Tonights The Night For Our BeadforLife Party~

A few worthwhile hours spent this morning putting together this poster, it was so simple as the materials in the packet that were sent had everything I could have wanted, & all it took from me was a poster board, some colored paper, a glue stick & just a tad of tape, & there we go~

a colorful visual which not only adds to the texture of our party, but educates, & displays all of the BeadforLife handcrafted products~

Well the date has arrived, & I'm now, pretty much checking off items on my

to do list, & here's the list~

Copies with pictures of all items being offered listed, checked out portable CD player yeah it works!, so we'll be able to listen to the beautiful music done by the BeadforLife gals, will bring a computer & if someone knows how to run a DVD from my laptop we'll be viewing that too, 2 boxes of counted inventory all set to go, & last but not least;

refreshments of~ baked goods, preferably donuts, cider crackers & cheese, coffee & tea. Will scout out some colorful disposable tablecloths to perk up the room, & show off the beads, & also a basket of flowers for our table.

That's pretty much it, so now, its just my list of my own personal things to do, shower, the hair bit, & all of that, dress, ect..

Our Sisterhood Co-President of B'nai Shalom, Putnam, Ct., Sue, will be meeting me at our building at 5pm, which will give me a good two hours for us to set things up, & get in the flow, our member Peg, who is my co author friend, will be meeting us at around 6pm, which is excellent. Marge, our Public Relations Chair, is home not feeling well, she's the gal who has been turning everyone on to BeadforLife, through her daughter's long standing involvement of helping to promote the story, so I'll be visiting Marge tomorrow, to update her as to how the event went. She said her daughter would like to also sell some of the beads, which is lovely, as her daughter works at Assumption College in Worcester, Ma. where this project has in the past been very well received.

Well I'm off, pretty soon that is, for the food gathering aspect of our event. This part is also easy, as the items on my list, are simple to obtain, & will have been freshly gathered. I'll keep you all posted of course, but truly, doing this is the best of the best!

http://www.beadforlife.org/indexOR.html

Eradicating poverty one bead at a time.

Please feel free to share this link http://thepeacegarden.blogspot.com/

© Mother Lightning of Mother Lightning's Peace Garden

Our Heroes The Mounties From Quebec, Canada, & A George Harrison Song~ We Thank You!

Here in Connecticut we've just come off of a real hard road, in regards to what happens in a society when it's basic needs of warmth & power is depended upon a utility company.

We're fortunate that the people we know, love & care about were able to deal with the cold nights by either bundling up, staying with friends & relatives, or running generators; but in a society & in a community, individuals will, from time to time fall through the cracks, who really is the watch dog on any of this... We can certainly inquire about the people we know, near & far, but those we don't know of, the individual who may be elderly, or ill, who may not have any active contact, outside their own little nest, who's watching out for these people?

Certainly not a utility company that really puts profits before the saftey & well being of the citizens they are supposed to serve.

What can I say? Not a whole lot more reguarding any of this. We need better laws to protect citizens from the selfish greed of utility companies as we go foward, as this is the 21st Century after all, or as George Harrison sang~ "Isn't it a pity, how we break each other's heart...

At the end of the day, it's the little things, like this snowtober stew, made with the meat our son needed to remove from his freezer due to the long upcoming days of no power. Our son, daughter-in-law, & grandkids, hold the family record, of no utility company power of

9 days total. We're all very fortunate that it's not truly wintertime, yet!

And now this enduring song from my favorite singer, songwriter, poet of all time, the man who gave The Beatles pure heart. George Harrison, we honor, & we miss you~

Please feel free to share this link http://thepeacegarden.blogspot.com/

© Mother Lightning of Mother Lightning's Peace Garden

Enjoying The BeadforLife Experience

Yesterday I did the unpacking of the two BeadforLife boxes, & I must say it was easier than I had ever expected. Every pack was in an environmentally safe package, & all items were in groups of ten; which made the counting, especially for a number phobic person such as myself who looses it, as the numbers mount of fast, making this kind of person very happy indeed.

