Editor’ s Notes
All That Matters by Fr. Richard Bayuk, c. pp. s., Editor
In this issue, there is some looking back as we remember with gratitude the life and service of one of our members, Fr. Al Herber. There is also much looking forward in the articles that reflect on the recent gathering of our two American provinces, and the decisions that resulted. And yet we live in the present. The land of hope or a place of fear, perhaps.
During the funeral Mass this week for Fr. Herber we heard the familiar words,“ Life is changed, not ended.” That is always a reminder to me of the call to hold firm in faith in the midst of loss and saying goodbye to something or someone— and having gratitude for the change which leads us forward, even if sometimes painfully.
According to the author Margaret Wheatley, in the Buddhist tradition, there is an understanding that fear and hope arise from looking backward or forward, and the present moment is the only place where one can see clearly, unclouded by either hope or fear. She writes:“ In reflecting on the reality of fear and hope, it takes enormous effort and discipline to keep calling ourselves back to the present moment, especially when we see that decisions being made in the present are harming people or will have disastrous impacts in the future. Yet only in the present moment, free from hope and fear, do we receive the gifts of clarity and resolve. This clarity reveals‘ right action’— those actions that feel genuinely appropriate in this moment without any concern about whether they will succeed or not …. It isn’ t outcomes that matter. it’ s people, our relationships, that give meaning to our struggles. If we free ourselves from hope and fear, from having to succeed, we discover that it becomes easier to love. We stop scapegoating, we stop blaming, and we stop being disappointed in each other. We realize that we truly are in this together, and that’ s all that matters.”
Ten years ago, as our province was then already grappling with the challenge and promise of change moving into the future, I wrote,“ This time of discernment and decision places before us our diminishment, our enthusiasm, our hope, our letting go and hanging on, our opportunities, and our care for each other and God’ s people.” This is still true today.
One of my favorite poets, Kathleen Norris, describes giving birth as“ beginning the long good-bye.” Bringing someone or something new to life is often a painful process, and involves“ saying good-bye.” To give birth to anything, to create something new, whether that be a child, an idea, a dream, or a vision for the present and future, is to prepare to let go. And to remember that being together in this is all that matters. �
2 • The New Wine Press • November 2017