Hi all Lightbearers and Peacemakers. Our director’s group met on Friday, October 2, 2009. The members present were Jill Rosenthal, Tim Kellis, Michael Black, John Dennison and Laura Dennison.

We began the meeting informing Michael of our new Facebook Project on Peacegiving. The idea was to begin this month with an expression of the peace you have inside of you by giving whatever change or dollar bill to someone less fortunate and call it peacegiving by writing the word peace on your coins or dollar bills. For those who are concerned with doing that perhaps a handwritten note of peace could go along with the money.

I want to recount a recent delivery of $2.00 to a homeless veteran while I was in my car with my son and we were waiting for a traffic light. in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. This man’s eyes opened wide as I handed him the dollar bills. He said to me “Bless you and thank you for you for your generosity.” My son, Joe, asked me “Mom, how much did you give him?” I replied “Just $2.00 and by his expression you thought I handed him much more.” We’ll never forget this encounter. We gave this man a little bit of peace and he gave us back so much more.

For those who love the earth, PeaceGiving could take the form of earth work or advocacy. Michael who lives in the San Francisco area is a professor and advocate for the earth. His blogs appear on PeaceOptions.Com. Michael believes Earth Day is every day. He volunteers his time for the Pacifica Land Trust.. Laura mentioned that she would like to take action about the use of pesticides and fertilizers in Florida, as our water table is only 3 to 4 feet beneath us. These fertilizers and pesticides runoff into the Atlantic Ocean and Florida Bay killing coral and other sea creatures. Michael suggested that we read a book by Ted Steinberg, American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn. Laura suggested that we go green by cleaning our homes with simple items like white vinegar, water and baking soda. These items really work. I use them in my home.

For those who want to easily peacegive, de-cluttering your living space and giving it to charity is a great idea. Living simply also helps our earth along with our ecological footprint. Michael spoke of a book by Duane Elgin called Voluntary Simplicity who speaks about our relationship with the earth and ourselves. This idea has picked up steam recently. For your viewing pleasure see The Story of Stuff.Com on YouTube. Other ideas for transformation can be found in the Journal of Positive Futures.

Another idea to bring peace into the world is just stepping outside of oneself and into nature. As technology evolves, we are more and more attached to our computers, telephones etc. Bring peace into your life by meditating, taking a walk outside, looking at the clouds and trees in sky, the trees, and listening to the birds. Make your heart sing and be one with nature

We all want peace in our lives. Sometimes being at peace is easier said than done. Could it be that peace for ourselves and for the earth are one in the same? We’d love to hear from you about our ideas for PeaceGiving. What ideas would you like to share with us?