What would happen if The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering came true?

Grove of pollarded trees behind us as we
stood for peace Saturday
© L Kathryn Grace
All rights reserved

On Saturday, Sharon and I stood for peace outside City Hall, our third week. Under the blue, blue San Francisco sky, we two stood in silence, each in our thoughts, glancing to smile at one another now and then. One thought flared again and again: What would happen if our numbers grew? If we became four? If four became eight, and eight sixteen? What would happen if Sharon Medhi's story, The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering: A Story for Anyone Who Thinks She Can't Save the World, came true?

What if next week, as we turned, stretching our backs to keep them from getting too stiff, we saw another woman standing, facing City Hall? Then, stretching our backs the other way, we saw a fourth woman, there, deep in the grove?

What if, the week after that, there were others, each standing alone, perhaps a few in pairs or threes, scattered about the Joseph B. Alioto Performing Arts Piazza? Some might stand near the north playground, its bright colors glistening purple and green in the sun. Some might stand on the grass, near the homeless people crawling from their sleeping bags and makeshift shelters into the sunlight.

What would they think about, all those women, and perhaps some men too? What would they contemplate as they stood, in silence, facing City Hall?

We are not alone in our quest. It is rare that I am near Golden Gate and Larkin on a Thursday afternoon, but last time I happened by, the people who stand for peace each Thursday were there. In a 2008 SFGate.com article titled Quiet Stand for Peace Each Week, several of the vigil keepers tell why they stand. The Gate quotes one, The Rev. Richard Schaper then of Grace Cathedral: "Some say, 'This is foolish; you can't change the world.' I understand that, but I do it to keep the world from changing me."

Actually, I hope I continue to be changed, as I have been changed standing for peace five minutes nearly every day; but I understand Reverand Schaper's sentiment. Standing for peace gives me a sense of equilibrium, a sense of balancing the fulcrum beneath me, that I might not succumb to the rage I feel at times, witnessing the devastation, pain and suffering that rampant greed and lust for power wreak in my community and across the world.

Standing for peace with Sharon gives me hope that we might yet build a better world for our grandchildren--and theirs. Deep within, at my very core, I know that when thousands of individuals join us in the piazza, join us in plazas all over the Earth, and stand in silence with visions of peace in their hearts, the vision of The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering will come true.

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We stand for peace as part of Grandmothers for Peace San Francisco, which we initiated after an OccupySF peace meditation. You can read about our experience and why we started Grandmothers for Peace Occupy SF on Yes, we did Sit4Change.

12/7/2011: Edited typo in "Yes, we did Sit4Change," immediately above.

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Disclosure: Should you click on the Amazon link in this post and make a purchase, it is possible I might make a few pennies on the sale. Wouldn't that be a thrill.
 

We make peace in a million small ways every day.

All text and images, unless otherwise noted, copyright L. Kathryn Grace. All rights reserved.

Two grandmothers stand for peace outside City Hall

San Francisco City Hall
November 19, 2011
© L Kathryn Grace

On Saturday, November 19, we did it. We two grandmothers stood for peace across from City Hall. Bottom line: We look forward to our next stand.

Here, as they say, is the rest of the story.

First, the bad news: Due to ambiguity around permits, we canceled the official meetup. The good news: We stood anyway. The best news: Two other women signed up and plan to stand with us in the future. Their support strengthens us.

How it felt, standing for peace in public

Ever since I came across Sharon Medhi's book, The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering: A Story for Anyone Who Thinks She Can't Save the World, I have wanted to stand exactly as those grandmothers did. On the way to City Hall, I felt excitement for a dream come true.

Beginning my breathing meditation, my mind filled with doubts. "What's the point?" "What possible good can this do?" "We are a couple of crazy old ladies." Thank goodness for meditation practice! Because of it, I let go of those thoughts. Calm filled the spaces. Soon enough, I realized it didn't matter. What mattered was that we were following our hearts, doing what feels right.

We stood together, hearts joined. At one point, far across the plaza, we noticed a solitary woman in a camel coat. She stood, unmoving, facing City Hall as we did, for about thirty minutes. Had she learned about us and come despite the cancellation? We may never know, but it encourages us deeply to imagine she came to stand for peace.

A police officer arrived, seemed to be checking us out, driving into the plaza and behind us. A homeless man found us curious and circled us frequently. Numerous injured, ill mentally or physically, passed our line of vision, some pushing carts overflowing with soiled belongings, some with little clothing and no other visible possessions. Elderly people came and went, some on canes, some in wheelchairs. Others stood between the trees, practicing Tai Chi and Qi Gong. A motorcyclist in a stars-and-stripes helmet parked his bike in front of us, set up a tripod and camera and appeared to film us among many other subjects.

