Who Are the Elders and Wise Ones in Your Life?

This morning I led the fourth in a series of Sharing Our Stories sessions at my parish. I have a variety of exercises in my repertoire to help folks think about, record, and share their stories. Today I introduced the group to Spidering, also called Clustering, Mindmapping, Webbing, and a handful of other names. Often they're used as pre-writing exercises, but sometimes they can simply be the tool used to record.

We used the clusters to explore Elders or Wise Ones in our lives. Several members of the group were surprised at some of the memories the exercise triggered. Here is mine:

The emerging theme I saw, at least today, was one of people who supported and encouraged me, who nurtured my gifts and my interests. Many of them also taught me that hard work and fun are not incompatible. In a country that prides itself on its legacy of the Puritan Work Ethic, that is not an inconsiderable lesson.

Mom tells about her experience with the clustering here on her blog.

After everyone who wished to had shared, I passed out prayer cards that I'd made with cross images on the front and blank on the reverse. On the blank side we wrote the names of the elders we remembered and prayed for them as part of our closing prayers.  This is a practice I learned from my friend Trudy. I find it's a good way to tie our stories to the greater story and to bring a session to a close.

As I did today, I will sometimes use both "Elders" and "Wise Ones" because not everyone who fills that role in our lives is actually our elder in terms of age. Some are peers, and some are younger. Teachers come in many guises.

And don't forget that we are Elders and Wise Ones for others.

For the Elders and Wise Ones who have been in our lives, for those who are in our lives now, and for those yet to enter our lives, thanks be to God.