On Reflection, and Some Information
Someone gave me a book for Christmas. That’s always delightful, and in this case it’s also a book that I’m finding quite compelling. It’s a memoir called “How To Survive a Bear Attack”. I promise not to reference it ad nauseum in the weeks to come, but if you’ll humor me for a moment, I do want to quote from it here. The author (Claire Cameron) cites the opening line of L. P. Hartley’s novel The Go Between, where he writes, “The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there.” She goes on to say, “It’s a wrenchingly beautiful way to acknowledge the inaccessibility of all that has come before. The past hovers in the distance, prone to blurring. Some accounts are unreliable, many witnesses are lost, all versions of a story become intangible….the past is a land we can’t visit anymore.” She goes on to note that what we can do is try to tell a complete story about it – to think about what has gone before as a way of “passing on the feeling of standing somewhere we can no longer be”.
When I look back on this year at The Table, there are a few enduring impressions. One is that we’ve collectively had to travel in some heavy weather. We’ve lost some folks, both from our personal circles and from the community in general. We’ve done some grieving. We’ve also had the privilege of having a consistent location in which to gather, which hasn’t always been the case for us and is worth celebrating. We’ve done some growing as well – some new faces arriving, familiar ones continuing to change as some of our youngest members leave childhood behind.
And, in the midst of all this (and much more), we’ve also explored a wide range of topics, considering our own beliefs and those of others – an essential part of thriving as human beings.
Also, we gave – we gave time, attention, energy, creativity, thoughtfulness and material resources, all of which are necessary for any community to continue to exist (the baseline), and also to grow. I think it’s also important to note that we are the fortunate recipients of some generous support from donors who, although they may not be “in the room”, extend their care and resources to us so we can continue to provide a place where anyone who wishes can explore what they believe. I’m deeply grateful for each and every gift. Quite simply, without what each person contributes, we wouldn’t be here.
I’m going to leave these musing there, but I want to encourage you to do some reflecting of your own. When you think back on this past year for us as a community, what comes to mind? What is “sticky” for you? Challenges? Insights? Moments of movement in your own beliefs? Something else? We’ll come back to this when we gather on January 4th and do some collective storytelling. I think it’s also worth observing that, in a world too often characterized by loneliness and isolation, we continue to have the opportunity to do this together. Let’s take advantage of that whenever we are able.
I won’t see you this Sunday, but I’ll see you next week. In the meantime, I hope your marking of the year past and welcoming of the New Year finds you ready to continue exploring what you believe.
Peace,