2017

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Jo Beall

The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

~Emma Lazarus~

today’s picture worth a thousand words showing the astonishing light of your being lands on Lady Liberty, mother to all seeking true refuge, her sheltering arms providing cosmic welcome…

i close this peace and the day with the Tibetan prayer from Light the Flame…

From today onward
Until the attainment of enlightenment
May I be willing
To live with my chaos and confusion
And that of all other sentient beings.

May I be willing
To share our mutual confusion
And work incessantly and humbly
To help and elevate everyone without exception.

may we all be beacons of light and ambassadors of liberation for all our relations

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 4 – Day 106 Days – 4/1/2017

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Jo Beall

a new moon, a new beginning, a new astrological turn around the sun… how i love this moon of poetry, this moon i call awakened april begins with holy fools day for whom travels in a more awakened way than the holy fool?

traditionally, the fool card in the tarot is associated with the numbers, 0 and 22… at 0, the fool symbolizes life force before manifestation; at 22, the fool has sauntered the 21 keys of the major arcana completing a full cycle of awareness and experience and now steps beyond into a new dimension of limitless potential as a free and easy wanderer, an awakened pilgrim…

as we walk home together this awakened april, may the words of this wild irish poet inspire our pilgrimage…

For the Traveler

Every time you leave home,
Another road takes you
Into a world you were never in.

New strangers on other paths await.
New places that have never seen you
Will startle a little at your entry.
Old places that know you well
Will pretend nothing
Changed since your last visit.

When you travel, you find yourself
Alone in a different way,
More attentive now
To the self you bring along,
Your more subtle eye watching
You abroad; and how what meets you
Touches that part of the heart
That lies low at home:

How you unexpectedly attune
To the timbre in some voice,
Opening in conversation
You want to take in
To where your longing
Has pressed hard enough
Inward, on some unsaid dark,
To create a crystal of insight
You could not have known
You needed
To illuminate
Your way.

When you travel,
A new silence
Goes with you,
And if you listen,
You will hear
What your heart would
Love to say.

A journey can become a sacred thing:
Make sure, before you go,
To take the time
To bless your going forth,
To free your heart of ballast
So that the compass of your soul
Might direct you toward
The territories of spirit
Where you will discover
More of your hidden life,
And the urgencies
That deserve to claim you.

May you travel in an awakened way,
Gathered wisely into your inner ground;
That you may not waste the invitations
Which wait along the way to transform you.

May you travel safely, arrive refreshed,
And live your time away to its fullest;
Return home more enriched, and free
To balance the gift of days which call you.

~ John O’Donohue ~

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 4 – Day 105 – 3/31/2017

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Jo Beall

as we close this moon of the lion and lamb of march, i reflect on the space we have traversed, the space we have silently dwelt in, the space we honor and celebrate, the space of journey, of walking each other home, the space of awakening and deepening, of being fully present, of curiosity, of imagination, of courage in the face of chaos, of trust, of letting go, of breathing in and breathing out, of ebb and flow, of being lovingkindness, of standing in love for love, of being a space of peace built on justice and guided by love…

blessing our journey of walking home together and deepening into the heart…

The Journey

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice–

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

“Mend my life!”

each voice cried.

But you didn’t stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do–

determined to save

the only life you could save.

Mary Oliver

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 4/4 Years – Day 104/1200 Days – 3/30/2017

Posted on March 30, 2017 by Jo Beall

to celebrate the 1200th day of this pilgrimage, i turn to a brother pilgrim, OR-7 also known ass Journey, a gray wolf who made an epic pilgrimage of 1200 miles across Oregon with a stint across the border in California before coming home to Oregon to settle down and start a family…

watching the documentary, The Wolf OR-7 Expedition: 1200 Miles to Explore Human and Wolf Coexistence, which retraces the steps of Journey is revealing in so many ways and so appropriate on the 1200th day of sauntering along the 21st century Oregon Trail…

the team’s heroic journey is filled with gorgeous scenery, enlightening conversations and the opportunity to step into the body of Journey and be an amazing wanderer…

in the words of one of the expedition team members…

To Walk in the Wake of a Wolf

I wrote this just before crossing the California border back into Oregon again. It is dedicated to my team members: Rachael, David, Daniel, Jay, Michelle, and Wolf OR-7.

