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Abstract

</blockquote><h2 id="08da">I’m happy to go first.</h2><p id="6d82">I’m going to start with the last question since I was a peacemaker today.</p><p id="2993">After church, we go to our lovely garden cottage for fellowship. We engage in lively conversations while sharing a potluck meal. Today, we had pizza, ham bites, broccoli-kale slaw, and spicy chicken nuggets. It was cold outside, but our tummies were warm and well-fed.</p><p id="e2df">During clean up, one of our members had some intense negative energy going with another member who she claimed unfriended her. And even though they weren’t close, she felt hurt and disrespected. Especially since this was a fellow member of an organization studying and teaching peace, love, and joy.</p><p id="53cb">She was visibly upset, and her discourse and her heart were anything but peaceful. She came into the kitchen, where another friend and I were washing and drying dishes, and asked for prayer.</p><h2 id="37bb">Taking both of their hands, we formed a circle for prayer.</h2><p id="4428">I listened closely to my friend’s words so I could use them in the prayer. Beginning there, I acknowledged that we are all part of this cherished and beloved community. We are all children of God, even when we get off course and forget that fact.</p><p id="645b">We also believe that there is just one Universal Mind and that we are all one in that mind. So, I stressed that in the prayer. Those words resonated with my friend, and she repeated them. I could feel her heart lift and her mind shift as I prayed. So I kept going.</p><p id="b05f">Two other friends came into our tiny kitchen, and we opened the circle and grabbed their hands, as well.</p><p id="b3b1">At one point, my friend said something like <i>give high praise to the Lord.</i> One of the newcomers whispered <i>high, high, high.</i> When I wound down the prayer, that high, high, high, stuck in my mind. So I started singing the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmn4zO6JfPo">Mickey Mouse Club March</a>.</p><figure id="a7ed"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*moqcDtlM38oLctxv"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@zinosc?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Zino Scheers</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><h2 id="b6fb">Prayer is not too ‘Mickey Mouse’ for us!</h2><p id="48b6"><i>Come along and join the club that’s made for you and me, M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E! </i>Eventually, we came to the part that said, <i>we hold our banner high. </i>And we raised our arms up as we sang extra loud, <i>HIGH! HIGH! HIGH!</i></p><p id="db98">By the time we finished singing, we were laughing and hugging each other.</p><p id="9eb4">There’s something to be said for being spontaneous and playful, even in prayer. I’m glad I followed that impulse and let the joy unfold.</p><p id="8043">W # Options e all kept singing as we completed our cleanup. The cottage looked spiffier than it had in a while. And my heart is still light and full of joy.</p><p id="cd32">Later, my other friend said it was amazing. And asked how I did it.</p><p id="e813">Really? It was easy. Effortless. I opened my heart and let Spirit lead the way. I didn’t make it happen as much as get out of the way and allow it to happen. If anything, I took my cues from our upset friend, and Aikido-like used her energy to shift her energy.</p><p id="cce6">I had Higher Powered help. Thank you, God. May all our peacemaking be that easy.</p><h2 id="99e7">Now it’s your turn.</h2><p id="5785">Again, the Pump-Priming Prompt: <i>Where in your life are you not at peace? How might you disengage emotionally so that you can be at peace? And where/how in your life are you a peacemaker?</i></p><p id="a3af">Please don’t say,<i> but Marilyn, I’m not a peacemaker. </i>Note I did not ask <i>if</i> you were. I asked <i>where </i>and<i> how.</i> ‘Cause I know you are. It may take some looking, but get still and let the answer well up in you. And then share it with us.</p><p id="1ed5">We soooo look forward to hearing from you. And you. And you. So come along and join the club that’s made for you and me. L-O-T S-O-F P-E-A-C-E!</p><p id="6ede">Lots of peace…Lots of peace. xoxo</p> <figure id="04b0"> <div> <div> <img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9"> <iframe class="" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FFfHAs9cdTqg%3Ffeature%3Doembed&display_name=YouTube&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DFfHAs9cdTqg&image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FFfHAs9cdTqg%2Fhqdefault.jpg&key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=youtube" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" width="640"> </div> </div> </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><p id="696e"><a href="undefined">Marilyn Flower</a>’s a sacred fool who writes every day — fiction, poetry, and blogs — inspired by a process called <a href="https://readmedium.com/soulcollage-an-inspirational-and-revelatory-tool-for-writers-d253fb94051b">SoulCollage</a>®. She’s the author of<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Blogging-Writers-Character-Development-ebook/dp/B09BLGQRTD"><i> Creative Blogging</i></a><i> </i>and<i> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09HQGT8L7">Bucket Listers: Get Your Brave On.</a> </i>Follow her <a href="https://marilynflower.substack.com/"><i>Sacred Foolishness</i></a><i> or <a href="https://soulcollageforwriters.substack.com/">SoulCollage</a></i><a href="https://soulcollageforwriters.substack.com/">®<i> for Writers</i></a><i>, </i>and <a href="https://colossal-leader-3521.ck.page/3ec8eb3c16"><b><i>Stay in touch!</i></b></a></p></article></body>

Middle-Pause Pump-Priming Promp

How Are You an Effective Peacemaker in Your Heart, Your Life, and the World?

