"Obsolescence..."

"And I know I shouldn't care,
if I'm out, or if I'm in. 
'Cause if I am dismissed,
Oh, You always take me in..."

I remember the first time I really thought about the concept of obsolescence.   And what it meant to be obsolete...a word that means: "no longer current, fresh, functional, or useful; outdated."   
    
Carol and I were walking through the basement of the publishing house -- a cavernous space filled with cases of books.  She explained that in quantifying the value of our product line, we had to take into consideration an "obsolescence factor."   

It was a term I wasn't familiar with as a school teacher and administrator.  I must have looked like a deer in the headlights.  She went on to explain:

Books that could no longer be sold -- either because of an outdated design, unincorporated editorial changes, or deteriorated physical condition -- were depreciated.  The decreased worth of those books, factored into the overall valuation of our inventory. 

No wonder, that as an educator, I didn't get it.   Thank goodness. 


At the time, it made me sad.  I loved those books.  I loved their dated covers, the smell of old paper, the crackle of dried bindings.  I wanted to take them all home and put them on shelves so they would feel loved.  The ideas in those books were timeless.  How could timeless ideas ever be outdated to the point of being devalued. 
    
Sara's song, "Obsolete," makes me smile today, but there was a time, not so long ago, when this was one of my biggest fears.

To think that there could come a day when I was not fresh, youthful, standing on the edge of a new idea.  It terrified me. 

I didn't mind having a faded "cover," antiquated fonts, or crackly paper...but please, oh, please don't let me become editorially passé.

Praying with Mary Baker Eddy's:

"Immortal Mind feeds the body
with supernal freshness and fairness,
supplying it with beautiful
images of thought"

I have discovered that in the kingdom of heaven there is no obsolescence.  We can never be outdated since God is the only Mind.  And this Mind is omni-present -- always in the present.  It is constantly refreshing the environment of consciousness with Its most current ideas, concepts, insights.  

In this atmosphere of Mind, there is, as Eddy assures us, "supernal freshness and fairness."   

But its not enough to claim that I my thoughts -- no matter how humanly mature I am -- are supernally fresh and fair, youthful and current.  I have to also look at the attending truth about "children." 

As part of her definition of Children. in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Eddy states:

"God's thoughts, not in embryo, but in maturity"

And elsewhere, in speaking of mental vitality, she writes:

"Man is God's reflection,
needing no cultivation,
but ever beautiful and complete."

So, here's the deal:  If I want to be able to claim my freedom from obsolescence -- and experience the attending spiritual freshness I long for -- I also have to accept my freedom from any false sense of personally cultivated inspiration, maturity of insight, or experiential hierarchy.   

Neither obsolescence for me or immaturity for my children, my neighbors, or you...I think this is the perfect recipe for universal and supernal freshness, fairness...and wisdom. 

But I think I'll keep the white hair.  I've waited for it since I was in my twenties, and I like it.

offered with love...

Kate

[photo credit: Samantha Hopple, Summer 2012]

"I am new..."

"Now I won't deny
The worst you could say about me
But I'm not defined
by the mistakes that I've made
because God says of me..
I am new..."

It's such a gift when someone sends me a song.  Maria passed "I Am New," by Jason Grey, along recently, and as soon as I heard it,  I just knew there would be a perfect story moment for it to compliment.   And like a baseball field in Iowa (for those of you who haven't seen Field of Dreams...sorry), if you sing the song in your heart, one day the experience to go with it will come.   And it did.

So here goes.

I was walking through the grocery store the other day and I woman I didn't really recognize, but one who obviously felt that she recognized and knew me...very well...came up and started giving me the "what for" about something I'd done that she was very upset about.

It started out quite nicely actually.  "Hi, oh my gosh, it's been so long.  How are you?"  I couldn't quite remember her name...or her face, for that matter...but she seemed so genuine in her friendliness that I responded that it was nice to see her too.  Hoping that continuing the conversation would jog my memory...which is usually quite good.

But, within a few moments she was taking me to task.  And as stood there listening to her very politely-delivered rebuke, reeling a bit as I searched for a loving way to respond, I started to actually take on her feelings about me.  

