Eva Libre's Posts - Peace for the Soul
2024-03-29T13:06:39Z
Eva Libre
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Fear can accumulate in our body, causing stress and tension..
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2024-01-20:5143044:BlogPost:464111
2024-01-20T19:00:00.000Z
Eva Libre
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<p><br></br> Fear can accumulate in our body, causing stress and tension. Rest is a precondition for healing. When animals in the forest get wounded, they find a place to lie down, and they rest completely for many days. They don’t think about food or anything else. They just rest, and they are able to heal themselves quite naturally. When we humans become…</p>
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<p><br/> Fear can accumulate in our body, causing stress and tension. Rest is a precondition for healing. When animals in the forest get wounded, they find a place to lie down, and they rest completely for many days. They don’t think about food or anything else. They just rest, and they are able to heal themselves quite naturally. When we humans become fearful and overwhelmed with stress, we may go to the pharmacy and get drugs, but we rarely have the wisdom to stop our running around. We don’t know how to help ourselves.'</p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">- Thich Nhat Hanh</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Painting by Anna Christine Roda - French Contemporary realist artist</span></p>
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At a certain age, the light that you live in is inhabited by the shades...
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2024-01-15:5143044:BlogPost:463808
2024-01-15T18:07:46.000Z
Eva Libre
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<p> </p>
<p>At a certain age, the light that you live in is inhabited by the shades…I’m very conscious that people dear to me are alive in my imagination…These people are with me. It’s just a stage of your life when the death of people doesn’t banish them out of your consciousness, They’re part of the light in your head.'</p>
<p> …</p>
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<p> </p>
<p>At a certain age, the light that you live in is inhabited by the shades…I’m very conscious that people dear to me are alive in my imagination…These people are with me. It’s just a stage of your life when the death of people doesn’t banish them out of your consciousness, They’re part of the light in your head.'</p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">~ Seamus Heaney</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Photography: Artimis Dreaming</span></p>
CLOSING Cycles 2023:
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-12-31:5143044:BlogPost:463146
2023-12-31T14:23:01.000Z
Eva Libre
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<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12343250490?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12343250490?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="610"></img></a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>CLOSING Cycles 2023:</strong></span></p>
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<p>One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through.</p>
<p>Closing cycles,…</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>CLOSING Cycles 2023:</strong></span></p>
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<p>One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through.</p>
<p>Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters – whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished.</p>
<p>Did you lose your job? Has a loving relationship come to an end? Did you leave your parents’ house? Gone to live abroad? Has a long-lasting friendship ended all of a sudden?</p>
<p>You can spend a long time wondering why this has happened.<br/> You can tell yourself you won’t take another step until you find out why certain things that were so important and so solid in your life have turned into dust, just like that.</p>
<p>But such an attitude will be awfully stressing for everyone involved: your parents, your husband or wife, your friends, your children, your sister.<br/> Everyone is finishing chapters, turning over new leaves, getting on with life, and they will all feel bad seeing you at a standstill.</p>
<p>Things pass, and the best we can do is to let them really go away.<br/> That is why it is so important (however painful it may be!) to destroy souvenirs, move, give lots of things away to orphanages, sell or donate the books you have at home.</p>
<p>Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts – and getting rid of certain memories also means making some room for other memories to take their place.</p>
<p>Let things go. Release them. Detach yourself from them.</p>
<p>Nobody plays this life with marked cards, so sometimes we win and sometimes we lose.</p>
<p>Do not expect anything in return, do not expect your efforts to be appreciated, your genius to be discovered, your love to be understood.</p>
<p>Stop turning on your emotional television to watch the same program over and over again, the one that shows how much you suffered from a certain loss: that is only poisoning you, nothing else.</p>
<p>Nothing is more dangerous than not accepting love relationships that are broken off, work that is promised but there is no starting date, decisions that are always put off waiting for the “ideal moment.”</p>
<p>Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished: tell yourself that what has passed will never come back.</p>
<p>Remember that there was a time when you could live without that thing or that person – nothing is irreplaceable, a habit is not a need.</p>
<p>This may sound so obvious, it may even be difficult, but it is very important.</p>
<p>Closing cycles. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because that no longer fits your life.</p>
<p>Shut the door, change the record, clean the house, shake off the dust.</p>
<p>Stop being who you were, and change into who you are.</p>
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<p><br/> ~ Paulo Coelho</p>
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One of my best memories of Christmas Eve ...
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-12-26:5143044:BlogPost:463121
2023-12-26T19:00:00.000Z
Eva Libre
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<p><strong>One of my best memories of Christmas Eve was when I was a young child of six or seven.</strong></p>
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<p>My father was visiting his uncle in the nearby village. When he returned, it was dark, and he wore his winter coat. He said he saw Santa Claus making his way over the road as he was visiting the…</p>
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<p><strong>One of my best memories of Christmas Eve was when I was a young child of six or seven.</strong></p>
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<p>My father was visiting his uncle in the nearby village. When he returned, it was dark, and he wore his winter coat. He said he saw Santa Claus making his way over the road as he was visiting the neighbouring houses.</p>
<p>I was so dumbfounded and struck with complete awe. Santa Claus saw my father. I remember staring at my father’s coat sleeve, thinking, “Santa Claus has just seen this very same coat sleeve as I am looking at now.” I was trying to absorb it, to take it in. That memory of wonder and awe has stayed with me ever since. Perhaps that can be the invitation for us all this Christmas. To connect to a sense of wonder, of ordinary moments, to try to see through those eyes, of the child spirit in us all.<br/> <br/> I hope this Christmas brings you closer to that sense of wonder and awe, of love, gratitude, contentment and that place inside of you that lets you also love yourself.</p>
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<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Beannachtaí na Nollaig libh go léir. Christmas blessings to you all. Grá mór, Eileen x</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Painting by Eutro Pegagnon</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">*excerpt from my New blog on my website <a href="http://www.teallach.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.teallach.com</a>. You are welcome to subscribe there for new Reflections and updates through the year <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12336340692?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12336340692?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="16"/></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12336340852?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12336340852?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="16"/></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12336341061?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12336341061?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="16"/></a></span></p>
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My favourite fairy tale - "The Snow Queen"-
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-12-23:5143044:BlogPost:463105
2023-12-23T16:00:00.000Z
Eva Libre
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<p>My favourite fairy tale - "The Snow Queen"-</p>
<p>'I can give her no greater power than she has already," said the woman; "don't you see how strong that is? How men and animals are obliged to serve her, and how well she has got through the world, barefooted as she is. She cannot receive any power from me greater than she now has, which…</p>
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<p>My favourite fairy tale - "The Snow Queen"-</p>
<p>'I can give her no greater power than she has already," said the woman; "don't you see how strong that is? How men and animals are obliged to serve her, and how well she has got through the world, barefooted as she is. She cannot receive any power from me greater than she now has, which consists in her own purity and innocence of heart. If she cannot herself obtain access to the Snow Queen, and remove the glass fragments from little Kay, we can do nothing to help her'.</p>
<p>"The Snow Queen", Hans Christian Andersen <br/> Illustration (1911)</p>
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“I see my beauty in you, I become a mirror...