No muss, no fuss, all items matched up on the invoice sheet, perfecto!

Thank you so very much women of Uganda, & all the BeadforLife behind the scenes individuals who work so very hard with love & devotion~

http://www.beadforlife.org/indexOR.html

Eradicating poverty one bead at a time.

**************************************************

Additional thoughts regarding our BeadforLife Party~

Being I was brought up in the Judaic tradition, from a very early age on, we were all taught through our religious training, that we are all to do something good, in order to help to~

Repair the world.

To do this is a blessing or a mitzvah as it has been known to be called from our long ago, Talmudic days.

Several years ago on the encouragement, & the invitation of a dear friend, I joined for the very first time a religious group of women of my early roots faith Judaism. I did this as a gift to myself, as our family was dealing with immense loss, & a year of ongoing illnesses. Joining a new group, as always can present challenges for anyone who is the lone newcomer to the group, & has a deep side of believe it or not shyness, from a childhood of having had been the new girl in the classroom, more times than is comfortable to recall, but I did it, primarily to share with other gals, in the positive aspects of a heritage that goes very far, & deep, & due to this connects us to one another. It was one of the best things I was able to do for myself, as all the women I have gotten to know, in a sense, we kind of, sort of, all, together know, what it is we are required to do, which is to continue to help to~ heal the world.

Thank you so, fella Sisters, Members of~ Sisterhood B'nai Shalom. It is an ongoing honor, & pleasure to share in such a fine organization of which we have a common mission & bond, to continue to do our very best, to help to heal the world.

True we may have been commanded to do so, & even so, it sure feels so right, & very good indeed.

And thus our latest update, states so plain & simply~

Sisterhood B'nai Shalom

of Putnam, Ct.

will be hosting for our first time ever~

A

BeadforLife Party

on

Wednesday November 9th, 2011

at

7 pm

& of this, I will certainly keep you posted, as it has certainly been shaping up to be a most heartfelt event, for all involved~

~Shalom, Shalom~

Shalom

*********************************

Chapter One of our BeadforLife experience can be found at~

http://thepeacegarden.blogspot.com/2011/11/beadforlife-im-so-excited.html

Please feel free to share this link http://thepeacegarden.blogspot.com/

© Mother Lightning of Mother Lightning's Peace Garden

BeadforLife, I'm So Excited~

I was a bit nerrvous wondering if the UPS delivery person would be able to leave my expected packages today, due to my dog Dolly, as I know how she can bark & bark, & bark; when a stranger arrives, but I guess this person was pretty secure on how to manage, so here they are, two boxes of joyful suprizes, of which "Yes~ I'm so excited..."~

http://www.beadforlife.org/indexOR.html

If you're in any way interested in also hosting a BeadforLife party, don't hesitate to get in touch with this awesome organization. We could definitely share some of our beaded-stories with one another here at the Peace Garden.

So for now, once I delve into the packages at hand, I will be sure to count, & compare what's inside, with the invoice sent my way. I was told there's an excellent CD enclosed of Ugandan music, along with a DVD about BeadforLife, & the global organization that has been created around~ "eradicating poverty one bead at a time."

