Assurances

"TO MY FELLOW SWIMMERS"

"We have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour
And there are things to be considered

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in the right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.

It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.


There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold onto the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart and they will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.

The elders say we must let go of the shore, and push off and into the river, keep our eyes open, and our head above the water.

See who is in there with you and Celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally.
Least of all ourselves.
For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over,
Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.
All that you do now must be done in a sacred manner
And in celebration."

"WE ARE THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR..."
Hopi Nation, Oraibi Arizona

September, 2001

Dear Nursery Families,

A friend suggested that I read the book Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow by Elizabeth Lesser. As I read Lesser's book, received nourishment from it, and found myself opening up, I also noticed how much in concert her words are with so much of what he have discussed and written about in our parent & child and nursery classes. The Hopi Message to the Elders, for example, which I was given as a gift by Rena Osmer at a conference for Waldorf Early Childhood teachers, seems as if it could be an epigraph for Lesser's book. Osmer, and powerful teacher of children and teacher of teachers, was offering strength and courage (which Steiner offered his teachers at the first Waldorf School in Stuttgart) and helping us realize that just because we had lots of pink walls, silks, and soft toys, we did not need to be soft ourselves. Indeed, Osmer believes that parents and teachers of today need to look not just to Gabriel (the archangel of birth) but also to Michael as we nurture children in the challenges of today (remembering, of course, as Kim Payne will remind us, the way we will be effective teachers and parents is to love the times we live in). She described the model of the warrior-nurturer to us and exhorted us to use this as our image.

(A few friends and I had a grand time creating a skit about the warrior-nurturer [complete with sword to battle grades teachers or board members or administrators if a meeting got testy] as a gift when we graduated from Rudolf Steiner College, which Rena appreciated very much. Children and adults need humor and laughter as well as form and protection and strength).

In the middle of Broken Open are a few well-written chapters on children and parenting. You may be able to get a taste of these chapters and the entire book from this google book preview. Lesser's ideas work very well with Katrina Kenison's Mitten Strings for God (a book written by a writer turned mom who translates gifts of Waldorf education for her home life) and Polly Berrien Berends' Whole Child/Whole Parent (which is not about Waldorf education but works well in concert with the principles and practices of Waldorf education). While Mitten Strings for God is written for "mothers in a hurry" (Kenison's subtitle), Berends' work, as with writings by Steiner, takes time to digest. I really only began to understand the book on my 3rd time through or so. That being said, there are gifts we can receive from her book even if we dive in and dive out. Her assurances for new parents, for example, can give clarity and comfort to all of us, whether we are parents of infants or tending to ourselves and other adults. We have copies of this book in the Kathrine Dickerson Memorial Library; I recommend giving the book a try when the time seems right.

With warmth and light,

William Geoffrey Dolde