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-11-12:5143044:BlogPost:461322
2023-11-12T16:43:32.000Z
Eva Libre
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<p>“I see my beauty in you,<br></br> I become a mirror<br></br> that cannot close its eyes to your longing.</p>
<p>My eyes wet with yours in the early light.<br></br> My mind every moment giving birth, always conceiving, always in the ninth month, always the come-point.</p>
<p>How do I stand this?<br></br> We become these words we say, a wailing sound…</p>
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<p>“I see my beauty in you,<br/> I become a mirror<br/> that cannot close its eyes to your longing.</p>
<p>My eyes wet with yours in the early light.<br/> My mind every moment giving birth, always conceiving, always in the ninth month, always the come-point.</p>
<p>How do I stand this?<br/> We become these words we say, a wailing sound moving out into the air.</p>
<p>These thousands of worlds that rise from nowhere,<br/> how does your face contain them?</p>
<p>I am a fly in your honey, then closer, a moth caught in the flame's allure, then empty sky stretched out in homage.”</p>
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<p>~ Rumi</p>
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Happy Diwali!
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-11-12:5143044:BlogPost:461137
2023-11-12T16:17:44.000Z
Eva Libre
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<p>Diwali symbolizes the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. The word "Diwali" itself is derived from the Sanskrit word "Deepavali," where "Deepa" means lamp or light, and "avali" means a row. People light oil lamps (diyas), candles, and decorate their homes with lights to signify the triumph of light, knowledge, and righteousness…</p>
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<p>Diwali symbolizes the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. The word "Diwali" itself is derived from the Sanskrit word "Deepavali," where "Deepa" means lamp or light, and "avali" means a row. People light oil lamps (diyas), candles, and decorate their homes with lights to signify the triumph of light, knowledge, and righteousness over ignorance and darkness.</p>
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Today I am taking sides.
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-11-10:5143044:BlogPost:461084
2023-11-10T20:53:47.000Z
Eva Libre
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<p><strong>Today I am taking sides.</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">by Rabbi Irwin Keller</span></p>
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<p>I am taking the side of Peace.<br></br> Peace, which I will not abandon<br></br> even when its voice is drowned out<br></br> by hurt and hatred,<br></br> bitterness of loss,<br></br> cries of right and wrong.</p>
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<p>I am taking the side of Peace<br></br> whose name has barely been spoken<br></br> in this winnerless war.</p>
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<p>I will hold Peace in my arms,<br></br> and share my body’s…</p>
<p><strong>Today I am taking sides.</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">by Rabbi Irwin Keller</span></p>
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<p>I am taking the side of Peace.<br/> Peace, which I will not abandon<br/> even when its voice is drowned out<br/> by hurt and hatred,<br/> bitterness of loss,<br/> cries of right and wrong.</p>
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<p>I am taking the side of Peace<br/> whose name has barely been spoken<br/> in this winnerless war.</p>
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<p>I will hold Peace in my arms,<br/> and share my body’s breath,<br/> lest Peace be added<br/> to the body count.</p>
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<p>I will call for de-escalation<br/> even when I want nothing more <br/> than to get even.</p>
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<p>I will do it<br/> in the service of Peace.<br/> I will make a clearing<br/> in the overgrown <br/> thicket of cause and effect<br/> so Peace can breathe <br/> for a minute<br/> and reach for the sky.</p>
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<p>I will do what I must<br/> to save the life of Peace.</p>
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<p>I will breathe through tears.<br/> I will swallow pride.<br/> I will bite my tongue.</p>
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<p>I will offer love<br/> without testing for deservingness.</p>
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<p>So don’t ask me to wave a flag today<br/> unless it is the flag of Peace.</p>
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<p>Don’t ask me to sing an anthem<br/> unless it is a song of Peace.</p>
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<p>Don’t ask me to take sides<br/> unless it is the side of Peace.</p>
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<p>Rabbi Irwin Keller, Oct. 17, 2023</p>
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<p>#CeaseFireNow</p>
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THERE ARE MOMENTS WHEN OUR EMOTIONS RISE TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL!
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-11-09:5143044:BlogPost:461079
2023-11-09T18:57:42.000Z
Eva Libre
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<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12289240488?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12289240488?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="510"></img></a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>THERE ARE MOMENTS WHEN OUR EMOTIONS RISE TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL!</strong></p>
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<p>I’m feeling it now! Those are the moments in life when the tender heart cracks wide open, and allows the cobwebs to be swept out. That’s when life's magic and gratitude can rush in.…</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12289240488?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12289240488?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="510" class="align-center"/></a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>THERE ARE MOMENTS WHEN OUR EMOTIONS RISE TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL!</strong></p>
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<p>I’m feeling it now! Those are the moments in life when the tender heart cracks wide open, and allows the cobwebs to be swept out. That’s when life's magic and gratitude can rush in. With each changing season, we shed the old skin and start a new phase- a new beginning. With each new beginning comes a moment of rawness, accompanied by fear of what will come to pass or fail to manifest. We may feel an intensity of emotions like anger, frustration, or even rage--the rage of our ancestors and spirits of the land we haven’t honored. The spiritual transformation process is uncomfortable... we peel off layers to open the heart. We must metaphorically die… to give birth to the new. We can view this death-rebirth as terrifying or we can trust that as we surrender to life, our souls are liberated and born again. I'm feeling it!</p>
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<p>“Forget your perfect offering. <br/> There's a crack in everything. <br/> That's how the light gets in.”</p>
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<p>~ Leonard Cohen</p>
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11-11 PORTAL IS ONLY A FEW DAYS AWAY!