Our next Chapter for this forward moving project is~

http://thepeacegarden.blogspot.com/2011/11/enjoying-beadforlife-experience.html

Please feel free to share this link http://thepeacegarden.blogspot.com/

© Mother Lightning of Mother Lightning's Peace Garden

Tibits of The Peace Abbey November Newsletter 2011

The Peace Abbey Newsletter November, 2011 IMPORTANT NEWS Friends of The Peace Abbey Sponsor Events News from Occupy Boston Free Yoga classes at the Peace Abbey! Here is What One Person Can Do Dot Walsh and Andrea Leblanc at Closing of The Global Alliance Conference in South Africa Joan Baez to Receive the Courage of Conscience Award Joan Baez will receive the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award on November 6 in a small private ceremony following a concert with Kris Kristofferson at Symphony Hall in Boston. Baez is an American folk singer, song writer, and activist. She has been working for peace, human rights, and environmental justice during her career for over 50 years. Her lyrics deal with social issues, and she has been an influential voice of causes for justice through her 30+ albums. She began her activist involvement from a young age. She marched and demonstrated with Martin Luther King, participated in the civil-rights movement, and now works with many domestic and international organizations. A few causes she supports are environmental rights, opposing the death penalty, protesting the Iraq war and all wars, and supporting gay and lesbian rights. Baez has been an extraordinary leader and visionary for peace and social justice. In the 1960s, she began a school named the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence which has since transformed into the Resource Center for Nonviolence. In addition, she worked with the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors and founded her own human rights group Humanitas International. She embodies many of the values held in solidarity by the Peace Abbey and we are grateful for all that she has given to create a culture of peace in our world. The Courage of Conscience Award has been given to recipients both internationally known such as Mother Teresa, Jackson Browne and the Dalai Lama as well as grass roots individuals who continue to live their lives with courage and compassion. .............................. SouthCoast Today: By any definition, kindness matters By Susan Pawlak-seaman Live and Learn October 28, 2011 12:00 AM Maybe because I spend a lot of time waiting in traffic, bumper stickers catch my eye. Such as the one I saw last weekend when I was heading to the Dartmouth Mall: Remember to be kind it said in large letters. Then, in smaller print, it noted "Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Mass." Since I wasn't familiar with the Abbey, I did a quick Google search and learned that "Peace Abbey is dedicated to creating innovative models for society that empower individuals on the paths of nonviolence, peacemaking, and cruelty-free living." To that end, a variety of programs are offered. While the Abbey's overall mission is noble, what impressed me most, however, was the simple message on the bumper sticker. Remember to be kind Sad to say, it's a reminder that's very much needed. Because so many people in so many ways have forgotten how to be kind. Just what is kind? If you check a dictionary, you'll get all sorts of answers. You'll see words like "generous" or "warm-hearted." Or "sympathetic" or "understanding" or "charitable." Or even "humane" as in being kind to animals. There are other words that might not immediately come to mind. A couple of online dictionaries equate "kind" with "tolerant." Whatever you regard as synonyms for - or at least close sentiments to - kind, we seem to be lacking in many of them. Mere mention of the vast wealth of Wall Street makes me think of greed, not generosity. I certainly don't see much sympathy coming from that direction - not when banks continue to foreclose on the American Dream and companies with record profits fail to share a smidgen of them with their workers. Or hire any new ones to ease the latter's burden. On the political front, far as I can tell there's no such thing as kindness. Or tolerance. Or respect. They're all missing in action. And I'm not just talking about Reds vs. Blues, Republicans vs. Democrats. There's a huge amount of nastiness and name-calling going on among people of the same party. I'm sure some will hasten to point out that we witnessed a similar level of political posturing the last time around when the Democrats had a bitter fight for the nomination. But this time it strikes me as worse. Maybe because society is a more mean-spirited place than it was four years ago. Just about everyone is strapped and stressed - and for a lot of people, just getting through the day requires so much energy that there's little left over for basic human decency. Hard as it is, though, we have to hang on to what we've got. I hate to think what will happen if we don't. As I looked at that bumper sticker last weekend, I was reminded of something else: the lyrics to my favorite Jewel song, "Hands," especially the line that goes "In the end, only kindness matters." No matter how we define it. Email Susan: sseaman@s-t.com Quick Links... Peace Abbey Website Blog by Abbey Guest BVS Jagatjoti Heyokha Khalsa Pakistan and Afghanistan Journey of Hope Grandmother Love more information STONEWALK 1999-2007 pictures and information Quick Links A Wonderful NEW video about Emily and Vegan lifestyle Quick Links The Life Experience School Our Website For contact useabbeypeace@aol.com ordwalsh@peaceabbey.org Our Website Products Services More About Us Quick Links... Our Website More About Us As the chill of fall is in the air we are still filling the guesthouse with travelers from far and wide and keeping our hopes up as we do our work. Thank you for your continued support for our mission of promoting the many facets of peacemaking. Blessings, Dot We are still searching for a like-minded organization to purchase the Peace Abbey property and continue to offer retreat space and programs that promote nonviolence and social justice. Such an organization