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, still unrecognized by most, which are now taking place in our societies and in our planet.

And here’s another take on what I think we need to be doing. It comes from a blog written by Vancouver writer Donaleen Saul.

[What we need to do is] the hard inner work of thinking and feeling for ourselves, releasing what no longer serves us, discovering what can never be destroyed, and allowing the Eternal - I would also call it Love - to shape our lives.

This is a deep and beautiful statement, and I have taken it as a watchword for myself in this challenging time.

And here’s another such statement, this one from the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas, Logion (saying) 5: “Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed; for there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed.” The challenge there is to know—not just observe, or think about or glance at, but know—what is in front of our face, and then to act from what we know, trusting the promise that what was at one time hidden from us will by our knowing and our actions be revealed to us and to others.

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 - Jennifer Echols; the painting - Jeff Grayston