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-11-07:5143044:BlogPost:461109
2023-11-07T21:22:19.000Z
Eva Libre
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<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>11-11 PORTAL IS ONLY A FEW DAYS AWAY!</strong></span></p>
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<p>Powerful Energies are flowing in to help the collective spiritual awakening. This open Portal of Light shines into our Souls and it isn’t just for us as individuals; it ripples out to bless all of life on this planet. It helps…</p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>11-11 PORTAL IS ONLY A FEW DAYS AWAY!</strong></span></p>
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<p>Powerful Energies are flowing in to help the collective spiritual awakening. This open Portal of Light shines into our Souls and it isn’t just for us as individuals; it ripples out to bless all of life on this planet. It helps us to stay focused on God’s Divine Plan. However, we are witnessing an ever-growing humanitarian crisis, human misery, and suffering as global wars escalate. The serenity prayer comes to mind since I cannot ignore the pain I feel in my heart - “May I accept the things I cannot change; and have the courage to change the things I can.” But what does accepting things I “cannot change” mean? Do I look away and ignore it? Personally, I’m struggling with the concept that we have to solely focus on what we want to create and not get distracted by the tragedies and suffering in the collective.</p>
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<p>I have pondered this issue only to come up with the decision to give myself “permission” to raise my voice ( if only in a loud prayer) with the people on the streets rallying for cease-fire and peace. Staying silent is complicit. Solidarity with those who rally for peace holds the energy to make a change. Being here now means being PRESENT and OPEN to all of what’s happening on the world scene. Great masters were always a voice for peace because inner peace and world peace are interdependent - “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears…” (Hebrews 5:7) Ultimately, we are witnessing the 3D collapsing. We are NOT here to stop it… but to make our voices heard for peace and a New Earth. This explains why voice in music is so powerful in its soothing effects on the human psyche.</p>
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<p>“There’s a crack in everything…<br/> That’s how the Light gets in.”</p>
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<p>- Leonard Cohen.</p>
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Friendship
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-10-17:5143044:BlogPost:460714
2023-10-17T13:43:34.000Z
Eva Libre
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<p>Friendships are important as friends help us along our way in life, some stay for a while and some stay for much longer, but each friendship has brought us something different that we learned or needed at the time. There are some that are deeper that we have had many lives together and they are soul family friendships, these are the most…</p>
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<p>Friendships are important as friends help us along our way in life, some stay for a while and some stay for much longer, but each friendship has brought us something different that we learned or needed at the time. There are some that are deeper that we have had many lives together and they are soul family friendships, these are the most important ones as they come to give us a big helping hand and to support us on our spiritual journey in life. We cannot progress without friendships and the great thing we learn about others and their views too, we also learn about how to treat people by the friends we have gained and lost too! You see Creator made us all different for variety is the spice of life and where we learn so much more if we listen well and give as well as take. Friendship is learning about balance, learning about understanding a different view as we are all different, but also enjoying the fruits of friendship as good friendships help us in so many different ways, they inspire us to do better, teach us how to laugh more, and when life becomes challenging they are here to help us through it. Treasured friends are like diamonds they have many sides to them and each side is beautiful. True friendships will never harm you they empower you to become more beautiful and that is a two way thing too. Have a beautiful day and much love flowing out to all <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12258743298?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12258743298?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="16"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>~ Linda Lane</p>
<p></p>
"I'm scared," said Pooh...
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-10-12:5143044:BlogPost:460536
2023-10-12T06:53:27.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12254009472?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12254009472?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>"Piglet?" said Pooh.<br></br> "Yes?" said Piglet.</p>
<p>"I'm scared," said Pooh.<br></br> For a moment, there was silence.</p>
<p>"Would you like to talk about it?" asked Piglet, when Pooh didn't appear to be saying anything further.</p>
<p>"I'm just so scared," blurted out Pooh.</p>
<p>"So anxious. Because I don't feel like things are…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12254009472?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12254009472?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>"Piglet?" said Pooh.<br/> "Yes?" said Piglet.</p>
<p>"I'm scared," said Pooh.<br/> For a moment, there was silence.</p>
<p>"Would you like to talk about it?" asked Piglet, when Pooh didn't appear to be saying anything further.</p>
<p>"I'm just so scared," blurted out Pooh.</p>
<p>"So anxious. Because I don't feel like things are getting any better. If anything, I feel like they might be getting worse. People are angry, because they're so scared, and they're turning on one another, and there seems to be no clear plan out of here, and I worry about my friends and the people I love, and I wish SO much that I could give them all a hug, and oh, Piglet! I am so scared, and I cannot tell you how much I wish it wasn't so."</p>
<p>Piglet was thoughtful, as he looked out at the blue of the skies, peeping between the branches of the trees in the Hundred Acre Wood, and listened to his friend.</p>
<p>"I'm here," he said, simply. "I hear you, Pooh. And I'm here."</p>
<p>For a moment, Pooh was perplexed.</p>
<p>"But... aren't you going to tell me not to be so silly? That I should stop getting myself into a state and pull myself together? That it's hard for everyone right now?"</p>
<p>"No," said Piglet, quite decisively. "No, I am very much not going to do any of those things."</p>
<p>“But - " said Pooh.</p>
<p>"I can't change the world right now," continued Piglet. "And I am not going to patronise you with platitudes about how everything will be okay, because I don't know that.</p>
<p>"What I can do, though, Pooh, is that I can make sure that you know that I am here. And that I will always be here, to listen; and to support you; and for you to know that you are heard.</p>
<p>"I can't make those Anxious Feelings go away, not really.</p>
<p>"But I can promise you that, all the time I have breath left in my body...you won't ever need to feel those Anxious Feelings alone."</p>
<p>And it was a strange thing, because even as Piglet said that, Pooh could feel some of those Anxious Feelings start to loosen their grip on him and could feel one or two of them start to slither away into the forest, cowed by his friend, who sat there stolidly next to him.</p>
<p>Pooh thought he had never been more grateful to have Piglet in his life.</p>
<p></p>
Come you masters of war (Bob Dylan)
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-10-11:5143044:BlogPost:460474
2023-10-11T06:15:27.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12247106672?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12247106672?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Bob Dylan:</strong></span></p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Come you masters of war<br></br> You that build the big guns<br></br> You that build the death planes<br></br> You that build all the bombs<br></br> You that hide behind walls<br></br> You…</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12247106672?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12247106672?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Bob Dylan:</strong></span></p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Come you masters of war<br/> You that build the big guns<br/> You that build the death planes<br/> You that build all the bombs<br/> You that hide behind walls<br/> You that hide behind desks<br/> I just want you to know<br/> I can see through your masks</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">You that never done nothin'<br/> But build to destroy<br/> You play with my world<br/> Like it's your little toy<br/> You put a gun in my hand<br/> And you hide from my eyes<br/> And you turn and run farther<br/> When the fast bullets fly</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Like Judas of old<br/> You lie and deceive<br/> A world war can be won<br/> You want me to believe<br/> But I see through your eyes<br/> And I see through your brain<br/> Like I see through the water<br/> That runs down my drain</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">You fasten all the triggers<br/> For the others to fire<br/> Then you sit back and watch<br/> When the death count gets higher<br/> You hide in your mansion<br/> While the young people's blood<br/> Flows out of their bodies<br/> And is buried in the mud</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">You've thrown the worst fear<br/> That can ever be hurled<br/> Fear to bring children<br/> Into the world<br/> For threatening my baby<br/> Unborn and unnamed<br/> You ain't worth the blood<br/> That runs in your veins</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">How much do I know<br/> To talk out of turn<br/> You might say that I'm young<br/> You might say I'm unlearned<br/> But there's one thing I know<br/> Though I'm younger than you<br/> That even Jesus would never<br/> Forgive what you do</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Let me ask you one question<br/> Is your money that good?<br/> Will it buy you forgiveness<br/> Do you think that it could?<br/> I think you will find<br/> When your death takes its toll<br/> All the money you made<br/> Will never buy back your soul<br/> And I hope that you die</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">And your death will come soon<br/> I'll follow your casket<br/> By the pale afternoon<br/> And I'll watch while you're lowered<br/> Down to your deathbed<br/> And I'll stand over your grave<br/> 'Til I'm sure that you're dead</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">* * *</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
Shana Tova
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-09-15:5143044:BlogPost:459794
2023-09-15T05:30:00.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12225748481?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12225748481?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p><br/> For all our jewish friends: Shana Tova!<br/> May you be blessed with joy and peace in the coming year!</p>
<p></p>
<p>#compassion #WeAreOne #all #our #jewishholidays #RoshHashanah #shanatova #blessed #peace #joy</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12225748481?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12225748481?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p><br/> For all our jewish friends: Shana Tova!<br/> May you be blessed with joy and peace in the coming year!</p>
<p></p>
<p>#compassion #WeAreOne #all #our #jewishholidays #RoshHashanah #shanatova #blessed #peace #joy</p>
<p></p>
Arun Gandhi, passes on May 2, 2023.
