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Trebbe
Johnson's
Newsletter
November
2008
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 Dear
Questers, Friends,
and Seekers of the
Beloved,
It's hard to talk or
think about much
these days without
crashing into the
painful reality of
the economic
crisis... and the
hope that the
upcoming election
can at least begin
to turn things
around. Sometimes I
lie awake in the
middle of the night
wondering how on
earth I'm going to
manage--and then I
imagine hundreds of
thousands of other
people filling the
dark air with their
own gloomy thoughts
at that very
moment... and I feel
a strange kinship
with them. It's just
one of the ways (and
certainly the least
productive) in which
I've been
discovering
community lately, as
this newsletter
relates.
To those who are
receiving this
newsletter for the
first time...
welcome! Here you'll
find news of
upcoming
Vision Arrow
events, reflections,
profiles of
extraordinary
people, and stories
of transformation
that occur when we
accept, in small,
bold, startling ways
the invitations that
the world is always
sending us.
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THE
JOSHUA TREE
COMMUNITY
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 In
last month's
newsletter I wrote
about the fast and
vision quest I was
doing with other
guides in the Nelson
Range of Death
Valley. The
experience was so
profound and
transformative. My
solo place was high
on a windy, rocky
outcropping. To the
north I could look
far down into the
Saline Valley, with
its blue and distant
mountains. South,
west, and east, the
land rose and fell
among ephedra
plants, sage, rocks
that loomed out of
the earth like
wizened sentinels,
and an occasional
cluster of pinyon
trees.
I devoted the fast
to making a
commitment to
Radical Joy for Hard
Times, a path I'm
creating to bring
people together to
find and make beauty
in the wounded
places of the earth.
All the obstacles,
insights, and
encounters with
Nature ushered me
further along that
path. Among them was
a lesson in
community that I
received from some
joshua trees.
Far below my rocky
perch, I could see a
cluster of about
twenty of these
small, whimsical
trees, relatives of
the spiky yucca
plant, marching
together down a
hill. On the third
morning of the solo,
I realized that they
were presenting
themselves as a
community--something
I, as a solitary
writer, contented
introvert, and
self-employed person
for 35 years, don't
know as much about
as I need to. I knew
I had to visit the
joshua trees, not
from afar, but up
close. Declaring my
sacred circle
accordingly widened,
I made my way
cautiously down the
slope, taking my
time, since I was
very weak from the
fast, and the slope
was steep and rocky.
At last I reached
the joshuas. Before
stepping among them,
I stood outside the
grove for a while,
reflecting on what
it meant to have
believed for so long
that I must travel a
solo path. At last I
was ready to enter
the community of
trees. Those on the
top of the hill I
saw as my
teachers--all those
people who are
currently doing work
compatible with
Radical Joy for Hard
Times: in ecology,
geology,
spirituality, art,
hydrology, and other
fields. I told them
I would like to
learn from them. The
trees just downhill
were my friends. I
asked them to
support and
encourage me in my
efforts to manifest
my vision. Still
farther down the
slope I came to the
trees that
represented all
those people who
know how to do
things I can't do
and whose skills
I'll need: the
lawyers, financial
planners, people who
write grants and do
fundraising,
designers, and
organizers. I asked
that we meet in
mutually beneficial
ways. I had reached
the bottom of the
hill. Now I looked
up at all the young
joshuas that were
sprouting among the
bigger ones. These
were all the people
who are seeking a
path like Radical
Joy for Hard Times
and will be joining
me on the journey. I
called out my wish
that we find one
another and travel
together.
When the ceremony
was complete, I
bowed to the trees,
then turned to leave
and make my way back
to my place on the
heights. But I heard
the trees say,
"Wait. Sit a while
with us." I returned
and sat down in
their midst.
"How does it feel to
sit with your
community?" the
trees asked.
I said, "It feels
wonderful."
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ONE BANK THAT WORKS
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Amid the grim
financial news about
plummeting stocks
and failed banks,
I've recently been
part of a bank that
actually works: a
phone bank. I've
been making calls on
behalf of Barack
Obama to voters here
in the swing state
of Pennsylvania.
Most of the calls my
fellow volunteers
and I make are
pretty routine, but
we also get to talk
with all kinds of
people who keep on
educating us about
the diversity and
individuality of
Americans.
"I'm 61 years old
and I registered to
vote for the first
time in my life.
We've got to elect
Obama president."
"I ain't votin'."
"May I ask why not?"
"I ain't votin' for
a black man, and I
ain't votin' for
another Bush."
Click.
"Who did you say is
running?"
"My name is Trebbe
Johnson, and I'm a
volunteer with the
Barack Obama
campaign here in
Susquehanna..."
"God bless you,
sweetheart!"
Our phone bank
consists of eight or
nine people working
out of the office of
a generous local
doctor after his
business hours. As
we work, we are
conscious of being
part of an enormous
group effort,
hundreds of
thousands of
volunteers working
together at the same
time to revive hope,
vision, idealism,
and maybe even a
renewed belief that
citizens can and
must participate in
the way our
government works.
This sense of shared
commitment is a
welcome and
refreshing antidote
to the communal
anxiety that keeps
me tossing and
turning when I wake
up at night worrying
about money.
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VIRTUAL
COMMUNITY
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 Build
your dream house on
an island, commute
to work on a pair of
great wings (which
you've also designed
and constructed
yourself), dance the
night away to music
written by your
friends, and meet
and converse with
people from hundreds
of nations around
the world, all of
whom are engaged,
like you, in
defining and
creating a new kind
of civilization.
This is the virtual
community of
Second Life, an
online world where
38,000 members (or
their on-screen
avatars), can be
found hanging out at
any given moment. I
heard about this
intriguing
destination, which
now has over
thirteen million
participants, and
had investigated it
for only a few
moments before I
decided to pick an
avatar, name her
(Oread), and sign
on. You meet people
according to your
interests and
ideals, conduct
transactions in a
currency known as
Linden dollars, hook
up with others for
community projects
and entertainment,
and build what you
need to make the
life you and your
neighbors want. By
the way, if you're
new to virtual
worlds, the program
even has guides who
can show you
around... just what
we need when shyly
entering a
mysterious new
frontier.
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BOOK AND WORKSHOP
NEWS
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 LAST
MINUTE NEWS! For
those in the
Cincinnati area,
here's a chance to
take one of my
Desire and the Quest
for the Beloved
workshops. It's
being organized by
Jennifer Wheatley
and will be a small
group of 5-7 people
meeting in a
secluded private
house. We'll explore
how real-life loves
(including the most
difficult ones) are
often essential to
helping you further
your relationship
with your inner
lover, identify the
persistent voices
and convictions that
invite you forth
into what fascinates
you-and those that
hold you back, and
define how to rely
more deeply and
regularly on that
enduring, wise,
gentle archetypal
presence that has
been known to
seekers for
millennia as the
Beloved. Contact
jh.wheatley@gmail.com.
Winter is coming.
Time for me to focus
on writing and
planning next year's
programs. I'll be
traveling to the
Sahara with Sabina
Wyss for our annual
Sahara Vision Quest
and will resume
leading workshops
and vision quests in
February with the
Lover and Beloved
workshop for couples
in Connecticut over
Valentine's Day
weekend.
The newsletter will
continue, and news
about next year's
schedule will appear
regularly in it.
Call 570 727 4272 or
email me if you have
questions or would
like to talk about
any of these
programs. |
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Contact Information
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phone: 570/727-4272
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