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Walk With Me In Assisi One More Time

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Walk With Me In Assisi One More Time

Walk with me through the ancient streets of Assisi.

I’ve never been someone who finds travel easy. I do prefer the familiar. Yet for the last few years, when I would set foot in Assisi, something shifts deeply within me.

As I wander past the towering medieval walls, gaze out over the sweeping hills, or sit quietly inside the sacred hush of its churches, the noise of modern life simply drops away. The past and the present blur together, dropping me straight into the beauty of the right now.

I took these photos to capture a quiet piece of that magic. I hope that as you look through them, you feel Assisi’s peace reach you right where you are.

It begins: stairs lead to steps lead to hills. Eyes down, back straight, heart open.

The churches fill me with awe

My morning meditations are here

St. Francis

The blessing and privilege of being here

Peace Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console;

To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved, as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen.

-St. Francis of Assisi

 

Blessings,

Aruni

Walk Again with Me in Assisi

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Walk Again with Me in Assisi

Although I am a reluctant traveler, my journeys to Assisi continue to be life-changing.  The energies of St. Francis and St. Clare, along with the others, are alive and palpable.

The beautiful land, the ancient walled city, the churches, all open my heart to this moment.
The past and the present do become one.
My hope is that you receive a touch of Assisi through these pictures.

 


View out of our window.

It begins, stairs lead to steps lead to hills. Eyes down, back straight, heart open.


Gate after portal after gate, all opening up to more beauty.


Sacred and glorious land.


My favorite chapel, home to 40+ golden cherubim. Imagine how that dazzled the medieval eye.


Church upon church, each alive in silent, ancient sanctity.


The past and the present, alive in the now


Regardless of religion, there is the Mother.


Each step continues into the next, a blessing, a breath, a miracle.


“Pace E Bene”—
St. Francis’ blessing that says, Peace and All Good.
May all we encounter be held in the sanctity of Grace.

 

~~~

Many bells ring here on the hour, the half, the quarter, beckoning us into the moment.  Here are three minutes of Assisi bells.

From here to there,
From then to now,
From me
To you,
With love,

Aruni

Traveling Mercies

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Traveling Mercies

Friends,

I tend toward being a Cranky Traveler. Living outside my usual routine, not w-o-r-k-i-n-g, both amplify my awareness of the true lack of control that a consistent schedule hides. Traveling brings it home; we are powerless.

Nevertheless, these pictures I hope might convey some of the inspiration and beauty I found in Morocco.

I’m borrowing Anne Lamont’s wonderful book title Truly Mercies Abound. no matter the external situation.

Blessings,

Aruni

Women’s Argan Cooperative

Sunset over Essaouira

Our yoga tent

Looking out of our yoga tent…

Our neighbors the goats were not impressed by our practices

Just a beautiful doorway

Walking and being

 

 Gate of Tolerance, welcoming Muslim, Jewish and Christian peoples

 Me and Ras and camels!!

 

10th anniversary celebration of Women’s Cooperative,Watch the video here

The Whole World is One Family

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The Whole World is One Family

“The highest religious principle is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam:
the whole world is one family. 
No matter what religion we are following, 
if we cannot love others then we are not following religion but the illusion of religion. 
Where there is no unity, no love, no harmony among each other, 
how can there be religion?”

 

~Swami Kripalu

~~~
So that’s the cosmic truth.
The bigger picture.
The energetic
And
Spiritual 
Reality.

And then—
There is life.

Life
Inhabited by
Humans,
Flawed
Beings.

Life.
We get
Life on
Life’s terms.
~~~
My Civil Rights Pilgrimage.  
From Atlanta, 
To Birmingham, 
To Selma, 
And Montgomery, 

As in
Alabama.

My intention for the trip—

To bear witness
To the realities
Of our culture’s 
Relationship
To race.

To bear witness.
to show that something exists or is true

Maya Angelou says:

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.”

There are millions
Upon millions
Of more millions
Of untold stories
Of Black Americans.

So much under cover.
So much lost in the shuffle
Of the years,
Of the prejudices,
Of the assumptions,
Of the injustice,
Of the evil.

I went there to see.
To bear witness.
To deepen my connection
To all people.

I went there
To understand
Just a tad more
My place
In the
Scheme
Of 
Things.

As a white woman
As a Jew.
As an old woman.
As an elder in my community.
It is time for me to see more deeply.
To know more intimately.
~~~
Now I’m home.
A week has passed
Since my return.

