We must do more than merely speak
our sympathy
to families and
friends of those shot
down in the midst of daily life.
We must do more
than piously
intone regret.
We must stop speaking hate and start
speaking sense. We
must find a way
past violence.
JDG
aholdingplace 
I read a feature article about Patience Salgado, the ‘Kindness Girl’, and I also attended the John McCutcheon concert, a fundraiser for the Richmond Peace Education Center, just this past weekend. ((btw, Thanks Dabney, for your contribution to RPEC)) I am resolved to carry out (at least) one act, however tiny, of kindness and peace every day as a result of getting fired up by these Peace Keepers. I’m finding its not at all difficult, and often puts me in a better place. I was upset with a friend, but ‘made’ myself listen to them, and just that act and the short time it took for them to state their case allowed me to reach a calmer place, and more important, to see their point of view a bit better. I have heard about gratitude journals for years, and once wrote a gratitude letter (addressed to no one in particular). I am very happy to report that the letter was uplifting, but the journal has been transformative. Some days I have to ‘search’ for something, but in a way that’s the point – to push past the obvious and to realize that there are hundreds of things to be thankful for each and every day. This has turned out to be a peaceful act toward myself, and my larger world as well. Thanks, Joan, for the apt reminder that we are each and all PeaceKeepers and our actions matter.
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Amen.
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