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-09-10:5143044:BlogPost:459591
2023-09-10T05:00:00.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12220214863?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12220214863?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="521"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Arun Gandhi, passes on May 2, 2023. A man who lived an extraordinary life serving humanity. A true Peace Farmer. He is one of our Human Family’s Great One’s. Rest In Peace Appaji.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Press Announcement |…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12220214863?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12220214863?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="521" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Arun Gandhi, passes on May 2, 2023. A man who lived an extraordinary life serving humanity. A true Peace Farmer. He is one of our Human Family’s Great One’s. Rest In Peace Appaji.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Press Announcement | <a href="https://www.catalysthouse.net/transition-of-arun-gandhi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.catalysthouse.net/transition-of-arun-gandhi/</a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Ahimsa Peace Institute</p>
<p></p>
Remember Lahaina
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-09-05:5143044:BlogPost:458988
2023-09-05T07:30:00.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12217781495?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12217781495?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="610"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Those with holes</p>
<p>instead of eyes</p>
<p>do not see.</p>
<p>They are blind.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>Those with holes</p>
<p>instead of ears</p>
<p>do not hear.</p>
<p>They are deaf.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Emotionally numb</p>
<p>devoid of empathy</p>
<p>they are sleepwalking.</p>
<p>The walking dead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Remember…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12217781495?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12217781495?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="610" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Those with holes</p>
<p>instead of eyes</p>
<p>do not see.</p>
<p>They are blind.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>Those with holes</p>
<p>instead of ears</p>
<p>do not hear.</p>
<p>They are deaf.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Emotionally numb</p>
<p>devoid of empathy</p>
<p>they are sleepwalking.</p>
<p>The walking dead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Remember Lahaina</p>
<p>(island of Maui):</p>
<p>hurricane winds</p>
<p>Hawaiian drought</p>
<p>climate- fire</p>
<p>and the seaside town, now</p>
<p>but ashes of memory.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Remember Lahaina.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If we do not change</p>
<p>our values of identity</p>
<p>if we do not work in unison</p>
<p>to change direction</p>
<p>civilization will fall apart</p>
<p>eco-structures</p>
<p>(bio-laws of nature)</p>
<p>continue to collapse.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Choices</p>
<p>have consequences.</p>
<p>setting a course</p>
<p>defining our species future.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Remember Lahaina.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>~ <a href="https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/xn/detail/u_2j2gkzzkzmpxa?xg_source=profiles_memberList" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Sparenberg</a></p>
<p></p>
The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-05-22:5143044:BlogPost:456312
2023-05-22T16:45:37.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/11138053863?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/11138053863?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="210"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>There are people who cannot say good-bye</p>
<p>They are born this way, this is how they die<br></br> They are the keepers of promises, what moves them does not wear out<br></br> Their loyalty will tear apart your clocks<br></br> These are the people who can hear the music in songs<br></br> They are the Vow carriers<br></br> The grandmothers who always leave the…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/11138053863?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/11138053863?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full" width="210"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>There are people who cannot say good-bye</p>
<p>They are born this way, this is how they die<br/> They are the keepers of promises, what moves them does not wear out<br/> Their loyalty will tear apart your clocks<br/> These are the people who can hear the music in songs<br/> They are the Vow carriers<br/> The grandmothers who always leave the porchlight on<br/> No one is lost to the one who sees.<br/> These are the women widowed by men they never married.<br/> These are the girls who wait even when you don't come.<br/> These are the mothers of orphans, they can turn a fake into an original<br/> They will hear the prayer in your self-contempt.<br/> As distance is measured, people do not end<br/> It is one of those stories that cannot be written down except across a lifetime of open doors .<br/> There is a holding on beyond the letting go<br/> There is a reunion in everybody's chest<br/> This is how we come to make a family from strangers<br/> This is how we light candles<br/> These are people who will remember you when you meet them<br/> These are the people you can always call at night <br/> They are humans turned angels by your asking<br/> With each separation they go to seed again<br/> These are the men who carried you on their shoulders<br/> This is the one you are lonely for<br/> the one who begins and ends your hunger<br/> This is the man who said "Always"<br/> There is something that does not wear out<br/> It is the third part of any two people who join.<br/> It opens and closes.<br/> There are people who are alone who are not apart<br/> This is why we listen to the madman when he speaks<br/> People change but they do not stop<br/> This is how we learn "Forever"<br/> There are people you can count on<br/> They are the keepers of promises<br/> They are candles lit from each other<br/> They can teach us eternity<br/> We can get what we can give <br/> This is the instruction<br/> There are people who do not say goodbye<br/> As distance is measured<br/> You are one of them…</p>
<p></p>
<p>Merrit Malloy, The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye</p>
<p></p>
Happy Easter!