Let’s bless the new year with our peace, love, and joy

Today at church, we sang What the world needs now is love, sweet love.

And since our theme for January is Manifesting peace as a community, we added a verse for peace. What the world needs now is peace, sweet peace. We added one for joy as well. What the world needs now is joy, sweet joy.

Love. Peace. Joy.

The world needs all three.

But it’s hard to appreciate and enjoy love and joy if we or a place we care about is not at peace.

War and violence get in the way of healing and/or experiencing anything else.

Even non-physical conflict gets in the way.

When we have an issue with another person or situation, it festers in our hearts and eats away at our peace of mind and sense of well-being. It’s easy to become obsessed mentally and, like a hamster on its wheel, keep going around in circles with it, over and over and over.

It helps to stop, take a breath, and reflect on what’s going on. That pause may be just what we need to step off the wheel, disengage, and/or get a fresh perspective or the support we need to return to a sense of peace.

Hint: When we learn to disengage emotionally, we can be at peace even in the midst of chaos and conflicts.

But it all starts with being mindful of what’s going on. To that end, this week’s Middle-Pause Pump-Priming Prompt is: Where in your life are you not at peace? How might you disengage emotionally so that you can be at peace? And where/how in your life are you a peacemaker?

I’m happy to go first.

I’m going to start with the last question since I was a peacemaker today.

After church, we go to our lovely garden cottage for fellowship. We engage in lively conversations while sharing a potluck meal. Today, we had pizza, ham bites, broccoli-kale slaw, and spicy chicken nuggets. It was cold outside, but our tummies were warm and well-fed.

During clean up, one of our members had some intense negative energy going with another member who she claimed unfriended her. And even though they weren’t close, she felt hurt and disrespected. Especially since this was a fellow member of an organization studying and teaching peace, love, and joy.

She was visibly upset, and her discourse and her heart were anything but peaceful. She came into the kitchen, where another friend and I were washing and drying dishes, and asked for prayer.

Taking both of their hands, we formed a circle for prayer.

I listened closely to my friend’s words so I could use them in the prayer. Beginning there, I acknowledged that we are all part of this cherished and beloved community. We are all children of God, even when we get off course and forget that fact.

We also believe that there is just one Universal Mind and that we are all one in that mind. So, I stressed that in the prayer. Those words resonated with my friend, and she repeated them. I could feel her heart lift and her mind shift as I prayed. So I kept going.

Two other friends came into our tiny kitchen, and we opened the circle and grabbed their hands, as well.

At one point, my friend said something like give high praise to the Lord. One of the newcomers whispered high, high, high. When I wound down the prayer, that high, high, high, stuck in my mind. So I started singing the Mickey Mouse Club March.

Prayer is not too ‘Mickey Mouse’ for us!

Come along and join the club that’s made for you and me, M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E! Eventually, we came to the part that said, we hold our banner high. And we raised our arms up as we sang extra loud, HIGH! HIGH! HIGH!

By the time we finished singing, we were laughing and hugging each other.

There’s something to be said for being spontaneous and playful, even in prayer. I’m glad I followed that impulse and let the joy unfold.

We all kept singing as we completed our cleanup. The cottage looked spiffier than it had in a while. And my heart is still light and full of joy.

Later, my other friend said it was amazing. And asked how I did it.

Really? It was easy. Effortless. I opened my heart and let Spirit lead the way. I didn’t make it happen as much as get out of the way and allow it to happen. If anything, I took my cues from our upset friend, and Aikido-like used her energy to shift her energy.

I had Higher Powered help. Thank you, God. May all our peacemaking be that easy.

Now it’s your turn.

Again, the Pump-Priming Prompt: Where in your life are you not at peace? How might you disengage emotionally so that you can be at peace? And where/how in your life are you a peacemaker?

Please don’t say, but Marilyn, I’m not a peacemaker. Note I did not ask if you were. I asked where and how. ‘Cause I know you are. It may take some looking, but get still and let the answer well up in you. And then share it with us.

We soooo look forward to hearing from you. And you. And you. So come along and join the club that’s made for you and me. L-O-T S-O-F P-E-A-C-E!

Lots of peace…Lots of peace. xoxo

Marilyn Flower’s a sacred fool who writes every day — fiction, poetry, and blogs — inspired by a process called SoulCollage®. She’s the author of Creative Blogging and Bucket Listers: Get Your Brave On. Follow her Sacred Foolishness or SoulCollage® for Writers, and Stay in touch!