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FRIENDS
…
… some already known; some yet to be known …
Welcome to my website, and to this contemporary way of being
in touch with each other. I’ve set it up because with
the ending of my fulltime teaching at Simon Fraser University,
I needed another way to be easily contacted. I also wanted
to pull together all my interests in one place so that I myself
could see the whole picture, and keep things in balance to
the best of my ability.
Looking back on my own life, I see some clearly discernible
stages: child, student, priest and householder: first adulthood.
Then came second adulthood, teaching at SFU. These were years
of joy and sorrow, of seeking and finding, of the discovery
and rediscovery of many new connections among faith, eros
and mortality.
Now I find myself in third adulthood, called by some retirement--a
word much in need of redefinition! Certainly, at least for
those in good health, its touchstone is freedom. Every transition
between stages was marked by an awakening of some kind; and
in this present transition I am trying to pay attention to
what new awakening the universe is asking of me. In a very
basic sense I think of myself as a pilgrim, ready to continue
my journey, and to learn as I go.
A couple of years ago I wrote a little song which expresses
my feeling about this.
I am here
In the heart of God.
I walk the path
The saints have trod.
As I step forth,
Mercy takes my hand,
And leads me to
The Promised Land.
And
speaking of my journey, I thank a friend of mine for the suggestion
that I place the image of the painting below on my website.
She knew how important the painting is to me, as a kind of
icon of my own soul, as a longtime companion on my journey,
and as a work of art which calls me daily to authentic living.
Recently, the painting was featured in the art column of the
ecumenical American journal Christian Century (in
the issue of March 9, 2010). However, the caption which my
friend Lois Huey-Heck (a regular contributor to the art feature)
and I wrote together was substantially shortened. Here is
what Lois and I originally wrote.
This is a large semi-abstract portrait which states
little but implies much. It sits at the threshold
between the didactic/representative and the interpretive/imagined
and felt. Since 1972, it has been an icon – a gateway
to God – for its owner, Don Grayston. He recalls an
instant recognition on first seeing The Holy Man--that
he simply had to buy it. Decades later, it continues to offer
him truth and insight. As with all icons, the image-viewer
dialogue is very personal. Revelation is rarely gained in
a passing glance; rather it comes from time spent in prayerful
communion … from imaginatio divina.
In the other pages of this website you can read about some
of my interests and activities (listed in the index on the
left). Something that links them all is my conviction that
we need to seek a better balance between individuality and
community, and that the activities to which we give our time
and energy must contribute to that.
This
is especially important in this time of the Great Turning,
a phrase which comes from eco-philosopher Joanna Macy, and
refers to the massive changes, mostly unrecognized, which
are now taking place in our societies and in our planet.
Whether
or not we are ever in contact, I wish you well. My hope for
you, above all, is that you are in possession of your own
soul and that you are moving forward on your own journey of
heart and spirit.
CONTACT
INFORMATION
Mailing address: Box 19524, Centrepoint Mall,
Vancouver, BC, V5T 4E7
Telephone:
604.709.0883
Email: donald_grayston@sfu.ca
PHOTO
CREDITS: my portrait - Greg Ehlers, SFU; the painting - Jeff
Grayston
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