The one thing about writing for a couple of different formats, what you write in one informs what you’re thinking about as you settle on what to write for the next. So, it was in this case.
Before I settled down to write this Substack, I was rolling things around in my brain for a sermon I was writing. I began to remember things, that as a child in school, made me doubt my competence. I recalled that I was not good at certain subjects and games. I came to realize that I am not a strategic thinker. My brain doesn’t bend that way. At a higher level I understand many things, but once you get into the meat of it, yep, I’ll find my brain wondering at the beauty of the angle rather than wanting to calculate what it means. In other words, I am easily distracted by things of Beauty and Wonder. I am caught up in the Awe and Amazement of this world. For me this is where Peace lies, in the Present and the Intimate. That “what a beautiful spring violet” or that “look, it’s an eagle!” remind us that Life is Abundant.
Because I was in my 20s in the 70s, that meant it was perfectly ok to dismiss me and my beautiful brain as girlish or less than — as not a serious brain. It’s true I have a great eye for the amusing, so certainly not always a serious brain — and it took me a long time to figure this out — say just a couple years ago, that I have a brain built for reverence and wonder. And it’s a great brain for that. But growing up, those things were not valued, nor were they thought worthy of pay, and this made me feel less competent in taking on the world. Now that I’m in my 70s in the 20s, I feel entirely competent in reminding the world how central Beauty and Peace are to our lives here on Earth
Now I understand that, not only are reverence and wonder vitally important to the living of a happy, healthy life, the world needs “scholars” of the topic of “Well, my goodness, would you look at that. That’s amazing.” Not to mention — living a happy, healthy life is important to your wellbeing and determines how you build your relationships with/within this incredible world.
As part of a graduate program I participated in, we all took a lot of psychological tests. In reviewing my tests, the psychologist recognized that, far more than most folk, the doorway between the rational and the artistic — or between science and religion — was wide open in my brain. Most people have to do some mental maneuvers to move between the brain’s hemispheres. I slide easily from left to right brain functions. Many people work a, b, c, d… I start on a, maybe get to b, and then WOW! Can you believe Q??? It’s always been a surprise to me that people needed the steps. I’m not making chemical compounds — I’m making alchemical connections with and among that which is Awesome. I rarely take a subtle step into the waters of Possibility — it’s usually rather more like a cannonball. Whee! Sometimes people who want (need) the steps are sort of pissy should they find that it really is about Q. I certainly wish I’d known I could “channel” answers to math questions when I was starting to look at higher level math. I was taught I did sloppy work — Intuiting the answer wasn’t really acceptable. Remember the teaching telling us we had to show our work, how we got to the answer? Now I know… trusting the Answer can give rise to important new questions. There are always more questions in Peace, more ways to make connections of the heart.
Look, I get it. My father was a chemist. He worked on things like making sure that wool and nylon could be put in the same dye-bath and come out exactly the same color. Color was a huge bone of contention at our house growing up. Dad worked painstakingly forward. I got my brain from my mother for whom the feel of color makes her paintings come alive. There were a lot of breakfast table conversations on whether that shirt and tie matched or even complimented. (Oddly, many people find arguments about matching shirts and ties not worth the bother. Ha!)
Here’s the thing. I was not too many years away from today years old when I discovered how astonishing my brain was. It’s just not “the norm.” And whose is? Whatever the shape of your brain and however it may function, it is certainly also outrageously wonderful. You can do so many things — many of which I can’t do. And that is what makes this world astonishing!
But I’ll tell you one thing my brain can do. It can believe in the Possibilities of Peace. I can believe that Peace is Possible and that you and I are the people to cooperate, to enlist others, to persevere and to make it so. I have people I’m talking to about steps that might be helpful (they’re a, b, c, d folk who understand what my brain brings to the party — oh, did you see that perfectly amazing patch of clover?) — and together we’re going to consider steps that we can take, steps that can be a challenge in the midst of a government that’s dead set on domination.
We find ourselves here, in early 2026, with chaos swirling all about. I believe in my wild hares, in the strength and beauty of all of you, in Wonder and Reverence, and most of all, Peace. As the Spiritual I keep quoting invites: Come and go with me to that Land… It may be far away. It may be a hard walk. But we’ll eat good food, look at beauty, lend one another a hand, and travel together, straight on to Peace. Together. Whatever your brain is like, you are welcome on the Peace Path. When I struggled with the thought that my brain was less than, I wasn’t able to see how my gifts of insight, inspiration, amazement and wonder are valuable and needed in our world. I’m a visionary, I dream of Peace, I notice the little things. My tools are a higher level of creativity and wild association than many have, with a perception of Possibilities for Peace that others are not yet able to conceive. We lose half our knowledge and intuition when some make fear-based judgments about which brains and hearts have value. I’ll tell you which ones — offered from that place of finally taking myself seriously: All of them. All of us. Making Peace together.
Support your local Peacemaker. I’ve got ideas for all of us to make Peace. I’m hoping you have ideas for me. And this isn’t a one way-street, let me know how I can support your work. Thank you! Let’s make Peace together. The World needs our tenderness.
Salaam, Shalom, Peace, and Blessed Be!