I received the unfortunate news yesterday morning that the father of a close friend has passed. He was not only the father of a close friend, but also someone for whom I have a great deal of respect. He had begun his own walk down the path of Druidry about 2 years ago. He and his wife ran a small, organic farm and he held a job with the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA). Every trip to the annual Common Ground Country Fair (a MOFGA event) would always be accompanied by a visit to the farm he and his wife lived from and my son would excitedly proclaim about the animals there.
This is a man for whom I have a deep and lasting respect that will extend long past his human existence. I feel guilty that this was a person whom I knew and had a relationship with and yet never took the time to fully develop that relationship. I was very excited to tell him about my experiences at Druid College and compare notes with his coursework through the AODA (Ancient Order of Druids in America). I always put it off, thinking that there would be time and now that time is run out.
I am left feeling a little empty and sad. Not for myself does such sadness linger but for those who were close to this amazing man: his wife and children, the farm he loved and the community he supported. Given the chance perhaps I will visit the grove where he practiced his spirituality and breath in the air there, where some part of his spirit still lingers and the connections he reflected through ritual of the relationship he forged with the Earth might be felt. It is there that I think I will most palpably feel his presence and the lack thereof simultaneously.
I wish you peace on your journey my friend and may whatever lay beyond the veil embrace you with loving arms, even if it is simply the earth itself, welcoming back your bones.
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