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-04-09:5143044:BlogPost:452896
2023-04-09T21:30:00.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/11023239264?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/11023239264?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Wishing you all a blessed Easter filled with love, peace, and harmony! May this Easter bring you new hope, new faith, and new beginnings.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Loving greetings,…</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/11023239264?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/11023239264?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Wishing you all a blessed Easter filled with love, peace, and harmony! May this Easter bring you new hope, new faith, and new beginnings.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Loving greetings, Eva</p>
JOHN O'DONOHUE - Excerpt from the book, Eternal Echoes
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2023-01-08:5143044:BlogPost:436688
2023-01-08T15:17:11.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10927469290?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10927469290?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="610"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Each one of us is alone in the world. It takes great courage to meet the full force of your aloneness. Most of the activity in society is subconsciously designed to quell the voice crying in the wilderness within you. The mystic Thomas a Kempis said that when you go out into the world, you return having lost some of yourself. Until you learn…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10927469290?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10927469290?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center" width="610"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Each one of us is alone in the world. It takes great courage to meet the full force of your aloneness. Most of the activity in society is subconsciously designed to quell the voice crying in the wilderness within you. The mystic Thomas a Kempis said that when you go out into the world, you return having lost some of yourself. Until you learn to inhabit your aloneness, the lonely distraction and noise of society will seduce you into false belonging, with which you will only become empty and weary. When you face your aloneness, something begins to happen. Gradually, the sense of bleakness changes into a sense of true belonging. This is a slow and open-ended transition but it is utterly vital in order to come into rhythm with your own individuality. In a sense this is the endless task of finding your true home within your life. It is not narcissistic, for as soon as you rest in the house of your own heart, doors and windows begin to open outwards to the world. No longer on the run from your aloneness, your connections with others become real and creative. You no longer need to covertly scrape affirmation from others or from projects outside yourself. This is slow work; it takes years to bring your mind home.</p>
<p></p>
<p>JOHN O'DONOHUE</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Excerpt from the book, Eternal Echoes</span><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Ordering Info: <a href="https://johnodonohue.com/store">https://johnodonohue.com/store</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Connemara Cottage, Ireland</span><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Photo: © Ann Cahill</span></p>
<p></p>
CLOSING CYCLES: 2022
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2022-12-31:5143044:BlogPost:435114
2022-12-31T01:06:58.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10922616464?profile=RESIZE_930x" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10922616464?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="510"></img></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>CLOSING CYCLES: 2022</strong></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through.</p>
<p>Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10922616464?profile=RESIZE_930x" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10922616464?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="510"/></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>CLOSING CYCLES: 2022</strong></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through.</p>
<p>Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters – whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished.</p>
<p>Did you lose your job? Has a loving relationship come to an end? Did you leave your parents’ house? Gone to live abroad? Has a long-lasting friendship ended all of a sudden?</p>
<p>You can spend a long time wondering why this has happened.<br/> You can tell yourself you won’t take another step until you find out why certain things that were so important and so solid in your life have turned into dust, just like that.</p>
<p>But such an attitude will be awfully stressing for everyone involved: your parents, your husband or wife, your friends, your children, your sister.<br/> Everyone is finishing chapters, turning over new leaves, getting on with life, and they will all feel bad seeing you at a standstill.</p>
<p>Things pass, and the best we can do is to let them really go away.<br/> That is why it is so important (however painful it may be!) to destroy souvenirs, move, give lots of things away to orphanages, sell or donate the books you have at home.</p>
<p>Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts – and getting rid of certain memories also means making some room for other memories to take their place.</p>
<p>Let things go. Release them. Detach yourself from them.</p>
<p>Nobody plays this life with marked cards, so sometimes we win and sometimes we lose.</p>
<p>Do not expect anything in return, do not expect your efforts to be appreciated, your genius to be discovered, your love to be understood.</p>
<p>Stop turning on your emotional television to watch the same program over and over again, the one that shows how much you suffered from a certain loss: that is only poisoning you, nothing else.</p>
<p>Nothing is more dangerous than not accepting love relationships that are broken off, work that is promised but there is no starting date, decisions that are always put off waiting for the “ideal moment.”</p>
<p>Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished: tell yourself that what has passed will never come back.</p>
<p>Remember that there was a time when you could live without that thing or that person – nothing is irreplaceable, a habit is not a need.</p>
<p>This may sound so obvious, it may even be difficult, but it is very important.</p>
<p>Closing cycles. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because that no longer fits your life.</p>
<p>Shut the door, change the record, clean the house, shake off the dust.</p>
<p>Stop being who you were, and change into who you are.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Author: Paulo Coelho</p>
<p> </p>
Why "Moondance" exists !
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2022-12-27:5143044:BlogPost:434153
2022-12-27T15:30:00.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10920454868?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10920454868?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="610"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>"I love science. <br></br> I also love the concept of magic. <br></br> I don't find that these ideas conflict.<br></br> Fact and magic go together like sound and song, <br></br> like ink and poetry,<br></br> like truth and metaphor. <br></br> A good metaphor does not destroy the truth. <br></br> It brings it home to a human context.</p>
<p>For me, magic is about…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10920454868?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10920454868?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center" width="610"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>"I love science. <br/> I also love the concept of magic. <br/> I don't find that these ideas conflict.<br/> Fact and magic go together like sound and song, <br/> like ink and poetry,<br/> like truth and metaphor. <br/> A good metaphor does not destroy the truth. <br/> It brings it home to a human context.</p>
<p>For me, magic is about meaning.<br/> An interpretive act.<br/> An intentional cultivation of awe and gratitude.<br/> Understanding the physics of a heron's flight is lovely and enriching,<br/> so too is contemplating the subtleties of why seeing a gliding heron transforms a moment into a poem.</p>
<p>There are two paths to magic: imagination and paying attention. Imagination is the fiction we love, the truths built of falsehoods. Paying attention is about intentional noticing. The geometry of a beehive. The perfect slowness of a vulture. The feel of life inside a tree.</p>
<p>Magic requires our intention, our choice to participate. We must choose to meet it halfway. And when we do, we often find that magic isn’t a dismissal of what is real. It’s a synthesis of it, the nectar of fact becoming the honey of meaning. A nod to the unquantifiable."</p>
<p></p>
<p>~ Jarod K Anderson</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Cryptonaturalist?mibextid=ZbWKwL" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.facebook.com/Cryptonaturalist?mibextid=ZbWKwL</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Image/artist found here: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/druidgarden?mibextid=ZbWKwL" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.facebook.com/druidgarden?mibextid=ZbWKwL</a></span></p>
<p></p>
<p>P.S.</p>
<p>And that's why I created <a href="https://mymoondance.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Moondance"</a>.</p>
<p>Much Love and Gratitude, Eva</p>
<p></p>
Chanukah 1932:
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2022-12-20:5143044:BlogPost:432355
2022-12-20T14:22:36.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10914647073?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10914647073?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="521"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Chanukah 1932:</p>
