<HTML><HEAD></HEAD>
<BODY dir=ltr>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: #000000">
<DIV>Gordon ---</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I am addressed by how easy it is to focus on my suffering rather than my
blessings (blessings which you have so eloquently enumerated, and which I have
also received and participated in).</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thank you, My Priest!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Rod Rippel </DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt tahoma">
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=oe@lists.wedgeblade.net
href="mailto:oe@lists.wedgeblade.net">Gordon Harper via OE</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, September 03, 2015 9:19 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net
href="mailto:dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net">ICA/OE List Serves</A> ; <A
title=oe@lists.wedgeblade.net href="mailto:oe@lists.wedgeblade.net">Order
Ecumenical Community</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [Oe List ...] A Very Brief Collegium</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV class=gmail_default
style="FONT-SIZE: large; FONT-FAMILY: 'comic sans ms',sans-serif"><SPAN
id=docs-internal-guid-73b9fa4d-9687-64ee-d53e-a1bf4df4bcc4>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; MARGIN-TOP: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.38" dir=ltr><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: arial; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Beloved
Colleagues --</SPAN></P><BR>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; MARGIN-TOP: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.38" dir=ltr><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: arial; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Few
of us, as the end of life approaches, get the chance to speak directly to
anything like our whole community. It appears that I have that
opportunity, and I’m taking advantage of it.</SPAN></P><BR>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; MARGIN-TOP: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.38" dir=ltr><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: arial; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Last
week, after two months of medical testing to find out what had suddenly landed
on me and drained me of my strength and usual energy, Roxana and I got the
diagnosis. It’s a rare form of fairly fast moving (typically two months to
two years) leukemia, called CMML. There’s little to be done to treat it,
especially in someone my age (about to be 79). I'm getting good medical care and
have a fine local support community </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: arial; WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: 18px">here
in Seattle</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: arial; WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: 1.38; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">.</SPAN></P><BR>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; MARGIN-TOP: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.38" dir=ltr><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: arial; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">First
of all, I want you all to know that I am at peace with this, as is Roxana.
My life--in good part because of you--has been rich, crazy, wonder-filled and a
unique and unrepeatable journey with the Mystery. And no one knows better than
you and I how to celebrate both our being here and the completion of our
journeys.</SPAN></P><BR>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; MARGIN-TOP: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.38" dir=ltr><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: arial; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">I
am taking this rare chance to express to all of you how much you’ve meant to me
over the years--as the amazing collection of individual nobodies we are that
rode out like the Man of La Mancha to throw our beings into the challenge of
bending history. More than that, you all contributed your own weird and
special gifts, neuroses and idiosyncrasies to the makeup of our corporate life
and community, all over the world. Without you, there’d never have been
such a community; so thank you, thank you, thank you. </SPAN></P><BR>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; MARGIN-TOP: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.38" dir=ltr><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: arial; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">I
hope to be able to chat with at least some of you individually or collectively
over the time remaining to me, through one of the dizzying array of
communication tools at hand today, and give you a little abuse. (What else would
you expect from me? And please--do return the favor.) We’ll see how things work
out. In the meantime, this note will have to stand for my salute to all of
you, my heartfelt gratitude for your having been and continuing to be who you
are and for that remarkable webbing and mission that connects us.</SPAN></P><BR>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; MARGIN-TOP: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.38" dir=ltr><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: arial; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">The
peace of God is yours this day --</SPAN></P><BR>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; MARGIN-TOP: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.38" dir=ltr><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: arial; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">Gordon
</SPAN></P>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14px; FONT-FAMILY: arial; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; WHITE-SPACE: pre-wrap; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"><BR></SPAN></DIV></SPAN></DIV></DIV>
<P>
<HR>
_______________________________________________<BR>OE mailing
list<BR>OE@lists.wedgeblade.net<BR>http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net<BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>