Unexpected Interweavings
Life is filled with unexpected interweavings, cycles and circles. I experienced some of these this past week on my JMMTT – Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training – at Isabella Freedman retreat center and farm. Nestled in the woods of Falls Village, CT, about 90 minutes from the nearest airport, the center boasts trails and a pond, several greenhouses, a large network of yards and structures for goats and chickens, and extensive fields for produce and fruit orchards. This is all in addition to its lovely facilities for meditation, yoga, resting indoors or out, and amazing food.
While it may seem odd to have a teacher training be in silence, it was. Except for the teachings, of course. Walks were in silence, meals were in silence, and classes as well. We received information in various sessions that were communicated in words, but our responses were internal, kept in silence. This may seem unusual or even bizarre in our world of continual stimulation, both visual and auditory, yet when we are quiet we can hear things we so often miss, that are so nourishing to our soul: the birds chirping in the new day so softly or the Canada geese honking it in with ebullience as they wing over the pond. The sound of a breeze or even a powerful wind, the feel and sound of grass and earth under your feet as you step to take in the sunshine. Even the sounds of forks and spoons clicking against plates as 40 people take time to enjoy a meal. How often is it that we pay simple attention to the food that has been lovingly prepared for us, tasting each bite? These are some of the gifts that we discover when we spend time in silence. We can appreciate the beauty and joy of God’s creation and of one another, and find our cups runneth over with the simple things.
Imagine, then, my surprise, when sitting at lunch midweek I looked across the table – with my glasses off, no less, because I often will allow my eyes to rest on retreat – and one word just leapt out of my mouth. “Kate!” It was soft, but definitely spoken. There, across the table from me, just the two of us sitting at a round table for eight or ten, was one of the people from Pushing the Envelope Farm who helped design and implement our original In the Gardens organic permaculture landscape six years ago. I wasn’t supposed to speak, but the words were already out of my mouth. Kate quietly and very briefly told me that Elan, with whom Kate worked at his family’s Pushing the Envelope Farm and had co-designed our garden, was to be at the center later that week. I was stunned.
It seems that people who care for the earth follow similar paths. Elan and Kate now work for Isabella Freedman as director and associate director, respectively, in their Teva program – an earth based program reaching out to teach students reverence for the natural world. It took us until Sunday lunch to have a conversation, because that was when our retreat was completed and we had come out of our silence.
I was so happy to see them, and I’m thrilled to know that they are working the earth and teaching future generations love and responsibility for our planet. They asked about the property and wanted to see pictures of its unfolding. They were touched to learn that in the years since we began this project, we have become a nonprofit helping to feed the hungry and teaching people to grow their own food, while simultaneously offering mindfulness practice to enhance well being on the individual and communal levels.
I had been in touch with Kate once or twice in the last few years. I learned from her that Elan had gone off to pursue a graduate degree in forest ecology, and that she was working in gardens both in Chicago and around the country. I knew that Elan later took a position in New York with a nature based camp, and that Kate was heading out West. But who knew we would find our way to the same location at the same time? It was a very sweet reunion. The only thing that would have made it sweeter would have been to work the earth with them a little bit before I left. Maybe next time.
Rabbi Robin Damsky
Founder and Executive Director of In the Gardens