(a draft for September 15, Saipan Tribune shared with OE)
Penultimo Adios: a Collegium on dying
A colleague in Washington State at 79 was diagnosed with a
rare case of Leukemia (CMML - Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, for the curious) and was
given two months to two years to battle the weak white blood cells. Norman Cousins the journalist took his
imminent demise diagnosis with laughter for a decade.
We are familiar with Cecille Deion return to Las Vegas after
a year of absence to care for her husband on the last leg of a throat cancer. He is specific about his wanting to spend his
last days with the Canadian chanteuse. Judy
"Sock it to me" Carne of Rowan-and-Martin's Laugh-In, drew the curtains down at 76, reminding me that I've come
to the threshold of that region where many would rather forget they are heading
that way, or fight its marks with the last drop of Pantene.
We came to the Death
knell of typhoons not too long ago when swimming by the breach on the coral
reef at Sugar Dock in Saipan. I found
myself listlessly drifting to the open sea, unable to resist the ebb tide. Only the thought that I was 16 years ahead of
any mi ultima adios that I had enough
presence of mind to bodysurf to the reef, never mind the dumping 4 ft. waves
did to our heine at the corals!
At seventy, with the Sugar Dock experience, we might have
been over-indulging on the subject of dying too much until our colleague from
Washington sent out his penultimo adios, a
collegium on the news of his Leukemia.
The announcement itself was exemplary. He and his wife had made peace with the eventuality.
"No one knows better than you and I how to celebrate both our being
here and the completion of our journeys," he addressed a worldwide network
of colleagues.
"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." Well said of the
collegial connection he was addressing that once called itself the "the
company that cares".
Putting up a
mirror, "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," he declared his gratitude, with the wry humor that he'd
abusively chat with some us. "What
else would you expect from me? And
please--do return the favor, " he added.
Then the clasp of the weathered hand: "... my heartfelt gratitude for your
having been and continuing to be who you are and for that remarkable webbing
and mission that connects us." I
experienced a rush of early Daily Office memories as he concluded with the
traditional passing of the peace, perfunctory practiced by congregations, but
vividly reminiscent of 6 am clasp hands going down the rows of chairs of the congregants
of which we were a part. "The peace
of God is yours this day," he intoned.
Without rites
and rituals, we would not be human.
While I moved away from beloved metaphors, the reality they point to remains
the same. In the celebrative "being
here" and the enigmatic "completion of a life's journey", the
sense of compassion, the stance of gratitude, and the posture of profound
humility abide.
This week, I
moseyed over to Lino's place. Those unfamiliar
with his little piece of real estate on San Isidro, Chalan Kanoa, the shoreline
is built up with hotels, high-rises, including the abandoned Emmanuel College and
the deserted Koreana in the south, and the Aquarius tower towards the Sugar
Dock in the north next to Town House fronting Mt. Carmel Cathedral and the CK
cemetery. The area is, indeed, built up save
"Uncle Lino's" park.
The neighboring
lot south has the sand regularly machine-raked, but there are hardly any
barefoot leaving footprints on the sand.
In contrast, there are always folks at Uncle Lino's place and though barks
of pine trees snapped and keeled over after Soudelor, the place remains a haven
for children's gaiety, adults' guffaws, and newcomer's hilarity.
The broken
masts and hobie cats have their place in the lot, including a huge
double-hulled catamaran hauled from Guam to be repaired and refurbished; after
tested on NMI waters, will eventually sail south to the area between Yap and
Chuuk along the navigational route I dubbed the Saipan-Satawal
superhighway. Among these boats, which Lino,
our Man of La Kanoa, sails to Mañagaha and back, we always find time to get the
fire going to barbecue fish, seashell, pork, chicken and beef.
We threw a
party for visiting guests in honor of Uncle Lino. That's when we discovered his tummy was ill
disposed; he visited the hospital earlier but CHC did not find anything wrong. Neither gloomy nor bleak, Lino understood
too, not unlike my brief encounter at the coral stone breach, it was too
premature to write the Obit.
I dropped in on
Lino the following day to check how he was doing. He was sweeping the floor on his trailer. There was clearly one young man of 75 up and
about.
j'aime la vie
yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate! in all, celebrate!
