Dining With Elephants

There is an elephant in our dining room. He’s been there for almost a year, and oddly, very few people outside our circle of friends have even noticed him. He sits quietly next to the table, unnoticed by most, and dusted occasionally by others. He has a story, and I think it’s a mildly interesting one.

But first, a brief recap…

This week marks the one year anniversary of the now infamous Town Hall Meeting with Rev. Mary Manin Morrissey with the members of what was then the LEC World Refugees. There is no point in rehashing the events of that night. I am not sure that anybody really even cares any longer.

However, some of the events of the last year are worth a quick note.

The last year has been a very eventful one, starting pretty much on June 4^th, 2007, the night of the meeting. It was that night that “everything began to change.”

It was that night that I discovered that the original LEC Refugee group was not at all what it was purported to be. That all the work being done to find out the truth about the collapse of LEC was in fact a front for one persons deeply held animosity against Rev. Morrissey, New Thought and religion in general.

It was that night that I found out that the whole LEC issue was done. That the only thing truly left to do was to learn the lessons offered from it and move on with life.

So, move on is what we have done.

This month marks the one year birthday of "The Spiritual Misfits," the Spiritual Support group that was started by a core group of people, including a few ex-LECers, meeting in a back yard. This group was started with a "one year trial period" prevision, with the agreement that we, as a group, would assess our progress at the end of one year. In that time, the core group has changed. Some have left. More have joined. But the group has persevered. And we have grown.

I am pleased to pass on to you that the Spiritual Misfits are a robust and thriving group, with a solid base of members interested in exploring all aspects of our Spiritual Life.

I am even more pleased to report that the “one year trial period” is over, and I am as excited as ever about the Spiritual Misfits future. We will continue to meet every other week, just as we have, for the foreseeable future. Our group has shown remarkable growth, both in numbers and where it really counts: Internally.

This past year, I have been also blessed with the opportunity to speak at churches in the area, most notably at Unity of Corvallis, the home church of Rev. John Butler, who acted as moderator at the town hall meeting. I have gotten to know John much better in the months that followed our first meeting. And, while I cannot necessarily call him a good friend, he has become a great confident and a source of support.

When Diane and I “became transparent” with our personal lives during the fallout of the town hall meeting, Rev. Butler was the first person to contact me with support and encouragement.

In the last 12 months, Diane and I have experienced explosive personal growth. Our wedding ministry is as busy as ever. We are more active in the community than we ever have been. Our circle of friends is wider and more diverse than I can ever remember.

And our work as Santa and Mrs. Claus has been most rewarding as well, with the two of us being featured in the local and regional press this past year.

Least you think that all is sweetness and light, I would say that all good things come at a cost. And the costs for Diane and I have been high.

The Spiritual Misfits worked through a bitter split between its members and one of the founders, resulting in our needing to find a new meeting place on short notice. We suffered a second loss when one of our most active members, Robert Garland, was taken from this life last month.

The world of Santa Claus was rocked when the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, till now the premier Santa association, collapsed under incompetent leadership. A once thriving association that in its 12 years of existence had grown to over 1500 members was, in less than one year, laid waste by two people with an agenda of personal financial gain. (Sound familiar?)

Indeed, even our personal lives have had some controversy. Diane and I were very vocal in our community concerning a local business that chose to discriminate against some customers based on size and weight.

Through it all, through every event in every aspect of our lives, we have been blessed with the support of our friends and loved ones. Diane and I have not lacked, not even once, in assistance and support. This is priceless.

And, for the record, I have had the opportunity to talk to Mary more. While I do not agree with what has happened, that was years ago. The courts have had their say. It’s done.

May she go in peace.

May all involved in LEC and its aftermath go in peace.

Oh, yes. The elephant. He’s here next to me. Still looking shiny despite a little dust.

Early on in the Spiritual group, we were meeting outdoors and doing a lot of work with clay and Raku pottery. We had a kiln available if we paid for the gas to run it, and I bought several different glazes and 25lb blocks of clay.

One member, who I shall call Jim, is not an artistic sort, but rather enjoyed just watching us get our hands dirty. We had cut the clay into one pound blocks, about 2 inches by 2 inches by 3 inches each, and several of these were scattered on the table in front of him. One in particular caught his eye.

It kinda looked like an elephant.

So he said so.

Which opened him up for a bit of good natured teasing, being as how that Jim, self avowed non-artist, just happens to work at the zoo. Elephants? Zoo? Bring your work home are we?

Well, lo and behold, on closer inspection, there was a somewhat elephant-like look about it. Mostly head and trunk, but it was there!

So I, with a few finger pokes and a little reasonable force, pressed out an elephant shaped cup kinda thing. Long story short, we glazed it in copper with apple crackle highlights. The initials “J&R” are etched in what passes for its bottom.

It has sat on the top of the shelves overlooking our dining room ever since. Tomorrow night, June 4^th, Jim will get the elephant for a one year visit, till next June. And so forth.

Jim and I both look on our little creation as a metaphor for the last year. Both of us like the idea of people working together to create a reality where once there was only a suggestion.

May you find your elephant in the year and years ahead!

Yours in Friendship,

Rob Figley
3 June 2008