<p>"It was on a Friday afternoon right before Shabbat that this photo was taken. My grandmother realized that this was a historic photo, and she wrote on the back of the photo that ‘their flag wishes to see the death of Judah, but Judah will always survive, and our light will outlast their flag.’</p>
<p></p>
<p>My…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10914647073?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10914647073?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center" width="521"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Chanukah 1932:</p>
<p>"It was on a Friday afternoon right before Shabbat that this photo was taken. My grandmother realized that this was a historic photo, and she wrote on the back of the photo that ‘their flag wishes to see the death of Judah, but Judah will always survive, and our light will outlast their flag.’</p>
<p></p>
<p>My grandfather, the Rabbi of the Kiel community, was making many speeches, both to Jews and Germans. To the Germans he warned that the road they were embarking on was not good for Jews or Germans, and to the Jews he warned that something terrible was brewing, and they would do well to leave Germany. My grandfather fled Germany in 1933, and moved to Israel. His community came to the train station to see him off, and before departed he urged his people to flee Germany while there’s still time.” - Yehudah Mansbuch</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10914648274?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10914648274?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="16"/></a> Written on the back of the photo: “Chanukah, 5692. ‘Judea dies’, thus says the banner. ‘Judea will live forever,’ thus respond the lights”.</p>
<p></p>
A Family Fairy Tale
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2022-12-09:5143044:BlogPost:430158
2022-12-09T12:30:00.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10906538901?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10906538901?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="750"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>“He drew a circle that shut me out. Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle and took him in!” From the poem “Outwitted” by Edwin Markham.</em></span></p>
<p></p>
<p>Every family has its stories. My family’s stories contain a fairy tale. There are no magic beans,…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10906538901?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10906538901?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center" width="750"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>“He drew a circle that shut me out. Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle and took him in!” From the poem “Outwitted” by Edwin Markham.</em></span></p>
<p></p>
<p>Every family has its stories. My family’s stories contain a fairy tale. There are no magic beans, no swords pulled from stones, no princesses brought to life by kisses, but upon fact-checking, we all agree, there is a benevolent giant, an unlikely prince, and a magical, once-upon-a-time kingdom. As is true of all good fairy tales, this story is not just for children. It is a morality tale of perseverance in the face of trials, and the ultimate triumph of love and community.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Once upon a time there was a Benevolent Giant. Five of the family’s children called him Dad. The rest of us called him Uncle. He was also known as Brother and Beloved Son. A steady presence in all of our lives, the Benevolent Giant was a fine example of kindness and human decency. He was unobtrusive but ever present. His watchful eyes saw everything but never judged. His was the voice on the phone in our darkest hours, quietly setting rescue into motion. A touch from his thumb kept our world on its axis.</p>
<p></p>
<p>A humble man whose stated goal in life was to get to heaven, our Benevolent Giant was a college football star drafted by the NFL. He was also drafted by Uncle Sam. Instead of dodging tackles, this Benevolent Giant dodged bullets in the European Theatre during World War II. When the war ended, he returned to the small village from whence he came, grew a family, and built a business and a life that took us all in.</p>
<p></p>
<p>After the births of three daughters, the Benevolent Giant and his wife had a son. They named the baby George. The birth was complicated, and developmental delays soon became apparent. It was a time when families were encouraged to place children with special developmental needs into institutions. Despite such advice, the Benevolent Giant could do no such thing, and he forged a path for George that would become a model for modern mainstreaming. </p>
<p></p>
<p>The Benevolent Giant taught George to crawl, to walk, and even to drive a car. Together, the Giant and George mastered every level of Boy Scouts and became lifelong members of the Boy Scout community. George grew into a gainfully employed man and an active and involved citizen of the kingdom. Now a senior citizen, George remains an enthusiastic member of many service organizations and a helping hand at all community parades and events. George is <em>the</em> man about town, and the doors of local churches, restaurants, and businesses open wide for him.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10906540896?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10906540896?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center" width="750"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>The journey was not without struggles. George was not always accepted at school or by others new to him. George faced these many challenges not with a drawn sword, but with openness, innocence, and perseverance, secure in an armor forged from love. In more recent years, George lived through the deaths of both of his beloved parents, and the devoted older sister with whom he lived following those deaths. He adjusted to living alone in a house that was once overflowing. At the peak of the COVID epidemic, George was struck by pick-up truck while helping to set up for a local parade. In good spirits, he weathered the fear, the pain, the hospitalization, and the surgeries, the physical therapy, and a long recovery. </p>
<p></p>
<p>George continues to rise to every occasion. He is incapable of acting with ill intentions, and he is never a victim. George does not harbor hurt. He neither expects nor looks for the worst in others. George befriends everyone he meets. </p>
<p></p>
<p>The princely magic in George is an unshakeable belief that life will work out in his favor. And it does. This is no ordinary mental attitude of optimism. It is no coincidence. It is a sacred a gift from the Benevolent Giant, a loving mother, four devoted siblings, and a generous community. This gentle army of fairy godparents flutters about, tapping their wands, turning pumpkins into coaches that take George everywhere.</p>
<p></p>
<p>When George’s sister, housemate, and counselor died suddenly five years ago, we all wondered and worried, what would be next for George? Would he be forced to leave the family home and his familiar life? As his siblings wrestled with decisions about the future, a member of the community stood up at his sister’s funeral to say, “Don’t worry about George. He belongs to us, too. We will look after him.” And they have.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Somehow the child with special needs filled a special need in all of us. Like all good fairy tales, George’s life reflects our deepest desires for what can be. His story is a tribute to the love and devotion of parents, siblings, and an entire community that made him their son. </p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10906543065?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10906543065?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center" width="750"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<hr id="null"/><p></p>
<p></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><strong>About The Author</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10906543675?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10906543675?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-left" width="100"/></a><a class="author-link url fn" href="https://braidedway.org/author/lilli-annbuffinbraid/" rel="author noopener" title="View all posts by Lilli-ann Buffin" target="_blank">Lilli-ann Buffin</a></p>
<p>Lilli-ann Buffin is a woman of many selves including reader, writer, listener, speaker, thinker, and wanderer. Lilli-ann’s many selves inform her professional practice as a social worker and therapist. Her essays and mental health column have appeared in small newspapers in Ohio and New Hampshire. She has written feature articles for Exchange, an international magazine for professional s working in the field of early childhood education. Lilli-ann reflects on life and human behavior in her daily blog at <a href="http://www.alloftheselves.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.alloftheselves.com</a></p>
<p></p>
The level of culture
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2022-11-28:5143044:BlogPost:427467
2022-11-28T23:23:17.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10893951475?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10893951475?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>The level of culture</p>
<p></p>
<p>On the spiritual and cultural level, traditional matriarchal societies do not have religions based on a God who is invisible, untouchable, and incomprehensible -- but omnipotent -- and in contrast to whom the world is devalued as “dead matter”. In matriarchy, divinity is immanent, for the whole world is…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10893951475?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10893951475?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>The level of culture</p>
<p></p>
<p>On the spiritual and cultural level, traditional matriarchal societies do not have religions based on a God who is invisible, untouchable, and incomprehensible -- but omnipotent -- and in contrast to whom the world is devalued as “dead matter”. In matriarchy, divinity is immanent, for the whole world is regarded as divine – as feminine divine. This is evident in the concept of the universe as a Goddess who created everything, and as Mother Earth who brings forth everything living. And everything is endowed with divinity, each woman and man, each plant and animal, the smallest pebble and the biggest star.</p>
