and Central America, in Australia and the Arctic and Antarctica.
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