To walk in the wake of a wolf
is to walk into the silence of stealth and the feast of fearlessness,
it is to fight for yourself and never forget the pack.

To walk in the wake of a wolf is to know the difference between greed and hunger, between the villain and the hunter,
it is to taste unforgiving wildness and
the loyalty of kin,
to breathe the spirit of a howling chorus
and to remember what it means to stand alone in the forest and cry out.

The tracks of a wolf are the tracks of a brother waiting for you
to find the old bond of blood
in a land where ground is the only common ground.

To walk in the wake of a wolf is to see yourself
in the shadows of the moon as a rogue
always on the run,
it is to know where you belong,
and to know before the wind speaks where opportunity lies,
where the secrets of survival are hidden in the night
ready to reveal themselves only in your dreams.

It is to listen to the fierce desire to be who you are in the world
and to be it fiercely, loyal to your name and ready.

To walk in the wake of a wolf is to know the world is still wild
and that you belong in it
as much as the wolf.

— Galeo Saintz

From today onward
Until the attainment of enlightenment
May I be willing
To live with my chaos and confusion
And that of all other sentient beings.

May I be willing
To share our mutual confusion
And work incessantly and humbly
To help and elevate everyone without exception.

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 4 – Day 103 – 3/29/2017

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Jo Beall

i love awakening in beauty each morning reciting the same prayer as the Dalai Lama, it’s also the way i love to close this peace and each day… today, i take up the challenge again to see beauty everywhere… how i love sharing this journey, this beautyway with you…

What to Remember When Waking

In that first hardly noticed moment in which you wake,
coming back to this life from the other
more secret, moveable and frighteningly honest world
where everything began,
there is a small opening into the new day
which closes the moment you begin your plans.

What you can plan is too small for you to live.
What you can live wholeheartedly will make plans enough
for the vitality hidden in your sleep.

To be human is to become visible
while carrying what is hidden as a gift to others.
To remember the other world in this world
is to live in your true inheritance.

You are not a troubled guest on this earth,
you are not an accident amidst other accidents
you were invited from another and greater night
than the one from which you have just emerged.

Now, looking through the slanting light of the morning window
toward the mountain presence of everything that can be
what urgency calls you to your one love?
What shape waits in the seed of you
to grow and spread its branches
against a future sky?

Is it waiting in the fertile sea?
In the trees beyond the house?
In the life you can imagine for yourself?
In the open and lovely white page on the writing desk?

— David Whyte

From today onward
Until the attainment of enlightenment
May I be willing
To live with my chaos and confusion
And that of all other sentient beings.

May I be willing
To share our mutual confusion
And work incessantly and humbly
To help and elevate everyone without exception.

Tibetan Prayer from Light the Flame

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 4 – Day 102 – 3/28/2017

Posted on March 28, 2017 by Jo Beall

ah yes, a strange encounter early this morning reminds me of this profound spiritual teaching, this reality of life sending me into a tailspin at first until it sinks in… there is no exit, this is life… and, in the very instant i surrender to the whirlwind, i am transmuted into whirling rhythm… and in that moment,that long drawn-out moment, the world cracks wide open…

may we all awaken to earth’s energy re-membering we are one heart…
may we all awaken to earth’s oceans as our clean-sing tears…
may we all awaken to earth’s wind as our enlivening breath…
may we all awaken to earth’s landscape as our body…

may our one heart open dormant seeds
may our tears fill rain clouds
may our breath give flight to migrating birds
may our body be an island of refuge

may earth mother receive our one heart for her energy
may earth mother receive our tears for her oceans
may earth mother receive our breath for her wind
may earth mother receive our body for her landscape

may earth mother open dormant seeds
may earth mother fill rain clouds
may earth mother give flight to migrating birds
may earth mother nurture islands of refuge

and, may the cycles of life flow unceasingly

~

From today onward

Until the attainment of enlightenment

May I be willing
To live with my chaos and confusion
And that of all other sentient beings.

May I be willing
To share our mutual confusion
And work incessantly and humbly
To help and elevate everyone without exception.