White clouds flowed overhead, followed by heavier, darker clouds, then blue sky and glowing, cumulus puffs. I felt deep peace and calm as I stood, a peace that remains. I have a sense of possible: that it is possible peace will come in my lifetime, the lasting peace of which so many dream and for which so many work arduously day after day.

Something has shifted.

Instinctively, we know the power of peaceful hearts joined in purpose. All one has to do is look at the videos of the peaceful occupiers around the country to get a feel for that in action today. I'll share one of the most powerful examples with you tomorrow--hundreds, perhaps thousands of people of all ages and colors, teaching one another, working together in the open air to come to consensus about their objectives and next actions, assuring every voice is heard, every concern met.

As for the stand itself, I was grateful that my somewhat crickety body did not mind it so much. I had to stretch a bit now and then, but the hour passed pleasurably.

Sharon and I will stand again this Saturday, and I suspect the next and the next. We may have to change venues for a time. We may have to raise money to buy permits. We may have to bring those little tripod seats old people use when waiting at the bus stop! But we will be there.

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Disclosure: Should you click on the Amazon link in this post and make a purchase, it is possible I might make a few pennies on the sale. Wouldn't that be a thrill.

We make peace in a million small ways every day.

All text and images, unless otherwise noted, copyright L. Kathryn Grace. All rights reserved.

Yes, we did Sit4Change and surprised ourselves

Macy's giant artificial Christmas tree
behind us as we sat for change
© Sharon L Richardson
Used with permission

On Friday I told you about Sit4Change and how I would join others in support of Occupy San Francisco and the entire Occupy movement worldwide. The idea was that through faith, meditation, prayer--whatever spiritual practices we as individuals employ--we might effect personal transformation, and through that, global transformation.

The individual who scheduled the San Francisco action did not clearly define the where we would meet,  nor give many details about the how. In fact, near as we can tell, he or she didn't show up on Saturday. In the end, only my partner and I participated. Here's what happened.

The night before the event, our local news reported that a person carrying guns at the Occupy SF location had been arrested and released on bail, vowing to return on Saturday with an AK47. Neither of us would-be martyrs, but wanting to honor our commitment, and with no further information forthcoming from the organizer, my partner and I decided to sit instead in Union Square. I announced it on the Meetup page, invited others to join us, and designated a subtle sign so they could find us.

On Saturday morning, the two of us made our way downtown. At 9 am, the city was already bustling, the square busier than anticipated. The giant, fake Macy's tree was up and decorations nearly complete. The big crane used to carry workers to the top stood idle. A few skaters sailed around the recently installed ice rink--an annual holiday extravagance, one of two in the city..

View from our Sit4Change spot
© Sharon L Richardson
Used with permission

We picked a spot and sat, facing Macy's. Double decker tourist buses came and went, unloading and reloading. Sleepy singles and couples ambled by, carrying disposable cups of coffee, not one reusable mug in sight. An enormous generator behind us, powering the crane perhaps, roared to life and spit noxious fumes.

Still, committed, and having decided our old knees and backs wouldn't tolerate nearly two hours, we set our timer for 54 minutes, exactly half of the 108 prescribed minutes for the sit, settled in and began our meditation.

Despite the noise and fumes, I felt instantly at peace. As I focused on my breathing, I wondered what about this exercise could possibly be transformative, personally or globally. I gave the thought to the wind and to Spirit and breathed, eyes open, fully awake, aware of all going on around me.

When my bones began to ache, and sure we were near an hour, I glanced at my partner. She glanced back and smiled, pulled out her phone and checked the time. We had about three minutes to go. Reluctant to leave the peace of our meditation, I was grateful when she said, "Can we talk?" Grateful because I knew she meant she wanted to talk about what she had experienced just then.

Without preamble she said, "I want to organize grandmothers for peace to sit like this regularly." My heart skipped a beat. I knew, in that way we do sometimes, that we would do this.

So next week, dear friends, Grandmothers for Peace will occupy San Francisco for the first time, in the spirit of the The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering: A Story for Anyone Who Thinks She Can't Save the World.

I don't claim to have been transformed, but I can tell you that I feel a tremendous sense of peace as we prepare for this first gathering of the grandmothers, even if once more it turns out to be only we two.

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We make peace in a million small ways every day.

All text and images, unless otherwise noted, copyright L. Kathryn Grace. All rights reserved.