Human to Human

Glad to see and feel this beach, this sky, this morning.
Windows to and from light.

Glad to see and feel such expanded openness.
Inner and outer.

Hello Florida.

That’s what’s coming this week — a Community Connection Retreat. I’m happy for the invitation from Pastor Aaron Lauer (NGLI) to guide a day of retreat for 50 ish people.

We’ve themed the event — Connection, Courage, Compassion. I love getting a little more to the heart of it. People who care and want to care. People who want to feel an ease in working together. People who want to be moved by the spirit of it all.

We’ll explore what it’s like to be in religious life in South Florida. We’ll invite people to tell stories. Circle, Cafe, OS will shape our journey. And a kind and simple way of paying attention to each other, ourselves, our hopes, our worries.

What a treat to keep feeding and being fed by the journey of connecting humans in what we care about.

I’ve been particularly tracking a few words recently. From conversations with a few olders and elders. A few of their short phrases that catch me in the moment. That I scribbled to paper because I didn’t want those wisdom gems to slip away too quickly.

Here’s four of those scribbles below. Offered with appreciation to the people who spoke them. For the way they are figuring their lives. And sharing. And for the way they have settled into some clarified ways. I’m drafting off of their learnings.

There’s my cousin Kate. She’s in her young 80s. Super spry. She’s worked as a counselor and therapist professionally. She still does, selectively. She’s loaded with insight. And kindness. Kate and I meet quarterly on Zoom — Quarterly Counsinry is what we call it. We met at a family funeral a couple of years ago. She introduced herself to me — “Your dad (deceased 1976) and I used to be quite close.”

“Get to the unconscious material,” Kate says. “Otherwise, it’s not that interesting.” Kate points to the more compelling stuff under the stuff. It’s not a therapeutic process that she’s requiring. She’s just naming that there is more if we want to look. Kate also added to our last conversation as we talked about big life changes, “I’ve had to re-invent myself so many times.” Thank you Kate.

Elder.

And then there’s another man from Soultime Men’s group. In a group call a couple of weeks ago, he got to summarizing a simple approach to get started in the day. It was in the context of sorting through what is full and complicated in many daily lives.

“Wake up.
Take a piss.
Get a coffee.
Get on with it.”

Elder.

Then there’s another older colleague friend. We’ve known each other twenty years. Our call was one of those, “Hey, is it time for us to zoom zoom over coffee?” So we did. Same theme with this older / elder. She’s got about seven years on me in her sorting.

“Own less.
Do less.
Say no, more often.”

Elder.

Last in this collage is another wise man in his 80s. His path to transition is quite near. His aging body is dying. He knows it. He’s impressively clear in spirit. After expressing a few appreciations with him recently, I asked him if there was anything he wished to ask for. He as direct.

“Please continue to reveal the deep character and soul so that we can live more conscious lives.”

Elder.

Wise words. Wisdom gems. I’m grateful.

Yes, it continues.
This invitation to wander
grows gardens in me,
and in others.

Yes, gardens that nourish, and feed, and bring beauty.

Yes, it continues.
This meaningfulness in wander
which I’m thinking now,
feels like witness.

Yes, witness through story, and sincerity, and real-time sensing of things small and large.

Yes, it continues.
This simple path
to depth and connection,
clarity and compassion.

Yes, with wander, it all opens, and moves, and celebrates what is.

Come wander at Wander School and the Becoming & Belonging Sessions.