Gordon
The name in our title is that of Gordon Harper (19**-2016),
a friend in the US who died February 8 from leukemia he was diagnosed with not
too long ago. He expected to end his
existence within a minimum of 2 months and a maximum of a year.
Leaving off his last name in the title makes it clear that
this reflection is not so much about the historical particulars of the man, the
spacetime he occupied and the roles he played.
Nor how he affected other people, including his supportive wife Roxanna
who remained effectively in the background.
As a senior facilitator of Top@ facilitator, the Technology of
Participation, he facilitated groups to articulate their vision, identify
contradictions, offer proposals, and most importantly, decide on a course of action.
I do remember him, first, as a staff member in the Maliwada
Human Development Training Institute (HDTI) to trigger a movement in India of new communities, Nava Gram Prayas, in the plateau of Maharashtra
outside of Aurangabad where the relics of history are carved in the Ellora
and Ajanta caves. I went to learn of their construct only to
find out that whatever they had on their plates emerged collegially from heads
butting against each other around a table, and that conceptually, I was pedagogically
familiar with it.
As a group, we wanted to take the four-year Liberal Arts
Bachelor's program and make it accessible to those who think they did not have
the brain to handle it, nor the resources to pay for the chance. Gordon worked on University 13. So when it became obvious that a movemental
dynamic was waiting to be triggered in India, we had a contentless construct
ready to be filled with flesh and blood.
In the same fashion, I needed to go to the Philippines, and "just
do it".
I did, on Mactan Island among coral limestone in Sudtonggan
village, with the Altons and company as host, where Gordon and other colleagues joined in
creating a human development program on the time's new globality for the island
and beyond. Success in numerical terms,
or of awards from the Rotary Club or recognition from the Chamber of Commerce,
were not in my agenda. From Maliwada, as
far as career went, I no longer had any.
I learned to "just go do it", ignore the judgment or
expectations of society and history.
We called it HDTS, a school rather than an Institute. We targeted 24 villages in Mactan, building a
training school in Sudtonggan and invited villagers for replication projects in
Langub (the name translates to "cave") north of Davao City in
Mindanao.
I used to tell time by Gordon's pouring his 5 pm
gin-and-tonic and smelling the waft of his pipe as he lit up for relaxation. A Baptist minister, I never understood how he
could get away from his habits (I was an ordained Methodist cleric) until I
realized that not all Baptists were created equal! Nor Methodists for that matter! Gordon was a
facilitator par excellence, and I was
privileged to sit under the smell of his cherry-flavored smokes. He kept to his gin-tonic routine to himself,
not encouraging others to join him.
Since Gordon announced his leukemia, I've reflected more
about the facticity of aging now that I've passed 70.
I've turned into a "clutch", dropping things
easily, and discovering that it was no longer facile to get back up from the
floor. The leg calves cramp at
night, and we visit the bathroom a few times before sunrise. Brain cells are no longer as quick on the
memory as they used to. I taught six
graders 2003-2008 and it is embarrassing to recognize faces of former students in Saipan but could not remember names. Many
now staff NMC offices, and when we go there to see if we can teach a few
courses next semester, I am greeted by a familiar face behind a desk but the name escapes me
all together.
Often, I get into the car to drive to the store, and when I
get there, I forgot what it was that I needed.
I connect to the Internet and forget what website it was I wanted. I am busy at my dwelling everyday, with
plenty of trails of things that got started but not accomplishing any of
them. I could picture Gordon nodding his
head on all of these, raising a twitch-like lift on one side of his mouth,
without letting on that he probably went through this part of aging in the last
ten years. Like Gandhi, he had
playfulness about him on life's serious matters.
We won't go into "eternity" as I do not think Gordon
delve into that much. Neither do I. But as one of my students last year asked
after my spiel on the here-and-now: "Are you an atheist?" Another jumped to answer: "You've not
been listening. He just wants everyone
to know he is totally responsible for the 86 years of his existence."
I may be projecting but this is how I picture Gordon on his
bed. He grimaced at the terminus. The end cometh, he says. He lived his life. Reviewing its fullness is finished; outrospection
done, he introspects. With a beatific
smile plastered on his face, he dies his death.
As the old metaphor exuded: Glory
Hallelujah, praise be!
wangzhimu2031
earthrise consciousness, a gift; earthbound commitment, my choice
yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate! in all, celebrate!
-----Original Message-----
From: via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net>
To: oe <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Wed, Feb 10, 2016 12:40 pm
Subject: OE Digest, Vol 47, Issue 6
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Today's Topics:
1. In Memory of Gordon (David Rebstock via OE)
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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2016 21:40:29 -0500
From: David Rebstock via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net>
To: Order Ecumenical Community <oe@wedgeblade.net>
Subject: [Oe List ...] In Memory of Gordon
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<CAAkTkq-R5PQjJvW6GxmZ_WooB5QyvOPMpFaT1oQ6K_FDuV_Zqg@mail.gmail.com>
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?In thy face I see the map of honor, truth and loyalty? *Henry VI, Part II.*
One could see a loyalty in Gordon that did not waiver, loyalty to family,
friends and colleagues, his church, the Order and the Institutes.
Our families were connected in several ways thru the years. Gordon was
born and raised in Neenah, WI as was Ellen and Ellen?s dad gave Gordon a
job at a Neenah paper mill during summer vacation in college. We lived
with the Harpers in Singapore in 78 and 79 and our son Mark attended school
at Earlham College with Stuart and Elena. While we lived in California we
made an annual trek to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon with
the Harpers, the Hockleys and sometimes the Cookinghams. Gordon being the
Man of Letters usually lead the reflective conversations and interpretation
of Shakespeare and the others plays. (always with clear insight and his wry
sense of humor especially eliciting comparisons of the plays to what is
going on in 21st century society) I recall several long walks with Gordon
there and in Seattle discussing Order history and the NRM. We had the good
fortune of visiting with Gordon and Roxana in September after he knew he
didn?t have much time. I hope that I can have the same attitude to the
completion of my life as Gordon had.
As John Dryden 17th century poet said of Shakespeare, he might have said of
Gordon, ?He was the man who of all modern, and perhaps ancient poets had
the largest and most comprehensive soul.?
David and Ellen Rebstock
[image: Inline image 1]
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