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Oct 19, 2023·edited Oct 20, 2023Author

NOTE TO ALL (10/19/23)-- I've modified a few parts of this post slightly to be very clear that I believe in the right of Israeli people to be protected and safe, and that I obviously (!!) pray for the return of hostages held by Hamas, and that I know I am limited in what I know, and surely will have said something wrong (as has been pointed out to me elsewhere). Obviously I'm no expert, I'm emotional, I'm in shock and grief like so many people, and I think it's possible to be anti Hamas and anti tactics of the IDF at the same time. Forgive my naivete, in all the places I'm sure it shows, but I do stand by what I feel x

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Oct 19, 2023Liked by Sylvia V. Linsteadt

I think your original post was very clear in its compassion for all humanity. It is only from that position of "naivete" that peace can come.

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Oct 28, 2023Liked by Sylvia V. Linsteadt

Agree that your original post was clear to me, and was very comforting to my Jewish cousin. Thank you for writing these words for us to sit with as it continues to get worse.

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oh i'm very glad to hear that xx

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Oct 19, 2023Liked by Sylvia V. Linsteadt

Sylvia, into the Wound you pour your prayers, your peace, your heart. And in so doing, you make a small space for us, too, to sit and pray and grieve and hope. This is why we need our artists: to not look away, or at least to look and breathe, and then to make something beautiful. This writing from you today, and Graham Pardun’s wonderful poem, ‘Talitha, Koum’, are healing and powerful. Thank you.

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Thank you 🙏🏽

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I'm very grateful for your post, and for the audio prayer. I found it yesterday as I came home from rehearsing for a non-traditional Swedish *Lucia* concert, re-imagined in the context of current world events. Thank you for taking the time to so generously share your thoughts and feelings, and your longing for peace.

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Thank you so much Mark, this is wonderful to hear. A non-traditional Swedish Lucia concert sounds so very beautiful, and is something I wish I could hear/ experience these dark nights. Many blessings on your winter. I've been listening over and over now to Arvo Part's The Deer's Cry; it's just exquisite.

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I think I speak for everyone here in that we you know to be a person with a heart bursting for both the natural world and the people inside of it. I don't think you could write anything offensive because what you write beams with the radiance of the sun and the illumination of the moon. Also, I wasn't sure where to send this, but I implore you to read Octavio Paz's poem Piedra de Sol -- it's about the cycle of Venus :) I thought of your book and people looking at Her with different eyes, during different times, as I read it for the first time recently.

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That's very generous and touching Tyler, bless you. :) My heart is terribly tender, a devotional creature, it's true, but I know I can also put my foot in my mouth at times and misspeak, or speak hastily, and therefore offend, and want to make sure I am able to admit it at least some of the time when I do, and be open to criticism. I love Octavio Paz, though haven't read his work in a while. I feel I've read Piedra de Sol ages ago but need to go get myself a copy of his work here in England to enjoy it. Thank you !

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Nov 5, 2023Liked by Sylvia V. Linsteadt

Daughter of Morning Star Woman and the Living Waters. Lady of the White Petals, thank you remembering, for calling us back to remember.

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Ah, bless you David, thank you for being here, reading and remembering too x

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Amen. May it be so.

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Oct 19, 2023Liked by Sylvia V. Linsteadt

The best way to avoid retaliation may be to avoid attacking your neighbors in the first place.

We've weakened the UN drastically in recent decades, why?

We refuse to reduce our dependence on outside sources for that which we find indispensable.

Why?

We have a 50-year perspective on something that is tens of centuries old.

* The best way to avoid retaliation is to avoid attacking your neighbors in the first place.

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Oct 19, 2023Liked by Sylvia V. Linsteadt

Thank you for finding the words. 🙏❤️

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Oct 19, 2023Liked by Sylvia V. Linsteadt

Thank you Sylvia. Hearing your words in your spoken prayer are a balm to my soul during this horrible time. I will carry that energy with me throughout the day. I am working on a post right now about how to move forward in these shaky times, what can we actually DO when we can't do anything so I appreciated reading this right now❤

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Oct 19, 2023Liked by Sylvia V. Linsteadt

Thank you, Sylvia 🫀

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Thank you, Sylvia.

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Sylvia, if you have a moment and the space for it, I would love another way to find the words of Gabor Maté that you referenced. YouTube seems to have blocked the video due to a copyright issue :/

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Oct 19, 2023Liked by Sylvia V. Linsteadt

I don't know if this is the clip Sylvia intended to share, but here's Gabor Maté on how to respond to the war: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8FNvBDhs3c

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Oh wonderful, thank you!

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Oh good I found it! Things haven't gotten QUITE that 1984 yet whew

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n6xvFw7r9Y&t=112s

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Eek—that’s where my mind went too! Thank you for this! 🙏🏽

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author

Oh that seems a good one! I hadn't seen it. But no, not the one above-- and a bit alarming that the one I linked is no longer available, that seems really strange to me. I've been seeing clips of it circulating on instagram; i'll see what I can find

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Oh, this one is much better than the one I found! Thanks for finding it for us!

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All of together can act like human beings who have souls. Choosing to act like senseless beings, with no sense of cause and effect or of history, leads us into tribalism whereby we dismember all that it is to be human. May pity, mercy, love and peace activate our souls!

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Oct 19, 2023Liked by Sylvia V. Linsteadt

Thank you.

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Listening to/with you beginning today, January 28, 2024. Thank you for this prayer/meditation gift! Your strong intentions for peace with/in and throughout the whole of earth...joining you, from the Lands of Duwamish/Coast Salish shores (Seattle). Hail Mary-Mother!

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