Maybe the peacemakers - 1

Lake Tomahawk by James Polling

Morning Blessing

This morning, may your soul feel nourished.

May you see the abundance of life,

the beauty in simple things, and

the love that surrounds you.

Notice the blessings hidden in ordinary moments,

the gentle gestures of love, the laughter and warmth.

May your heart expand with gratitude

and guide your day with joy and grace.

Rivers in the Ocean

art by Vanya Georgieva 

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Please note, I've decided to focus upon peacemakers (many women) and goddess energies on Sundays. I have not forgotten the need for "Maybe the Angry Women." It will now move to Mondays. And goddesses, and women's history - you know me - and environmentalism will be wherever I can share them.

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Today's Goddess:

Columbia

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The Walk for Peace

Ridgeway South Carolina gave a big welcome Jan. 13, 2026 to the Walk for Peace

crossing into SC 1.6.26

Some people may ask: “How can I stay peaceful when difficult situations arise?”. We must begin by understanding: we are where we are. Situations happen—often without warning, often beyond our control. We cannot always prevent or change them.

But here is what we can control: the way we respond.

When difficulty arrives, our minds rush forward—overthinking, catastrophizing, creating stories about how terrible things are. We make situations heavier by adding layers of worry and fear on top of what is already challenging.

But if we pause, if we become mindful of our breath in that moment, if we notice our thoughts without getting swept away—something shifts. The situation doesn’t disappear, but we stop making it worse. We create space for clarity, and in that clarity, we can see what we should actually do to help the situation, instead of just worrying and feeling defeated.

In that mindful pause, we might also remember something we’ve forgotten: right now, countless conditions are still nourishing our life. We are alive. We can breathe. We can eat. We can walk. These are profound gifts, genuine happiness—but we rarely see them because our minds are too busy racing toward worry, too consumed by what’s wrong to notice what remains right.

This is what mindfulness offers in difficult moments: not power to control what happens, but wisdom to see clearly what helpful action we can take, to breathe consciously, to remember that even in difficulty, we are still held by life, still capable of responding wisely instead of simply reacting.

The situation is what it is. But we can change how we meet it—with presence instead of panic, with clarity instead of confusion, with wise action instead of helpless worry.

Peace in difficult times doesn’t mean nothing bothers us. It means we stop making everything worse by losing ourselves in our thoughts. It means we stay grounded enough to see what we can actually do, then do it with a calm heart.

May you and all beings be well, happy, and at peace.

#WalkforPeace #BuddhistMonks #PeaceWalk

SOURCE: Qinghong Wei on Facebook

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"For mindful activists, the answer lies in ethical resistance—not passive detachment, but engagement rooted in truth, compassion, & clarity." - Elephant Journal

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Push back to authoritarians:

Hardy Merriman (go to minute 4 to hear his talk about authoritarians)

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“When I am among the trees,

especially the willows and the honey locust,

equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,

they give off such hints of gladness.

I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,

in which I have goodness, and discernment,

and never hurry through the world

but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves

and call out, “Stay awhile.”

The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,

“and you too have come

into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled

with light, and to shine.

by Mary Oliver