Over the course of a week, they moved a 500-pound stone up a steep hill at the Zen community that was hosting their retreat, to mark the grave of a revered teacher who had recently died. The retreatants were firefighters, and as part of their healing week together, they worked, day after day, with ropes and planks, muscles and ingenuity, to move that heavy stone up the steep rocky incline.
Their time together provided an opportunity to share the cost of spending so much time away from family and witnessing so much loss, a cost that includes the pain of divorce and suicide in their community.
As firefighters face the flames that are burning America and Europe right now, it feels timely to share Lee Klinger Lesser’s inspiring article “Seeds of Resilience/Forged in the Fire of Community” that appears in the current issue of Kosmos Journal.
“Through an extraordinary partnership of Zen practitioners and wildland firefighters, this essay explores how mindfulness, grief, and shared purpose cultivate the resilience needed to heal and face a daunting task. Sometimes our greatest strength is discovered in working together with shared focus and determination – and also with laughter and song.”
Here is a link to the Kosmos Journal piece:
Thank you Michael for this. I a forwarding it to my friend who is very involved with wellness for first responders. I know he will appreciate all of it!
Wonderful article! Thanks for sharing, Michael.
– Paul