Sometimes, we have no words. Yet, here’s the thing about poetry: it’s not just about the words. It’s the space, too. WHEN THERE ARE NO WORDS Pause breathe sigh breathe again… It is enough. + Sue Heatherington Today is one of those times when simply pausing together makes a difference. #Pause4Peace 🌿
What does a peace poet look like? And how do they sound? Are they speaking out, or is their role to reflect and draw us into a different place? One we wouldn’t approach except in their company. One thing I do suspect is that they wouldn’t sell us binary answers wrapped in simplistically charged language. … Read more
What good can a pause do? In the face of wars and violence, it feels very small. Yet the more of us who intentionally stop and breathe deeply as a collective act, the more we enlarge our capacity to be carriers of peace in a broken world. PAUSE It’s counterintuitive because, in it, we recognise … Read more
The last of the swans left early yesterday morning, leaving only the long-term residents of the valley in place. It reminds me that peace is a long-term endeavour. And our desire for peace requires “a long walk in the same direction.” So here is a blessing For Peace from John O’Donohue. Because we need this … Read more
It was a passing comment. Peacekeeping is fundamentally different to peacemaking. While neither Dave Day nor I are experts in the matter, it struck a chord. And while this may be a spectrum, the poles are clear. One is a neutral third party keeping adversaries apart, whereas the other empties themselves of status to enter … Read more
Hush now. Settle down. This is an invitation to gaze and to listen… THE SILENCE OF THE TREES There is a gracethat we cannot remember,a peace that has passedour understanding. For who cares to listento the silence of the trees?Who ventures out into the quietof their own soul? Who in this age of deafening hurrycan … Read more
To be bringers of peace, we have to be carriers of peace. Yet, this isn’t something we can put on like a coat or a mask. However beautiful. So, how and where do we replenish our reservoir of peace? Yesterday, I turned again to the farmer/poet Wendell Berry to reset my heart. THE PEACE OF … Read more
If we are seeking peace, we have to look below the surface. What is immediately apparent is not the whole story. This flash choir came together from across the divides of language and ethnicity in Haifa in 2018: Koolulam | One Day – Matisyahu |Haifa | Feb. 14th, 2018 Their voices expressed what is (still) … Read more
Last week, Steve Garnaas-Holmes published a profoundly beautiful poem, Vigil, which seems appropriate for our midweek pause today. VIGIL As darkness descendsyou hold your candle,your frail light,but it is not little.It is the flame of “Let there be light,”the big bang of hope.Your light orbits through the darknesswith all the other starsin a great galaxy … Read more
Seeking for peace is not pursuing absence. Peace is about wholeness rather than lack of conflict. And that means peace and love go together. Not the ‘you are wonderful and let’s put you on a pedestal’ type of love. But the love that sees the whole of us. Cracks, differences, mess and everything. That’s the … Read more