may choose to transform the Abbey into a peace education center or something similar, as there are many different avenues to spread the message of peace. Please feel free to contact us for more information. If you are interested, or know of an individual or organization who might be, please contact Dot Walsh at (617) 335-5408 or Lewis Randa at (508) 259-8508 or call the Peace Abbey office at (508) 655-2143. Please share our request and help keep the Peace Abbey a sacred place of kindness and welcome. With gratitude, The Peace Abbey Friends of The Peace Abbey Sponsor Events Sunday, November 6th, 2011 9am-3pm Our friends at Roots and Wings Yoga Center in Natick will offer a day of Yoga Classes and an Artisan Market. All class proceeds will go to the Peace Abbey! Classes run from 9AM to 3PM. The market runs from 11AM to 3PM. Join us for Yoga, art, massage, information sharing and some good old down home mingling! The fun starts at 9 am. 9:00 - 10:30 am Breathwork with Mare Tomaski, suggested donation $25-35 10:45 -11:45 am Feel Your Bliss with Svaroopa Yoga with Melissa Fountain and Annette Bongiorno, suggested donation $15-20 11:00 - 3:00 pm Artisan Sale, all artisans will donate the proceeds of one item to the Peace Abbey. 12:00 - 12:20 pm Spirit Groove with Lisa Lewton 12:30 - 1:00 pm Get to know the Peace Abbey with Director Lewis Randa 1:15 - 1:40 pm Family Yoga (all ages) with Elizabeth Goranson, suggested donation per family $15-30 1:50 - 2:20 pm Nia with Donna McGurk, suggested donation $5-10 2:30-3:00 pm Yoga for the Peace Abbey followed by Closing Ceremony For more info call Mare at (508) 788-0906. Roots and Wings 317 North Main Street Natick, MA 01760-1115 (508) 315-8088 News from Occupy Boston While the growing Occupy movement targets the 1 Percent, we want to introduce you to the elite among the gang of the superrich: the war profiteers. War industry CEOs make tens of millions of dollars a year, putting them in the top 0.01 percent of income earners in the U.S. * Northrop Grumman CEO Wes Bush made $22.84 million last year. * Lockheed Martin CEO Robert Stevens made $21.89 million. * Boeing CEO James McNerney: $19.4 million. These guys use their corporations' massive lobbying dollars to keep their job-killing gravy train rolling. Last year, their companies spent a whopping $46 million on lobbying, corrupting our politics and ensuring that their bank accounts continue to fatten at our expense. These executives are some of the main reasons why we're wasting so much on war instead of rebuilding our own nation here at home. We have been deeply inspired by the incredible activism of the Occupy movement, so we created this new video to help highlight a piece of their messaging that's essential to getting our country back on track: We have to end wars for profit. Derrick Crowe, Robert Greenwald and the Brave New Foundation team Free Yoga classes at the Peace Abbey! Come to the Peace Abbey on Tuesdays at 10:30AM for a class in yoga and meditation. All levels are welcome! Led by our wonderful student intern, Rachel Bairstow, these classes will focus on connection to the body and breath, deep relaxation, and self-reflection. Rachel is trained in a variety of yoga styles and has been practicing yoga and mediation in various forms for the last eight years. She welcomes practitioners of all levels to her classes, and feels strongly that everyone - no matter your shape, size, color or creed - can do yoga, and can enjoy its enormous benefits. No experience with yoga or meditation is expected or required; only a willingness to breathe deeply and relax. Please bring your own mat if you have one; the Abbey has a limited number of mats available. Here is What One Person Can Do Please read this extraordinary story of 22 year old Molly Katchpole's struggle against big banks. Molly created a petition against Bank of America's $5 debit card fee and used the website Change.org to raise awareness. Over 300,000 people supported Molly's cause, and not only is Bank of America removing its $5 debit card fee, but big banks like Chase and Wells Fargo are publicly canceling their plans to do likewise. Diane Sawyer announced on ABC Nightly News Friday night "Score one for a customer rebellion!" Here's what other media are saying about Molly's Change.org petition against big bank fees: * ABC: "Banks Back Down from Fees" * CBS: "Bank of America Backs Down After Consumer Backlash" * Mother Jones: "Banks Surrender on Debit Card Fees" * Daily Mail: "Victory for customers as big banks back down from debit card fees" * Time Magazine: "Banks Back Off Unpopular Debit Card Fees" * NY Daily News: "After outcry, Wells Fargo, Chase, Bank of America back off on debit card fees * Dan Rather reported that Change.org has become a "nerve-center for social justice the world over." Dot Walsh and Andrea Leblanc at Closing of The Global Alliance Conference in South Africa NEW Items at The Peace Abbey Gift Shop We are in the process of re-ordering new items for the gift shop, including some beautiful newly-designed mugs arriving any day now! We also have books with copies of the long version of The Prayers for Peace, DVDs with the prayers in English and Spanish and copies of the quotes from the Pacifist Memorial along with jewelry items. Please come and visit! Tours, Weddings, Conferences A wonderful way to be introduced to the memorials on the grounds and the buildings at The Peace Abbey is to schedule a group tour. We have retreats for individuals and groups. Schools and colleges, church groups, community organizations and other groups are welcomed. For wedding and conference information, please call the office: (508) 655- 2143 $100 Donation for Tours Opportunities Exist to Underwrite the Courage of Conscience Award and the Gandhi Exhibit We are interested in having a family foundation, a business organization or individuals underwrite the Courage of Conscience Awards. Please call the office if you have suggestions. Thank You! Do your friends know about the Peace Abbey? We would like to invite people who are your friends and have never visited the Peace Abbey to arrange a date and time for you to bring them over. :: info@peaceabbey.org

