Over the last few weeks I have been contemplating the challenges and opportunities of walking with an inspiring vision that is so compelling that it pushes me often beyond the edge of what may appear to be reasonable or make sense in any way. It pushes the edge of conventional wisdom and can be both full and exciting;  and lonely and hard.

When there appears to be no solid ground upon which to stand, I wonder, "Will my inspired vision lift me up and carry me to firm footing? Or, will there come a time when compelling or not, I will turn and embrace convential wisdom and leave it all behind, like an old friend lost in time?" 

I think of some of my elders in moments like this, who after years of service to the community, were simply gone too soon. Now ancestors, imparting their wisdom in those of us who have been fortunate enough to study with them, what would they say? I wonder.

Perhaps there is no answer. Maybe it simply comes down to stamina and a community that invests itself in the possibility of the vision. Seeing themselve in the vision, they become the wind beneath us that keeps us moving forward. Perhaps the challenge the VisionKeeper must be mindful of is when to reach out and ask for support. To all the VisionKeepers out there I say we must reach out in times of need (whether that need is for healing and rest, for resources financial and otherwise, for encouragement...).

An inspired vision is a gift not only to the one who holds the vision, but to life as we know it, and know it can be. In this regard, it must not be discarded without a struggle. Inspired visions live on in the heart of humanity long after we are gone. When there appears to be no solid ground, reach out and ask and the footprints in the sand that can lead the way forward will emerge.

Intergenerational, interracial, interfaith, Mothers, Sisters, Children, Nature, Yoga, Meditation, Vegan Food, Workshops, Massage, Sound, Reflexology, Circles, Healing, Sharing, Serving ... these are just a few words that can be used to describe last weekend's retreat which I attended as a presenter/participant. Transformation to Oneness was organized by my dear friend, Zena Dues, members of Science of Spirituality, and wise women from New York, Pennsylvania, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Virginia and Atlanta.

Nearly 100 women and children and a core of volunteers who showed up to be in service, gathered together to heal and to explore oneness. Many of the brothers who showed up immediately found their place in the kitchen, under the "strict" supervision of Malissa (our extraordinary Vegan Chef), prepping food, washing dishes, or out and about doing workshops with the children or helping with equipment. Whatever the need they were there. And other SOS members showed up to offer themselves in the same spirit of service.

As we sat in workshops, ate and meditated, the children had their own program that included an opportunity for them to be in nature, to run free...free to be a child in a safe space. 

In an environment so charged with "soul" music, how could we not experience love--the essential ingredient for ONENESS? At the end, if there ever is such a thing,  I floated away with a renewed sense of possibility for myself and for humanity. The retreat exemplified an ancient universal wisdom teaching, when our circles join and we simply partake of the richness of our diversity, allowing ourselves to be touched, our hearts to open and transformation to begin, like the lotus flower, we are submerged in the primal waters of our soul and rise again into the light, stronger, connected and wiser.

We transcended the need to know all the answers, to embrace the intuitive sense of  Oneness that landed us in a rich field of infinite potential. This field ignited within each of us a creative current. This current now fully charged travels with us back to our homes and into our families and communities as we birth healing and transformation from the womb of ALL Creation. 

(End Note: In ancient Egyptian mythology, a Lotus Flower is a symbol of the sun, of creation and rebirth. Because at night the flower closes and sinks underwater, at dawn it rises and opens again. And, in India, from ancient times the lotus has been a divine symbol representing the virtues of sexual purity and non-attachment)

I am honored to have received a fellowship to attend the Whole Thinking Retreat at Knoll Farms this summer. The retreat is a six-day residential leadership development program, offered as fellowships to diverse leaders from around the country each year. 

Whole Thinking Retreats are six-day forums that help leaders of the environmental and social justice fields grapple with questions (such as: Why do you need me? Who and what are we working for? What are the unintended consequences of our work?
How can our work build whole communities?) together. Through fellowship awards, we bring together leaders whose work relates to land and people to find common ground, common purpose and common courage in tackling the major issues of our day.

Retreats are attended by leaders from a broad range of professions: urban and rural conservationists, environmental justice advocates, community development practitioners, food security advocates, farmers, ranchers, faith-based activists, wilderness and farmland conservationists, business people, biologists, writers, educators, elected officials, and others. We bring them together to ask questions of themselves and each other and through that process to help them see their work and potential in a new light.

www.wholecommunities.org

I am excited to announce the release of a very special project that began in 1996. Embers of Glory a short novel by me, Audri Scott Williams, that was inspired by the burning of over 100 black churches in the south in the mid 1990's. To purchase the book or to download it - click here