-----Original Message-----
From: via Dialogue <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net>
To: dialogue <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Thu, Sep 10, 2015 3:09 am
Subject: Dialogue Digest, Vol 42, Issue 6
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: A Very Brief Collegium (Dawn
Collins via Dialogue)
2. Re: A Very Brief Collegium (Dawn Collins via
Dialogue)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message:
1
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2015 10:12:40 -0700
From: Dawn Collins via Dialogue
<dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net>
To: ICA/OE List Serves
<dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net>, Order
Ecumenical Community
<oe@lists.wedgeblade.net>, Gordon Harper
<gharper1@gmail.com>
Cc:
"dialogue@wedgeblade.net" <dialogue@wedgeblade.net>
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] A
Very Brief
Collegium
Message-ID:
<1441732360.45996.YahooMailBasic@web140005.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type:
text/plain; charset=utf-8
Dear Gordon, Roxana and family,
As I am new to
sending email to OE community, please know that my intentions are to follow the
corporate stream of consciousness in response to Gordon's [Dialogue) A Very
Brief Collegium.
After witnessing the recent passage of my mom through the
door that opens to receive one in the final arc of the circle on the journey of
a completed life; we give thanks to our Creator for giving us the means to admit
"the three strange angels"at that door.
I did not know you well, Gordon but
you left a lasting impression on me of a temperate spirit and compassionate soul
which was manifest in your calm demeanor even unto deep intentionality for the
overarching mission down to the mundane details that signified a good deed
done.
I find it a little unexpected that you are giving comfort and solace to
your colleagues as you share your reflections at this juncture in your journey.
May we all anticipate the celebration of transition with reverence, awe and
joy.
"And so I am sure that God, who began this good work in you, will carry
it on until it is finished on the Day of Christ Jesus". (Philippians 1:6)
And
I lift up this verse from "A Charge to Keep I Have".
"To serve the present
age,
My calling to fulfill:
O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master's
will".
And again, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do
of His good pleasure". (Philippians 2:13)
Thank you, Gordon for allowing us
to accompany you on your journey while we respond to the Call of the Mystery
creating History while abiding with us.
Grace & Peace,
Dawn
Collins
(formerly Lingo)
"We love Him, because He first loved
us".
---------------------------
On Thu, 9/3/15, Gordon Harper via
Dialogue <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
Subject: [Dialogue] A Very
Brief Collegium
To: "ICA/OE List Serves" <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net>,
"Order Ecumenical Community" <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net>
Date: Thursday,
September 3, 2015, 10:19 PM
Beloved
Colleagues --
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.
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?here
in Seattle.
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.
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. ?
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.
The peace of God is yours this day
--
Gordon
?
-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
_______________________________________________
Dialogue mailing list
Dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net
http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net
------------------------------
Message:
2
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2015 10:12:40 -0700
From: Dawn Collins via Dialogue
<dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net>
To: ICA/OE List Serves
<dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net>, Order
Ecumenical Community
<oe@lists.wedgeblade.net>, Gordon Harper
<gharper1@gmail.com>
Cc:
"dialogue@wedgeblade.net" <dialogue@wedgeblade.net>
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] A
Very Brief
Collegium
Message-ID:
<1441732360.45996.YahooMailBasic@web140005.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type:
text/plain; charset=utf-8
Dear Gordon, Roxana and family,
As I am new to
sending email to OE community, please know that my intentions are to follow the
corporate stream of consciousness in response to Gordon's [Dialogue) A Very
Brief Collegium.
After witnessing the recent passage of my mom through the
door that opens to receive one in the final arc of the circle on the journey of
a completed life; we give thanks to our Creator for giving us the means to admit
"the three strange angels"at that door.
I did not know you well, Gordon but
you left a lasting impression on me of a temperate spirit and compassionate soul
which was manifest in your calm demeanor even unto deep intentionality for the
overarching mission down to the mundane details that signified a good deed
done.
I find it a little unexpected that you are giving comfort and solace to
your colleagues as you share your reflections at this juncture in your journey.
May we all anticipate the celebration of transition with reverence, awe and
joy.
"And so I am sure that God, who began this good work in you, will carry
it on until it is finished on the Day of Christ Jesus". (Philippians 1:6)
And
I lift up this verse from "A Charge to Keep I Have".
"To serve the present
age,
My calling to fulfill:
O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master's
will".
And again, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do
of His good pleasure". (Philippians 2:13)
Thank you, Gordon for allowing us
to accompany you on your journey while we respond to the Call of the Mystery
creating History while abiding with us.
Grace & Peace,
Dawn
Collins
(formerly Lingo)
"We love Him, because He first loved
us".
---------------------------
On Thu, 9/3/15, Gordon Harper via
Dialogue <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
Subject: [Dialogue] A Very
Brief Collegium
To: "ICA/OE List Serves" <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net>,
"Order Ecumenical Community" <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net>
Date: Thursday,
September 3, 2015, 10:19 PM
Beloved
Colleagues --
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.
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?here
in Seattle.
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.
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. ?
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.
The peace of God is yours this day
--
Gordon
?
-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
_______________________________________________
Dialogue mailing list
Dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net
http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net
------------------------------
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