This episode of Seedlings features Eleanor Winsor from Scottsville, VA. Eleanor dove into the Wisdom path after reading The Wisdom Jesus in 2009. She felt she had found her home.
After finishing all of Cynthia’s other books, she attended a Wisdom School at Episcopal House of Prayer: “I appreciated the mix of intellectual, heart, and body. With the Wisdom Way I felt I had found a comprehensive, inclusive path that kept opening me to new appreciations of the world around me and helped me let go of my strong desire to analyze and judge everything and everyone.”
She is holding the post in her area by helping to support “efforts of others to birth an idea, working to establish new groups, listening to others and making suggestions. In my local community I have set up two weekly interdenominational centering prayer groups and two groups which are studying The Wisdom Jesus. When Nan Delach and I wanted to meet regularly with other Wisdom students we began a group called Wisdom: Here-Now that meets at Richmond Hill, Richmond, VA. every other month. It has morphed from a discussion group to an opportunity for all of us to take turns holding the post and experimenting with ways to share our Wisdom work with each other. This safe environment enables us to experiment before we take out work into our communities. Richmond Hill and I are exploring how we can incorporate the Wisdom School work into more of their activities so that we reach new audiences. I look for places where there is a void, where people have not been exposed to the Wisdom traditions and set up opportunities for them to grow and share together. They are small, local efforts that match my energy level and community.”
Of the many threads and aspects of the Wisdom tradition Eleanor listens deeply to know which piece she is meant to be following at any given time. What she appreciates most and what has personally supported her daily life in the world is the groundedness and congruency she finds. Kenosis, the practice of self-emptying has been particularly helpful: “Emptying, be it my cultural background, my prejudices, my loves, my resources. When I truly let go it seems to result in the most extraordinary consequences. As I grow older I love the richness of my comprehension that less really is so much more.”
We thank Eleanor for her heartful sharing and encourage her in her Wisdom work in VA, and indeed as it reverberates through many lives.
More About Eleanor Winsor
Email: ewwinsor@embarqmail.com
Phone: 434-286-4730