Wage peace with your breath.
Breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings
and flocks of redwing blackbirds.
Breathe in terrorists and breathe out sleeping children
and freshly mown fields.
Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.
Breathe in the fallen
and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.
Wage peace with your listening:
hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools:
flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.
Make soup.
Play music, learn the word for thank you in three languages.
Learn to knit, and make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,
imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty
or the gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.
Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious.
Have a cup of tea and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Don't wait another minute.
©Mary Oliver

There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift
that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on
to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will
suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. We must let
go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our
eyes open, and our heads above the water. And I say, see
who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history,
we are to take nothing personal, least of all ourselves. For the
moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to
a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!
Banish the word 'struggle' from your attitude and your
vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred
manner and in celebration.

WE ARE THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR"

Oraibi Arizona
Hopi Nation
September, 2001