<p></p>
<p>In such a culture, everything is spiritual. In their festivals, following the cycle of the seasons, everything is celebrated: nature in its manifold expressions; the different clans with their different abilities and tasks; the different genders and the different generations, following the principle: Diversity is wealth. There is no separation between sacred and secular, therefore all the everyday tasks – such as sowing and harvesting, cooking and weaving, building a house, and making a journey – have at the same time ritual significance.</p>
<p></p>
<p>On the spiritual level, I define matriarchies as sacred societies as cultures of the Goddess or Divine Feminine. By comparison, in patriarchies, people’s religious and spiritual abilities are misused in world and state religions to support those in power and the existing ruling systems.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Thus, on the cultural level, we have to abandon all hierarchical religions with a transcendent God and a claim to the total truth. They have led to the disregard of nature, and of humankind itself – particularly of its women. Instead, it is necessary to re-learn how to see the world as holy, to love and to protect it – because, according to matriarchal culture, everything in the world is divine. This leads to everything being honoured and celebrated in a free and creative way – nature in her manifold appearances and various living beings, as well as the great variety of human individuality, communities and cultures. Because the whole world is the Goddess.</p>
<p></p>
<p>In this way, the new matriarchal spirituality can once again infuse everything and thus become an inherent part of everyday life. At the same time, what again becomes apparent is matriarchal tolerance, for nobody has to “believe” anything. There is no dogma and no teaching, but the continuous, manifold celebration of life and the visible world.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I hope it has become clear that the path to an egalitarian society has to combine matriarchal spirituality with politics, and with economy to create another kind of society. The purpose of all of it is to provide a good life for everybody; this common good can be assured through the organisational structures and conventions described above. In this sense, we can gain much stimulation and great insights from the patterns of traditional matriarchal societies, which – unlike theoretical utopias – have been lived over millennia. So the vision of a new egalitarian society can only be holistic, without being vague. It has to be concrete, without getting lost in disconnected details. I call the vision that has all these integral characteristics, a “matriarchal model”. It can be at once a clear idea and a practical guideline to a better future.</p>
<p></p>
<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">Heide Göttner-Abendroth, 'The Way into an Egalitarian Society'</span></p>
<p></p>
Solitude is a condition of peace
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2022-10-18:5143044:BlogPost:415536
2022-10-18T20:08:53.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p>Solitude is a condition of peace that stands in direct opposition to loneliness. Loneliness is like sitting in an empty room and being aware of the space around you. It is a condition of seperateness. Solitude is becoming one with the space around you. It is a condition of union. Lonliness is small, solitude is large. Lonliness closes in around you; solitude expands toward the infinite. Lonliness has its roots in words, in an internal conversation that nodbody answers; solitude has it's…</p>
<p>Solitude is a condition of peace that stands in direct opposition to loneliness. Loneliness is like sitting in an empty room and being aware of the space around you. It is a condition of seperateness. Solitude is becoming one with the space around you. It is a condition of union. Lonliness is small, solitude is large. Lonliness closes in around you; solitude expands toward the infinite. Lonliness has its roots in words, in an internal conversation that nodbody answers; solitude has it's roots in the great silence of eternity.</p>
<p>Kent Nerburn</p>
Shana Tova !
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2022-09-25:5143044:BlogPost:407824
2022-09-25T13:05:21.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p></p>
<p>מאחל לכל החברים שנה טובה, שנה של שמחה, בריאות, שגשוג ושלום !</p>
<p>A Shana Tova to all friends, a year of happiness, health, prosperity and peace !</p>
<p></p>
<p><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10826604868?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="510"/></p>
<p></p>
<p> Eva L.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>מאחל לכל החברים שנה טובה, שנה של שמחה, בריאות, שגשוג ושלום !</p>
<p>A Shana Tova to all friends, a year of happiness, health, prosperity and peace !</p>
<p></p>
<p><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10826604868?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="510"/></p>
<p></p>
<p> Eva L.</p>
<p></p>
'Life'
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2022-09-05:5143044:BlogPost:402527
2022-09-05T17:30:00.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10804168852?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10804168852?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="521"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Men don’t age better than women, <br></br> men age without fear, <br></br> without worry, <br></br> without judgement.<br></br> Men age secure in the knowledge that it’s as it should be,<br></br> and the fight is not theirs to take on.<br></br> Men age without prying eyes looking for lines, <br></br> looking for grey hairs or spare fat.<br></br> Men just age.…<br></br></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10804168852?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10804168852?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full" width="521"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Men don’t age better than women, <br/> men age without fear, <br/> without worry, <br/> without judgement.<br/> Men age secure in the knowledge that it’s as it should be,<br/> and the fight is not theirs to take on.<br/> Men age without prying eyes looking for lines, <br/> looking for grey hairs or spare fat.<br/> Men just age.<br/> Freedom looks good on them, doesn’t it?</p>
<p>Women age with the eyes of the world upon them, <br/> lest they be considered to have let themselves go,<br/> or lost a battle in the war.</p>
<p>Women age with the rules and restrictions,<br/> of dressing correctly for ‘their age’, <br/> employing new make-up techniques to hide drooping eyelids,<br/> and steer attention away from the wrinkles.</p>
<p>Women age with the burden of beauty and the expectations of society, <br/> wearing them down and creating even more pressure than before.<br/> Making it harder to look ‘well’.</p>
<p>Men don’t age better than women,<br/> they age without guilt.<br/> It’s worth a million new lotions, potions or pills,<br/> promising youth.</p>
<p>Let’s try it and see, <br/> if freedom looks good on us all.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Donna Ashworth</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">From my new book ‘LIFE’ pre-order here: <a href="https://amzn.eu/d/9Y6E6kz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://amzn.eu/d/9Y6E6kz</a></span></p>
<p></p>
Victoria - A victory of hope over suffering.
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2022-07-20:5143044:BlogPost:388663
2022-07-20T23:01:04.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10660434894?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10660434894?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="610"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>I photographed Victoria two weeks ago in Chisinau, Moldova. Her name means victory in Romanian, the language of Moldova. And her own life is a victory of hope over suffering.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Victoria was born with a disability and spent most of her childhood and adolescence in hospitals. When she was home, other kids were making fun of…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10660434894?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10660434894?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full" width="610"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>I photographed Victoria two weeks ago in Chisinau, Moldova. Her name means victory in Romanian, the language of Moldova. And her own life is a victory of hope over suffering.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Victoria was born with a disability and spent most of her childhood and adolescence in hospitals. When she was home, other kids were making fun of her by stealing her crutches. All those years were only about suffering.</p>
<p></p>
<p>At 21, after a successful prosthetic implant, she learned to walk without crutches, for the first time in her life. For Victoria this was the happiest moment after years of darkness. But she still felt ashamed about the prosthetic and she was always hiding it.</p>
<p></p>
<p>In time things changed. Through therapy and self-learning, Victoria learned to love every inch of her body, including the prothesis. She even made a tattoo on it, with a blooming flower called peony, to celebrate the beauty of life.</p>
<p></p>
<p>In the meantime, Victoria also found the love of her life and in less than a month she will become a mother. A happy, confident and victorious mother.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">~ Mihaela Noroc (The Atlas of Beauty)</span></p>
<p></p>
Just one day would change the world…
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2022-06-17:5143044:BlogPost:387631
2022-06-17T17:23:26.000Z
Eva Libre
https://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/profile/Eva
