critical thinking

in this first of the “ten Cs” of being human we are exploring the gift of critical thinking/critical consciousness. to think and to be in this way we use all of our faculties and senses to discern truth and untruth. we do this to know ourselves, to know our true nature and what our purpose is. this kind of mindfulness engages our creative energy as well as our analytical faculty.

anika huizinga at unspalsh

to gain access to this inner knowledge/sense we might examine critically all the beliefs we have learned, all that we have been conditioned to believe by our culture. the next step is to go inside and ask whether they are applicable and appropriate to our life and times.
in our elderhood we have the opportunity to think even more critically about the world around us. we can look at the ideas, concepts, perceptions of our past and hold them to the light of today.

recently, the black lives matter movement has inspired many of us to examine our culture’s systemic and systematic oppression of people of colour.

vince fleming at unsplash

some years ago the lesbian and gay community brought to the public consciousness the similar oppression within their community. greta thunberg, in her one-woman strike for the climate, caused us to think very differently about our home, planet earth.

we might set aside times of critical thinking to examine our personal history. what part of the stories we tell ourselves is true and what is untrue? with the discerning wisdom of years of life experience, we can look, hopefully with compassion, as events that might have fallen, unexamined, through the cracks of our hearts and minds.

what, upon that examination and contemplation, might we now wish to change? how can we bring our elder consciousness into the world? how can we, the elders of our community (whatever that might be), open the doors to our own humanity and foster the innate humanity in others?

to be human

to begin again, as we start the new year, might inspire us to look at what it means to be human…what it means to be a human elder, ageing with awareness, purpose and curiosity.

matthew fox, is a spiritual theologian, an Episcopal priest and an activist for gender justice and eco-justice, has asked the question about the meaning of being human for decades. in the next 10 blog posts we will take a journey through what he calls “the 10 Cs”.

1. critical thinking/consciousness

2. cosmology/ecology
3. courage
4. chaos
5. character/moral development
6. contemplation

7. creativity
8. compassion/justice
9. community
10. ceremony/ritual

simply reading this list can be daunting. there is no doubt that, we, as elders, can certainly rise to the challenge. these topics call us to go deep within and to examine our own humanity. at a time when greed, fear, misinformation and even despair might overwhelm us, taking a deep breath together, to dive down into our sacred self can be a welcome relief.

we might need relief from the 24/7 newsfeed, the continual threat to truth, the depletion of the planet and the depletion of our inner resources that the COVID-19 pandemic is making.

we might need a time to drink deep from the well of our connection to that which is boundless in order to replenish. we might need a time of inspiration and profound contemplation to balance the onslaught of this surreal time.

and we might need to remind ourselves of our innate humanity and what that means in the time of elderhood.

retreat

i'm living into a three day retreat and taking time to consider deeply into "being in the presence of love".

retreat...a gift to and from the elders.

i will join you again in this space next week.

a closing...an opening

the year is drawing to a close in the annual cycle of the earth’s journey around the sun.

soon the days will lengthen noticeably instead of by the current few minutes each day. for now though, we are still in the fertile, dark time…a time of introspection, contemplation, quiet gestation. and we are still in the midst of a global pandemic that has created unimaginable suffering worldwide. there is much to reflect on, much to consider.

earlier this month, the guardian published an article about “life 2.0”. it was written by a man who quite nearly died of cardiac arrest. a journalist, he told his story vividly and with a great deal of self-compassion. there are deep lessons for all of us as elders in his words.

“How do I make the most of Life 2.0?"

"How do I repay society? I have spent a lot of time reflecting on these questions and reviewing my past. At first, this was a mental exercise, then a way to pass the time. In the hospital ward, we were not allowed visitors because of Covid restrictions so on each of the five days, I revisited a different decade of my past, dwelling at length on close relationships, wondrous journeys and joyful moments. Five months on, I still get great pleasure from doing this.”

this process of life review is one of the sacred tasks of the elder. encountering again those significant moments, both the beneficial and the painful, allows us to re-frame and learn from them. it also allows us the time to forgive ourselves and others as we see and hear those experiences in our memories’ vision and hearing.