Well, yes, I certainly have made mistakes.  Perhaps my choices have had an impact on her sense of community well-being.  Maybe I haven't fully cared for her feelings about the matter.   How could I have been so thoughtless... Darkness, guilt, regret start to wrap their fingers around my joy...

Then she said, "And for that matter Caroline..." 

Oh my gosh!  I was not Caroline.

As soon as I knew that I was not Caroline, all the bad feelings that had started to sprout little tendrils and curl around my peace, strangling my feelings of wholeness and innocence...just withered...curled up and disappeared from my heart and my mind.

I looked at her and smiled.  "I think you have the wrong person, I am not Caroline," I told her.  Then I put my hand in hers and said..."and neither is she."  And then I gave her a hug and continued down towards the produce section.

Perhaps it's time we let our friends, colleagues, family members, neighbors...heck, ourselves...not be who we thought we/they were.  What would our relationships be like if we let one another be defined by who we are to God...the great I AM, not who we were in the past...the sad, regrettable, long-since-gone I was, she was, they were, you were....

I love Jason Grey's reminder that we all have the right to "be new"...to be defined by that fresh, innocent perspective on the "I AM" of our being that is always one with God.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

"Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature:
old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new."

I'm taking him at his word...the Word of God...impartially, universally, lovingly extended to each of us as a promise...our own emancipation proclamation. 

Just a little story from the pasta and cereal aisle of the grocery store.

as ever...with Love,
Kate
Kate Robertson, CS

"Waiting outside the lines..."

"Stuck in the same position,
you deserve so much more.
There's a whole world around us,
just waiting to be explored.
I'm Waiting, waiting,
just waiting outside the lines "

If you haven't heard of Grayson Chance yet, you will.  A pre-teen who sings like someone who knows what it means to no longer be "Waiting Outside the Lines," of any  limited expectations that may have been drawn for him by others. 

But this isn't a story about Grayson Chance, it's a story about a teacher who needed to learn...a lot from her little sister, and her young daughter.

I'd been a special needs teacher, I was Montessori trained, I taught kindergarten through high school, I taught at the college level, and I was a school administrator.  You'd have thought I knew alot about creativity, learning, and self-expression.  But when my daughter was in preschool, I was still, without giving it any thought, encouraging her to color inside the lines. 

I didn't even realize it.  I would sit next to her...at her little pastel pink table and chairs...and together we would choose our favorite Crayola colors, and carefully fill the spaces within the bold black outlined pictures of a puppy, a cupcake, or a princess with cornflower, peach, rose, and maize strokes of magic.  Rough paper, with just the right amount of tooth to hold the color, came alive.

She would watch as I would first, carefully re-outline the section I was working on with a firmer hand, and then carefully fill it in with a smoother, lighter touch.

I was actually quite proud of of my coloring technique.  I loved coloring books, crayons, and  actually the process of coloring.  Why would anyone want to do it any differently...it made such a pretty picture.

Then our daughter started taking art lessons from my sister, Lila.  Lila introduced her to art history, technique, interpretation, and exploration, through the lens of her right to "color outside the lines." 

Suddenly, my daughter was teaching me about the expansiveness of creative freedom.  She was inviting me to draw squiggles, turn Bambi's spots into flowers, put a rainbow in a picture that didn't have one already drawn in.

I remember a day when the kindergarten teacher down "graded" an alphabet worksheet that the children had completed because they had colored the big "Q" in the middle of the page, then decorated it with stars and moons that went waaayyy outside the lines.  My sweet sister marched into that classroom and defended our children's right to color a "Q" worksheet however the pleased.  She was fearless. 

Coloring outside the lines leads to that kind of boldness and courage. 

Try it.  Go out and buy a big fat coloring book filled with outlines of ponies, or firetrucks, or Disney princesses.  Then color it however you wish.  Even if your first impulse is to give Cinderella yellow hair...force yourself to try something bolder...lime green or fuschia.  Maybe even give her red rubber wellies to wear with her ballgown, instead of glass slippers.  Tell a different story.  You might just find yourself willing to not only color outside the lines, but walk outside the old outlines of how you've always thought of yourself.

Pearls with jeans, volunteering at a homeless shelter, mentoring a teen, making a career shift, skydiving, taking ballet lessons, or a cross country road trip - solo...trusting God more radically than ever before. 