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10577894098?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10577894098?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="610"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>On Thursday, I was driving into town and spotted a Raven in the middle of the highway. As I got closer, I could see that it was hit by a car. The bird was in the middle of the lane and about three miles from home. Knowing Ravens well from living alongside a family for twenty years, I suspected it was one of the pair that lives in the…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10577894098?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10577894098?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full" width="610"/></a></p>
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<p>On Thursday, I was driving into town and spotted a Raven in the middle of the highway. As I got closer, I could see that it was hit by a car. The bird was in the middle of the lane and about three miles from home. Knowing Ravens well from living alongside a family for twenty years, I suspected it was one of the pair that lives in the big old dead oak tree on the ranch next to us.</p>
<p><br/> Over the years, I have watched and been a part of this family as it raised its young every year. I know its the same family because of their habits and calls when they visit the farm. They know me as I know them, the pair sit in the afternoons on the top bar that separates the horse stalls. Preening and cooing, nuzzling each other. They know me and tolerate my presence as I sit on the ground watching in amazement at their love for one another. Two big black beautiful birds, making a vast assortment of sounds, I am lucky to witness this unconditional love.</p>
<p><br/> Springtime is when the pair disappears, only having the male come over every day to collect chicken eggs, if he can find them, before I get a chance. Then, in the middle of June, the pair will bring over their fledglings, gawky, trying to fly. It is so fun to watch them making runs, getting up in the air. The horses and sheep do not mind them careening above their heads. The parents are always patient and proud, making all kinds of incredible noises.</p>
<p><br/> Once the babies fledge, the parents go back into their usual routine, coming over every morning and sitting on the telephone pole at the barn, waiting for me to notice them. When I look up and say hello, they immediately go into this beautiful dance. It’s a coo, a dip with their body and then they click their beaks together. This goes on for at least five minutes with changes in frequency and additions of other unique sounds. The Ravens visit every day. I love these times with the Ravens. It has always healed my heart.</p>
<p><br/> But now, as I was driving into town, seeing a black thing in the middle of the road, with cars whizzing by, my heart sank. Somehow I knew who this was.</p>
<p><br/> When I picked the bird up I realized what had happened. I could immediately feel it’s breastbone knowing the bird was desperately hungry and took a risk. It went for some morsel in the highway but was not fast enough to get away. I have never seen a dead Raven in the highway before, they are too smart to get hit by cars. But everything here in the west is in a desperate race to survive this incredible drought. Animals are risking their lives to find food and water. I could also see the bird broke its neck when it was hit by the car.</p>
<p><br/> At first I was just going to move the Raven off to the side of the highway, but something in my heart told me to bring it back home and put it in a more dignified quiet place. I brought it out in the field next to the house and placed it in the dried grass next to Grandmother Juniper.</p>
<p><br/> After a few hours, I was in the house and could here one of our Ravens outside. It was making a strange sound that I have never heard before. I looked out the window and could see the Raven was by the other dead Raven that I placed in the dried grass previously. I stepped outside and saw the Raven was next to it and talking to the other. It would nuzzle it with its beak and coo. Tears came to my eyes as I watched this unfold and realized this dead bird must be its mate and my friend. The Raven stayed with the carcass for the several hours before night, sitting in Grandmother Juniper.</p>
<p><br/> The next day, as I was watering the horses and sheep at the farm, the Raven flew up and sat on the telephone pole. I told it hello. It talked back in a language I have not heard before, a set of coos, clicks and head bobs. The sounds were beautiful and quiet. My heart ached for its love of its lifelong mate.</p>
<p><br/> Maybe this was its way of telling me thank you for bringing its partner home. Maybe it was just lonely and wanting a friend. It sat on the pole conversing with me for a while. And then it flew away.</p>
<p><br/> I can’t help but think about all the connections there are between living things around us. If we allow them into our hearts, we can learn how to be human through their devotions and unconditional love. I know, in my quiet existence at the farm over two decades, I have been taught what it means to love.</p>
<p><br/> But in all of this, I can’t stop thinking about all the lives that have just been lost in the massive wildfire that is threatening our place in Mimbres. The many horrible dramas of families; mammals, birds, insects and plants, that are in the fire’s path, trying to survive the drought but adding to that stress trying to outrun from this massive blaze. I feel as if my concern of our material things like our house in the line of this 300,000+ acre fire and ready to burn is insignificant compared to this horror.</p>
<p><br/> But life is resilient, and out of this tragedy there are lessons to learn. I somehow wish that for one day, every human being on this planet would take time and see and then listen with their hearts to the beings that surround us, and understand we are insignificant compared to the immensity of all life surrounding us.</p>
<p><br/> Just one day would change the world…</p>
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<p>Jennifer Douglass</p>
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Helen Keller listening to Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony".
tag:peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com,2022-06-08:5143044:BlogPost:387244
2022-06-08T17:02:36.000Z
Eva Libre
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<p>Here's how she describes listening to #Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" over the radio, Helen Keller wrote the following letter to the New York Symphony Orchestra in March 1924.</p>
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<p>Dear Friends:<br></br> <br></br> I have the joy of being able to tell you that, though deaf and blind, I spent a glorious hour last night listening over…</p>
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<p>Here's how she describes listening to #Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" over the radio, Helen Keller wrote the following letter to the New York Symphony Orchestra in March 1924.</p>
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<p>Dear Friends:<br/> <br/> I have the joy of being able to tell you that, though deaf and blind, I spent a glorious hour last night listening over the radio to Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony.” I do not mean to say that I “heard” the music in the sense that other people heard it; and I do not know whether I can make you understand how it was possible for me to derive pleasure from the symphony. It was a great surprise to myself. I had been reading in my magazine for the blind of the happiness that the radio was bringing to the sightless everywhere. I was delighted to know that the blind had gained a new source of enjoyment; but I did not dream that I could have any part in their joy. Last night, when the family was listening to your wonderful rendering of the immortal symphony someone suggested that I put my hand on the receiver and see if I could get any of the vibrations. He unscrewed the cap, and I lightly touched the sensitive diaphragm. What was my amazement to discover that I could feel, not only the vibration, but also the impassioned rhythm, the throb and the urge of the music! The intertwined and intermingling vibrations from different instruments enchanted me. I could actually distinguish the cornets, the roil of the drums, deep-toned violas and violins singing in exquisite unison. How the lovely speech of the violins flowed and plowed over the deepest tones of the other instruments! When the human voices leaped up thrilling from the surge of harmony, I recognized them instantly as voices more ecstatic, upcurving swift and flame-like, until my heart almost stood still. The women’s voices seemed an embodiment of all the angelic voices rushing in a harmonious flood of beautiful and inspiring sound. The great chorus throbbed against my fingers with poignant pause and flow. Then all the instruments and voices together burst forth – an ocean of heavenly vibration – and died away like winds when the atom is spent, ending in a delicate shower of sweet notes.</p>
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<p>Of course this was not “hearing,” but I do know that the tones and harmonies conveyed to me moods of great beauty and majesty. I also sense, or thought I did, the tender sounds of nature that sing into my hand-swaying reeds and winds and the murmur of streams. I have never been so enraptured before by a multitude of tone-vibrations.</p>
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<p>As I listened, with darkness and melody, shadow and sound filling all the room, I could not help remembering that the great composer who poured forth such a flood of sweetness into the world was deaf like myself. I marveled at the power of his quenchless spirit by which out of his pain he wrought such joy for others – and there I sat, feeling with my hand the magnificent symphony which broke like a sea upon the silent shores of his soul and mine.</p>
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<p>The Auricle, Vol. II, No. 6, March 1924. American Foundation for the Blind, Helen Keller Archives.</p>
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