the author, jonathan watts, also tells us, “I am also trying to live more in the present. It’s a cliche, but for weeks after discharge I marvelled at the simplest things – rainfall, sparrows, insects, cups,

photograph by tom crew at unsplash

beans, books, chats with family and friends. I swore I would never again waste precious time on stuff I didn’t completely cherish.”

this too becomes an elder’s practice…the spiritual practice of being present to the small things that create a rich life. this can be the foundation of “life 2.0”. though watts admits these commitments are slipping, the re-commitment is alway possible.

as the great poet, rumi, tells us “…even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. come, yet again , come , come.” we can always begin again to notice, to be aware in the present and to live life fully.

to read the entire article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/28/cardiac-arrest-dying

the dark turning toward the light

“Even as we can feel more physically separated from each other, and just when we can feel even more frail and small in the face of all the worldwide troubles we face, there may be no better time to light a candle, make a prayer, find a song to sing in the midst of the darkness, in order to help bring the light back.

as we move toward the light of the year let us elders hear the words of michael meade, mythologist and author. elders have seen many turnings...days into months, months into years, years into decades. let us bring the wisdom of those turnings to the challenge we live with now and allow the light within to emerge and shine.

warm solstice wishes....

“Even as we can feel more physically separated from each other, and just when we can feel even more frail and small in the face of all the worldwide troubles we face, there may be no better time to light a candle, make a prayer, find a song to sing in the midst of the darkness, in order to help bring the light back.

In facing the darkness together in a spiritual sense and in the ancient way, we can also, find again, and realign with, the divine spark of life we each carry. For the soul has its own inner light and each soul is secretly connected to the song of the earth, to the Soul of the World, and to the indelible spark of life and light that can only be found in the darkest hours and the darkest times.”

an invitation

the winter solstice approaches rapidly. while the days are still increasingly long, the earth will soon turn to the sun. it is a time to gather in the lessons of the deep, fertile dark and bring them into the the world. these are the lessons elders have the opportunity to share…lessons learned from decades of experience and from mindful, conscious attention to the learning from that experience.

the labyrinth offers us the opportunity to do just that. following the pattern of any of the several types of labyrinth we can take a journey. this walk can take us through a process of releasing that which no longer serves our heartmindspirt as we move toward the centre rose of the labyrinth. or we might walk to the centre with a particular question or concern.

we can then pause in the centre, a bit freer. in this pause we have the opportunity to reflect and listen to the voice that speaks from connection…connection to Self, to Spirit, to Goddess, to True Nature…to whatever name you place on your deepest self. here, in the very centre, we stop our busy-ness and breathe until we are ready to step on the path again.

as we walk the same pattern in reverse we might contemplate our return to the world with new insight, new wisdom, a new way of being, a new project. we emerge then, refreshed and renewed.

the winter solstice, marking the turn of the year, is the perfect time for this journey. please join me and two 0ther labyrinth walk facilitators (aleine ridge and richard nickols) in walking the labyrinth on 20 december at 1700 GMT. (that’s noon Eastern US time and 9:00 Pacific US time.) we three will be holding the space for this walk.

this year we will be joining offline at the same time around much of the planet to be together in spirit, as we each follow the path on a finger labyrinth. below please find two links which lead you to either the UK or US appropriate pages to print so that you can walk with us. these pages show the chartres style labyrinth. we will each be in our own space, joined in spirit across the globe. you can also purchase a finger labyrinth of your choice by searching online.

if you are new to the labyrinth, i suggest you visit www.veriditas.org and
https://labyrinthsinbritain.uk for an abundance of information and inspiration.

and please invite your friends and family to join in the journey.

looking forward to sharing with you on the path.

for those of you who live in the united kingdom, here is a link to a labyrinth pattern that is formatted to UK paper size.

https://zdi1.zd-cms.com/cms/res/files/382/ChartresLabyrinth.pdf

for those of you who live in the united states, here is a link to a labyrinth pattern that is formatted to US paper size.

https://www.veriditas.org/resources/Documents/Handouts/Printable%20Chartres-Style%20Finger%20Labyrinth.pdf

if for some reason, the links are not live, please copy and paste into your browser to gain access to the labyrinth patterns for printing.