I think this practice of letting go and trying new, God-inspired, Love-impelled, Principle-governed, Soul-informed ways of coloring our lives is what Mary Baker Eddy is referring to when she writes at the beginning of her Miscellaneous Writings, 1883 - 1896:

Humility is the stepping-stone to a higher recognition of Deity.  The mounting sense gathers fresh forms and strange fire from the ashes of dissolving self, and drops the world.  Meekness heightens immortal attributes only by removing the dust that dims them. "

It takes humility to try something new.  Dust only gathers on things that stay in the same spot and are never moved or used.  Humility and meekness allow us the freedom to look ridiculous if we try something that doesn't fit inside the lines of what others have always expected of us...or how we have always, and only, allowed ourselves be seen. 

I believe this echoes Eddy's statement:

"At present mortals progress slowly for fear of being thought ridiculous. They are slaves to fashion, pride, and sense. Sometime we shall learn how Spirit, the great architect, has created men and women in Science. We ought to weary of the fleeting and false and to cherish nothing which hinders our highest selfhood."

People are often more comfortable with things that never change...with furniture that is always in the same place, with the same brand of ketchup, the same traditions, routines, orders.  But that doesn't mean that you can't "stir it up" a bit. 

When you're ready to dip your toe into something refreshing and new, maybe we could meet at a coffeehouse with our coloring books and take that first step...64 colors are only the beginning...and be sure to wear your wellies with your ballgown...a tiara with your apron!!

I'll be waiting to walk outside the lines with you...

Thanks Lila...I love you.

your sister...and student,

Kate
Kate Robertson, CS

"Across the Universe..."

"Words are flowing out
Like endless rain into a paper cup,
They slither while they pass,
They slip away across the universe.
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy
Are drifting through my opened mind,
Possessing and caressing me.
- John Lennon

I thought today that I might post, with permission, the substance of an email I received from a dear friend who was a camper at Adventure Unlimited for a number years before becoming a C.I.T. (Counselor-in-Training) last summer, Cassidy.  Cassidy is…well, Cassidy!  There is no one and nothing like her in my experience.  She is an original.  She loves…period.

Although she has yet to graduate from high school, I never find myself thinking of Cassidy in terms of being a teenager, a child, or woman…I think of Cassidy as my friend, a trusted colleague, a wonderful co-conspirator, someone whose thoughts I value.  Cassidy has taught me much about personal integrity…being true to oneself with unflinching courage.  She is creative, kind, refreshing, quirky, strong, flexible, deep, funny, inspiring, and beautiful.  I wouldn't mind being like Cassidy when I grow up...someone authentic and true to who God has made me to be.

Here are the words that flowed out from her heart "like rain into a paper cup" recently.  She has graciously…and generously…given me permission to post it here.  I think her thoughts stand alone,  so I will copy them below without comment:

"I was reading Eat, Pray, Love [Elizabeth Gilbert] like it was my only breathing apparatus in the vacuum of what was my Christmas vacation. It is so refreshing to read or hear about spirituality and the ideas, dwellings and experiences of those who have nothing to do with Christian Science.

This author writes volumes on meditation and fervent prayer. Meditation is a form of quieting the self and not exuding anything but your ability to stick a funnel in your forehead and say to God 'I'm here, You're here too', and listen and let it come to you.

I believe that Cap Andrews (the founder of Adventure Unlimited) had these meditations in that submarine, and what better place to find quiet than three miles underwater?  I believe that Christian Science is a grand mixture of the best parts of all religions. Except maybe the Davidians and other radical rituals like cannibalism and the like.

Prayer is always healing. Self-realization -- at all times, at every time knowing who and where you are in the huge fabric of this quilt we all make up…down to the stitches inside you -- is essential.

I feel so oriented now, Kate. I want to make Christian Science, Prayer, so accessible and natural that falling into the absolute mantra of perfection is the all, the only…Our timekeeper, our mentor, our friend, our lover, our teacher, our bridges our mountains!

To Love, to See Completeness, to Know Completeness, to Heal. I am in Love with this concept! I am in Love with Love! Hooray! YES!

Thank you!
I Love You!!
Cassidy"

Thanks Cassidy…I love you too…
Kate