[Oe List ...] [earthrise] Salty dogs

Mon Apr 21 16:34:04 EDT 2008

Happy Birthday, George. 
    The title "Salty Dog" always is a consciousness raiser for me. Back in the 1960's, John Cock used to have a sermon/meditation with the same title. I stole it and have used it both for sermons and for a funeral oration. Damned good one too. 
    Anyway, you meet the qualifications, and I'm proud that you do. 
    Inner Peace, 
    Bill Salmon

  There is a great cartoon that circulated around over the last 10 years or
  so. The picture shows a dog riding a unicycle across a high wire with a
  balancing pole with two other animal twirling hoops and performing other
  tricks and full audience cheering below in wonder. The caption reads
  something like this, "it occurred to Rex as he reached the middle of the
  wire's length that he was an old dog... and this was a new trick."

  I am somewhat amazed as I get increasingly used to a new setting and
  environment in Santa Fe at the pioneering spirit and courage of many of our
  lot. Who would have guessed that Jim Wiegle, when he went to Germany last
  year to take place in a peace making facilitator conference of some sort
  Would show up in Ramalla a year later training facilitators in Arabic to
  work on what is to come. Frankly I saw the same promo piece as he and said
  to myself those famous loosing lines, "it'll never work." Who would have
  guessed that Jack Gilles would ever leave India, and what's more actually
  come back to the Americas and call us to give energy to thinking through
  more of what we bring forward and how, and what we leave behind through
  Spring Board. Who would have guessed that Elise Packard would have put
  together a culturally transformative approach to dual generational literacy,
  the DNA of which is now being launched in the third of its four
  international sites with first nation peoples in New Mexico and Canada. Who
  would have guessed that John an Thea Patterson's investment in African Aids
  prevention would spin off so many great new bursts of Creational Evolution
  (Janet Saunders recent witness). So many things are happening --too many to
  list --These for me are symbols

  In Santa Fe Elise and I have attached ourselves to one of the Presbyterian
  congregations. With ghost Ranch a few miles out this must be one of the most
  magnetic congregations for retired Presbyterian clergy there is. They
  ordained a deacon about two months ago and invited all the ordained clergy
  to come an lay on hands. More than 3/4 of the congregation was in the center
  aisle three or four abreast with there hands on the person in front of them
  who ultimately at the end of the lines had their hands on the Ordiand. We
  have no end to great preaching and adult classes, and indeed some are still
  in their elder years serving on local and national committees promoting edge
  causes. However, some are also caught in the throws of the identity from
  which they retired. They struggle with not being the center of the
  communities life. They occasionally fall into the trap of undermining the
  current pastor in some discussion or decision out of a context of the way it
  should be according to my last parish. These for me are symbols as well.

  Three Jazz musicians stage a Jam session every Saturday night 6-9:00pm at
  Bumble Bee's, al local fast food Mexican restaurant and drive through. They
  push the tables aside and set up right in the middle of the small dining
  area. The place fills up and they play their stuff with reference only to
  Fake book ( A musicians Mind jogger with 8-16 bars of melody and chord
  structure). Each time they break new ground with new riffs and new ideas and
  far out melodies. When an out of town musician is performing he/she will
  almost certainly com by to sit in for a set. It is the basic music
  interchange dynamic of the South West. These musicians for me are symbols.

  I find myself always over against the pressure to do what I know how to do
  -- each time a little better. And in some ways yes the world benefits just
  because what I know is often better than the alternatives. But... I also
  struggle to consolidate time and focus to venture into new things when my
  life is already overflowing with fullness. I find myself drawn to still
  invent and innovate. Right now that is the challenge of being the more
  present house spouse for a transformative literacy project. (you can get
  whole grains at Whole foods and soak them overnight and mix with pancake mix
  and protein powder for real whole grain high protein pancakes). This
  pressure/calling to venture beyond I don't always say yes to. Some times I
  am just tired, some times preoccupied, sometimes not wanting to let any part
  of my present fullness go. BUT... Then also comes the e mail in the middle
  of the night from Slicker to the Dialogue and Springboard lists that says
  "hey get with the transformative social miracle that Ekhart and Opera are
  putting out". And then Brother Rupert dies with his boots on in Kamwalini.
  Would you believe that old REX bubbles up through my meditative council: "it
  occurs to me -- Hey I am an old dog... and there are millions of untried
  tricks". Life is open -- follow the spirit!

  I am George Packard -- Un-retired and still working in Santa Fe with an
  extra bed and bathroom type Wayside Inn near down town. Keith Elise Chapman
  and I met on the west side in 69 married in 70 and raised two children in
  order structures and human development projects. Truman (72) is with the
  World Bank serving Serbia, living in London and serving on the editorial
  team of this years Bank Report,. Maicah 79 is in Orlando currently with Air
  Tran and a grand daughter Elisa. We served EI/ICA in several US cities, in
  the Philippines, Chile, Peru, Center of Imaginal Education (Children's
  programs, Chicago), Kenya, Zambia, and then back to Chicago 

  __._,_.___ 
  Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic 
  Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar 
  For additional information, including guidelines and schedule, go to:

  http://www.geocities.com/earthrisegroup/webpage.html 

  Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) 
  Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional 
  Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Visit Your Group 
  Moderator Central
  Get answers to

  your questions about

  running Y! Groups.

  New business?
  Get new customers.

  List your web site

  in Yahoo! Search.

  Do-It-Yourselfers
  on Yahoo! Groups

  How-to ideas,

  projects and more.
  . 
  __,_._,___ 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  No virus found in this incoming message.
  Checked by AVG. 
  Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.2/1389 - Release Date: 4/21/2008 8:34 AM
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20080421/283b6336/attachment.html 