The Arrival...

Ten years ago, having lost all things that had been precious to me, my health, home, support systems, I arrived in the foothills. I felt broken and alone. Harold S. Kushner wrote most eloquently on the theme of surviving when bad things happen to good people. I could never match the words of such a wise teacher. But, I will say that when we are at our most broken, that may be when we are most able to learn.

Ten years ago, I arrived in the wilderness during the rainy season. I stepped off the greyhound bus and into a world of green. Having grown up in cities of concrete and steel, I felt I had entered a Tolkien novel. It was a completely alien experience for which nothing from my past had prepared me. I had nothing to my name except the knapsack on my back. Thus began my spiritual re-education.

I arrived in the wilderness poor, unwashed, with long hair and long beard. I felt I had fallen as low as a human being could fall. I, who had been the "helper", the star volunteer who had tirelessly helped those in the margins, suddenly found myself living as one with those in the margins. The Fall can be a blessing!

Pride gave way to humility. Stubbornness gave way to patience. Anger gave way to compassion.

The Rain did it's work. It washed the dirt away. Whatever I had been in the past, I'm not sure I had been quite Human. But in the cold green wetness I awakened re-born.

Sometimes in life things happen, seemingly bad things. And we find ourselves in unknown territory. Sometimes, where we are is exactly where we are supposed to be. The lessons don't come cheaply or easily. But if we remain open, the lessons do come.