Director's Message for May

May 1, 2009

Greetings,

The post-retreat consensus is that we hit one out of the park. By most accounts, the spring retreat was a huge success. We had about 75 in total that was comprised of a staff of 21, 17 youths from the inner city and their 5 mentors, 8 more boys that attended with their 9 fathers or mentors, and 15 additional men. We awarded approximately $15,500 in scholarships and received about $10,500 in donations so as you can see we had a shortfall of about $5,000. It’s not too late to make up the difference. If you know anyone or an organization that can make a contribution to our scholarship fund it would be greatly appreciated and much needed. Please contact us if you can assist in any way. $5,100 was donated in honor of Timothy “Whispering Eagle” Aguilar. Again, I wish to thank Matthew Burke, Ken Valach, Tom Couper, Phil Jennings, Steve Reynolds and Ross Avery for their generosity.

Due to Timothy’s absence the staff really stepped up to fill in the areas where his influence and presence were most felt. It was remarkable to see how many of the men spread their own wings to span the breadth of the program so that no holes were left gaping. For instance, Phil Jennings, an accomplished martial artist, conducted two breakout sessions for the Call to Adventure group and then held the space for the whole community on Saturday evening like a circus barker while Carl Woods spun fire around his body much to the amazement and enthusiasm of the audience. Jared Dichter and Steve Branker facilitated a lively basketball game on Saturday afternoon that concluded with a one-point difference in the score. Steve’s coaching expertise really came in handy as he crafted the game prep into an opportunity for team building, conflict resolution and sportsmanship. Philip Folsum and his men provided a safe and yet challenging ropes course on Friday. Andrew Soliz poured water for 4 separate sweat lodges and Charlie “Commando”, our fire keeper, shared his own brand of native wisdom. He himself is next in line to become chief of the Algonquin Indian tribe in Canada. Andrew will be leaving California at the end of May to travel back to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to engage in another Umbleche (Vision Quest) and Sundance Ceremony during the month of July.

At the opening community gathering on Thursday evening I was filled with emotion as I lit the candle on the altar that we had created for Timothy. We had placed about a dozen pictures of him over the altar and then had positioned a beautiful carved wooden Eagle that John Maudsley had presented and a bowl containing a satchel holding some of Timothy’s ashes that Sherry Deluca had given to me. As I lit the candle, I looked up at the pictures and offered the gesture of “Welcome Home Brother” that has served as my greeting to participants at each of the retreats for many years. Timothy was always the last man that I would welcome home. This gesture on this night was particularly poignant as I considered that our brother has indeed gone home but has left us with a legacy that will continue to guide us forth. I was stunned by what followed. It is our tradition to invite individuals to come up and light a floating rose candle and place it in a basin of water as one dedicates it to the passing of a loved one in the past 6-12 months. I was awestruck as I observed all of the boys from South Central come up and light candles, often more than one, for someone who had died. Some of the boys had lost a family member, a brother, mother or father even within two weeks of the retreat. Many had lost loved ones through tragedy. Some of the boys contained their tears while placing the candles, but had to go outside to release the emotion. There were those that followed them to console and offer comfort. This spontaneous grief ritual went on for at least 90 minutes. Never before have we entered into such profound mourning on opening night.

Several men told me that they felt Timothy’s presence during the retreat. On Sunday morning I conducted the meditation at the outdoor chapel, the point where Timothy facilitated the meditation for so many years. As I spread the ashes around the perimeter of the chapel, all those present followed in a sacred procession. Timothy will always remain within our hearts and we will always be within his spirit as we meditate at the point.

I could speak volumes about each participant and what he accomplished, and yet for the sake of brevity I wish to express my admiration and respect for the high level of achievement that was committed by all. I also wish to acknowledge all of the men of the Wisdom Council that staffed this retreat for their loyalty, brilliant displays of creativity and ingenuity, enduring stamina, and most of all, their open hearted modeling of what it takes to be a good man in the face of whatever showed up.

There were many teachable moments during the 3+ days that we were in community together. Like life, there were high points and some low points, but all got dealt with in the spirit of loving brotherhood and were approached with an attitude that there was something to be learned and that good could arise from each challenge. We’re all so very pleased with the work of the young men. They interacted enthusiastically and made the most of the opportunities to enhance their mindfulness and character strength. They came away with a greater understanding of what it means to be a real man. We also commend Cameron, Marvo, Wiz, David and Mike, the Mentors from South Central, for their support of the boys and adding dimensionally to the success of this retreat.

Many have remarked that they returned as changed persons. I personally witnessed incredible and perhaps even some miraculous life-transforming events over the course of the weekend. We have posted below some of the comments from participants and we invite you to add yours on our Blog. We have also included a slideshow presentation from the retreat that Herb Rubinstein created for us. We’re planning a ceremony to present certificates of completion to the boys. We have not set the date as yet but know that it will take place on a Saturday at one of the parks in South Central LA. We’ll provide more information as the details are arranged.

Our next one-day event for men will take place at Holy Spirit Retreat Center on Saturday, July 18th. The next Sacred Path Men’s Retreat will be held October 22-25. Mark your calendars now to save the dates. The date for the next Mindfulness Practicum for women has been changed from May 23rd to Saturday, June 6th. We didn’t initially realize that the 23rd fell over Memorial Day weekend. It will be held at Holy Spirit Retreat Center. I’m once again looking forward to the opportunity to spend a day with the women on the Sacred Path. You will find a registration form below.

Wishing you many blessings,
Stephen Johnson