beloveds,

a ritual is a ceremony that joyfully and seriously marks in time and place 'that' we are here dwelling on this earth, that it could be otherwise and one day will be otherwise, though not yet.

we are here. we are here now. we are here together. we are here, as the native traditions teach us, to honor the lineage we have come from and to serve the next generations — 7 generations — the wisdom question at every moment, in every action and every thought is 'will this honor the parents, the parents' parents, and the parents' parents' parents, and will it serve the children, the children's children and the childrens' childrens' children (and all of the children in the world womb).

the noonday bell is a daily 'yoohoo' to that we are here, an awakening to being — as in many cultures the ringing of the 'angelus,' and in fact the ringing of the bell many times a day at regular times to, as john donne said, 'to give each moment the weight of thine sacred awareness.' so when john hall opens all the intercoms and rings the noonday bell 5 times — one for each of the 5 gifts — lightness of being, sweetness of being, gratitude for being, listening to the mystery of being, seeing new possibilities of being — everyone hears at the same time. some stop and go silent, others carry on with their activity — the very 'call' is a reminder that we are all in this what i call 'dance of being' together on this one good earth.

for many of us 2-leggeds it takes a crisis for us to wake up to the gift of life — the ritual reminds us that we can stay in 'perpetual great astonishment' without having to have crisis or any 'squawk.'

in love,

dmc

Learn more about Dianne Connelly at www.wisdomwell.info.