Words have been difficult.
It’s taken days to find any.
Now they are unpredictably
Available,

Either
Sparse
Or
Spilling
Over.

I will 
Offer you
Images,

A few of the heart-openers,
The moments
My breath
Stopped
And
My
Heart
Shattered
Apart,

To become
More open
Than
Before.
~~~
In Atlanta, we visited the National Historical Park, where Dr. King is buried.

Dr. King’s Principles of Non-Violence, from his book, Stride toward Freedom, were on plaques on the wall.
I was stunned.
As a child of the 60’s, I thought I knew about non-violence.  
Yet these six principles riveted me, opened me, shook me up.
A good, a healthy shaking, I do believe.  
Their brilliance, their hope, their depth.
I repeat them here.

Isn’t this all we really want, right?

1. Noviolence is a way of life for courageous people.
It is an active nonviolent resistance to evil.
It is aggressive spiritually, mentally and emotionally.
2. Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding.
The end result of nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation.
The purpose of nonviolence is the creation of the Beloved Community.
3. Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people.
Nonviolence recognizes that evil doers are also victims and are not evil people.
The nonviolent resister seeks to defeat evil not people.
4. Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform people and societies.
Nonviolence accepts suffering without retaliation.
Unearned suffering is redemptive and has tremendous educational and transforming possibilities.
5. Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate.
Nonviolence resists violence of the spirit as well as the body.
6. Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice.
The nonviolent resister has deep faith that justice will eventually win.
Nonviolence believe that God is a God of justice.

~~~

In Montgomery, we visited the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.  Created by The Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit organization, which began as legal representation to prisoners who may have been wrongly convicted of crimes, poor prisoners without effective representation, and others who may have been denied a fair trial. It guarantees the defense of anyone in Alabama in a death penalty case.

Here are their words about the Memorial:

“On a hilltop overlooking Montgomery is the nation’s first comprehensive memorial dedicated to the legacy of Black Americans who were enslaved, terrorized by lynching, humiliated by racial segregation, and presumed guilty and dangerous.

More than 4,400 Black people killed in racial terror lynchings between 1877 and 1950 are remembered here. Their names are engraved on more than 800 corten steel monuments—one for each county where a racial terror lynching took place—that form the main structure of the memorial at the heart of this six-acre site.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum was profound and overwhelming.  Many forms of media come together to give us both the education about and the experience of Black America’s Legacy, from slavery to mass incarceration.  Here are two of their short, impactful videos that carry the experience:

~~~
Dear Friends,

Where is the hope?

As injustice continues,
As racism rages,
As systems of race hierarchy
Continue along,
Simply evolving 
Into new forms
Of injustice.

Where is the hope?

As the political climate
In our country 
Teethers 
Off the track
Of sanity.

Where is the hope?

I believe—

Hope lives
In the knowing.
in the witnessing.
In the seeing
One another
With
Kindness.

Hope lives
In the 
Witnessing of
Each other’s
Suffering.

May we open 
Our hearts
To another
With kindness.

May we tread slowly
And patiently
Toward
Other 
Communities.

May we find 
Our way home,
Disguised
Deeply
In
Each 
Other.

May all beings
Benefit from our words.

Blessings, Aruni

 

 

Walk with Me in Assisi

by

Walk with Me in Assisi

 

 


View out of our window.

It begins, stairs lead to steps lead to hills. Eyes down, back straight, heart open.


Gate after portal after gate, all opening up to more beauty.


Sacred and glorious land.


My favorite chapel, home to 40+ golden cherubim. Imagine how that dazzled the medieval eye.


Church upon church, each alive in silent, ancient sanctity.


The past and the present, alive in the now


Regardless of religion, there is the Mother.


Each step continues into the next, a blessing, a breath, a miracle.


“Pace E Bene”—
St. Francis’ blessing that says, Peace and All Good.
May all we encounter be held in the sanctity of Grace.

All blessings, Aruni

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