Surviving A Nor'easter Takes More Than Child's Play~

The front of our son, daughter-in-law, & grandchildren's home the second day after the storm...

Barely a spot in this neighborhood was left untouched.

Playing with playdough was one way to make it through the following days...

This is the scenery from our neck of the woods, the night of this very rare & historic,

Snow-tober night 10-29-11

We're now on day four of having weathered one of the worst nor'easters ever in the history of our little state. Our extended family's neighborhood has been devastated, & I'm not even slightly exaggerating. When the trees where swaying in the high powered winds this past Saturday night, & our son & daughter-in-law were hearing these huge hundred year old ones crack & fall, they decided to have the family stay awhile in their car out on the road, as far away as they could get from the trees & utility poles that were crashing down all around them.

It seems the combination of heavy wet snow, & an abundance of leaves still on the trees, along with fierce winds, were all that was needed for this perfect storm. We are all so very thankful that all of the people we know, & love survived this devastating scary night, Aok.

Because of this storm the trick or treating in many Connecticut towns, has been rescheduled, as it will still take a bit more time to bring the neighborhoods hit, back up to code.

Surviving a scary & horrific storm, takes much more than child's play, but being able to talk about it, & staying with extended families, & friends~ creating a warm safe place, & in the sharing, it all truly does remind this Nana, of what living a life, to have it be worth living, has been all about for moi'~ in this garden of my life.~

So I must say amen.

~Amen~

Please feel free to share this link http://thepeacegarden.blogspot.com/

© Mother Lightning of Mother Lightning's Peace Garden