Summer Solstice & Continued Loving Action

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash

A few minutes ago, as I was finishing writing my Sunday post about the summer solstice, I was startled by a NYT notification informing me that the current president of the United States had just unilaterally, without an act of congress, dropped bombs on a foreign sovereign nation. There are so many shades of wrong in this action I’m not even sure how to address it. Acts of war initiated on the unilateral whims of a leader with aspirations of authoritarian dictatorship is utterly, heartbreakingly and fool heartedly dangerous.

Every week something happens that pundits describe as placing us in “new territory” and yet this week we are once again facing the unprecedented acts of a president.Acts of war without congressional approval is illegal.

And so tomorrow, I will once again ask myself the question “what is mine to do” and “who will go with me.” If you disagree with this unprecedented unilateral action to bring us into a foreign war I encourage you to contact your congress persons and senators. Here is a link to the 5Calls website and app. This website and app make it incredibly easy to call your representatives and make your voice heard. Here is the link to the 50501 website announcing the next nationwide actions like we saw thousands and thousands of people participate in on No Kings day on June 14th.

These are times that ask us to be courageously clear, fierce with love and do what we each can do. I want to encourage us all once again, in moments that feel overwhelming, to hold on to our deepest most beautiful values and live according to those ideals. There is no gift is too small, no act of love too small, every time we lean into the light and out of the shadows we are holding hands with a wide community of goodness, we are part of a movement for positive change. We are not alone. We are many and we are great with love.

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….here’s the post

This past Friday was the Summer Solstice, the official celestial first day of summer, marking the longest day of the year. This is when we can clearly see the summer constellations, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Draco, Ursa Major and Minor. There are several summer constellations that glow brightly in the June sky includingThe Summer Triangle (Aguilar, Cygnus and Lyra), Sagittarius, Scorpius and Hercules. These are the stars that symbolize new beginnings, the peak of light and power and the generosity of all that is abundant and growing in nature.

The winter and summer solstices are seasonal opposites, and yet both call us to reflect upon what is always turning, always faithful, always sure in a life of uncertainties.

Several years ago I taught at a music camp in Alaska during at the time of the summer Solstice. During the two weeks I was there, a coffeehouse in a small town near the camp hosted an evening of songs presented by all the teachers at the camp. At the end of the show I was introduced to the husband of one of the students at the camp. He was a civil engineer and his job was to visit all the remote towns in the furthest reaches of Alaska to check structures for safety after the freeze and thaw of winter. He smiled and said, “would you like to join me in my teeny tiny two seater airplane with big crazy balloon tires (seriously, think snoopy and the red baron), fly up to a super remote area that is known to be full of moose, bears, arctic fox and other sundry critters, and land on a precarious spit of level ground and stand near a glacier?” I answered with the only appropriate response I could think of which was “Hell yes.” And so about an hour later we were flying through the dusky 2AM skies of the Alaskan wilderness, listening through huge noise reducing earphones to my capable guide narrate our journey, describing features of the land below and pointing out miracles I might have missed. Eventually we stood on that precarious bit of level ground, taking deep breaths and looking up at that never completely dark arctic June sky, gazing at what could only be called glorious, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand and saying, “thank you, oh my, oh my, thank you.”

And so here I am today, sitting next to a fresh water pond, in the middle of the woods in the hills of Southern Indiana. I am thankful for having the opportunity to witness one more tilt of the earth on its axis, one more view of the brightest summer stars, and for what has made me catch my breath with wonder and gratitude….and for the memory of my stomach dropping as we steeply banked over glacier field on the longest day of the year.

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Question

Do you have a memory of summer that you hold with gratitude, awe or wonder? What do the longest days of sunlight invite us to consider. What catches your breath and helps you remember what matters in these challenging times. If you would like to just address your thoughts about the president’s unauthorized actions and stand in solidarity, please feel free to do that as well.

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Last Week of My 25% off June Discount Sale

Just one more week of my June 25% discount sale for all new Supporting Subscribers (forever). I know this is not for everyone, but if you would like to support this ongoing creative endeavor and the community that joins us here, I am deeply grateful.