Tibetan Light the Flame Prayer

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 4 – Day 101 – 3/27/2017

Posted on March 27, 2017 by Jo Beall

on this new moon in aries, heralding the start of the astrological turn around the sun, we have the opportunity to tap into the field of new beginnings and plant seeds of intention in the fertile ground for this new moment, this new day, this new cycle, this new year…

breathe in the clarity radiating from this dark moon representing both inner and outer love, universal love… yes, feel the awakening, the enlivening energy of this fire moon inspiring creative action and the realizing of dreams…

yes, we are empty enough to love boundlessly… empty enough to live spacious and free… we are clear enough to truly be…

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 4 – Day 100 – 3/26/2017

Posted on March 26, 2017 by Jo Beall

I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.

~Hafiz of Shiraz~

blessed be… the 100th day of the fourth year of the poetic peace pilgrimage falls on the 11th annual whalewatching pilgrimage and the day of the weekly segment of an image showing you the astonishing light of your being…

this picture that’s worth a thousand words looks like the wild sea of the pacific northwest today although it was taken moons ago on another extraordinary pilgrimage and the pilgrim in the picture, like you, is a being filled with such astonishing light… let her words carry you into the light of your being… thousandfold thanks, geri…

MOON BATH ~ In honor of World Water Day 2017

Standing in the river at Rosebud Camp
Full moon sending beams of light connecting me to the ALL that is.
Sending up my sacred water prayers as I receive the water from my moon bath and allow it to wash over me,
wash over me,
wash over me.
Sending up my sacred water prayers as I let the water from the moon bath wash over me.
Please Great Mother hear my prayer,
my deep gratitude for the blessed element of Water that flows across these lands to quench my thirst,
hydrate our crops, sustain all living beings on this planet Earth. I Thank You.
Please, Revered Water, forgive me for my trespasses and hear my vow get louder with every ceremony devoted to you, that I will carry the message to serve and protect you in any way I can. I’m Sorry.
As I anoint my lips with you, I declare my love to you Sacred Water, and make myself accountable to you in my words, deeds and actions to demonstrate my love and devotion to you by this Moon Bath ritual. Water, I love you.
As I anoint my forehead with you, I pray for you to show me compassion for my ignorance or misuse of your resource in the past and I vow to continue to educate myself in ways to conserve and protect you from this day forward. I will live my life with ultimate love and compassion for you, my Beloved Water. Please Forgive Me.
~
©Geri Fox

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 4 – Day 99 – 3/25/2017

Posted on March 25, 2017 by Jo Beall

today is one of my favorite days… not only is it the 99th day of this year’s pilgrimage, but also it is our eleventh whale watching pilgrimage along the pacific coast, a day of meandering with the ocean along the rocky coast, a day of looking deeply within the sea that seems to stretch forever and ever, a day of listening to the rhythm of the waves and the voice of grandmother echoing from the deep below…

“I send love and blessings to all from the spirit world. I am so honored to feel your love and your concern.

Do not forget to do everything you can to heal the oceans and water of this beautiful planet. Send your healing, loving thoughts to the water daily and get others to do the same. You must hold a vision of the water sparkling clean and full of vibrant life, for as you create this vision it will be done. It will however, take millions of people holding this vision to make the shift.

Do not be dragged down by the current chaos in the world. Humans are gifted and powerful creators. You only need to shift your focus ever so slightly to come into alignment and do good for each other and all creatures on planet earth. It is time to forgive and let go of violence. Make your priority loving the earth, loving and supporting each other, loving and protecting all creatures, and doing everything you can to make life a paradise for all.”

~ Granny ~

may we open our one heart and re-member that we are an ocean of lovinhkindness…

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 4 – Day 98 – 3/24/2017

Posted on March 24, 2017 by Jo Beall

like the celestial sea eagle, i’m about to fly away home to the oceanic waters of the pacific northwest for our eleventh annual whalewatching pilgrimage of peace… like the eagle, we will have no internet connection, it will be a beautyway of innernet, of flying so close to great spirit, of being enveloped in the uplift of the sheltering wings of love, like this….

Eagle Poem

To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circles in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon, within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.

~ Joy Harjo ~

Abundance Created Together (ACT)

This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love; the more they give, the more they possess. – Rainer Maria Rilke –