One of the signature features of our particular lineage of contemplative Wisdom is that contemplation and action simply cannot be separated. A contemplative lifestyle does not mean simply letting the issues of our world pass beneath our notice; it means drawing on the resources of contemplative equanimity, timing, and inner body awareness to make a skillful response to the world (very different from kneejerk liberal progressive activism). Metis is what this quality is called, and it’s a pretty rare commodity, particularly in the heated political climate of our times. It involves both restraint—the ability to wait for exactly the right moment—and decisiveness, the ability to move with efficiency and right force when that moment arrives. When well done, it does not further polarize, but becomes itself a vehicle of third force that can radically shift the playing field.
As we turn toward 2025, I am pleased to write that I believe Wisdom Waypoints has entered this elusive sweet spot where our organization is finally able to deliver what I’ve long been yearning to see: the capacity to make a timely Wisdom response to crucial shock points facing our planet today.
I am grateful for your support which helped midwife this present moment. With your contributions, we were able to hire a Communications Director, Jenn Hughes, who immediately began to work wonders and boost our little organization into a whole new league. With her help we have been able to provide a regular cadence of communications keeping our network connected on learning and practice opportunities.
With the communications post now solidly in hand, our veteran web-tech manager Bob Sabath has finally been freed up to give himself to his real passion: designing online courses. And you’ve all seen the result of this work as well. We have been able to launch four full new online courses, plus a variety of shorter courses and seminars, all of which seem to be hitting the spot with a rapidly growing audience.
Our Wisdom board has matured into an entity that works seamlessly together, allowing us to begin to step into that breach. With this cohesion we were able to, within the space of two weeks in mid-July, turn two blogs I’d written on the issue of Joe Biden aging out of the presidency into an impromptu Wisdom Waypoints webinar on Conscious Aging that was attended by more than seven hundred people.
And whether the good work in our little corner of the Wisdom world had anything to do with the dramatic infusion of hope and unpredictability into the outcome of the US election, no one can deny that the playing field indeed shifted radically. May we continue to hold steady, particularly in the upcoming week, bringing metis, and ushering in third force in all corners of the world.
I am so proud and grateful for our Wisdom team, which has been able to respond so immediately and efficiently to those shock points that sometimes open up miraculously in this brilliant interplay of contemplative apathaeia and “for God so loved the world…”. That is Christian Wisdom at its best.
Help us keep the ball rolling, dear friends. We ask that you remember Wisdom Waypoints in your end of year giving and join with us in our plans for 2025. It is with your support that we are able to continue creating online courses, on-the-ground retreats, meditation gatherings, book circles, and webinars that keep this fresh new incarnational energy surging toward our beleaguered world.
With blessing and gratitude, Cynthia