Stewarding the New Story: A Grand Synthesis of the New Story Stewards Program
What happens when chaos ensues? When structures crumble, the sky falls, or the earth shakes? I think the initial response is fight, flight, or freeze. But not long thereafter, we seek security. We go back to the basics, gain our sense of ground, and then look out to see, to understand, and determine how to proceed.
So too are the initial lessons of the New Story Community. Together, we sit, secure, and though somewhat unfamiliar with one another, we introduce ourselves. We feel the turmoil in the world in general, perhaps in our lives in particular, and know that it’s time to gather and find the way forward.
That is how we start. We meditate. We entrain. We open our hearts and do our best to bring our full selves into a circle of understanding. We then acknowledge, together, the chaos of our times. We discuss what that looks like today, why it hurts so deeply, and what has led to these circumstances.
We also give witness to the fact that what is happening now is not sustainable. It is crumbling under its own weight. It is dying. We are entering a liminal space - a sacred space - a space between what has been happening, and what will become the new normal.
This liminal space is both daunting and beautiful. And we, the New Story Stewards, by enrolling in this program, signing up for this community, engaging in this dialog, and being deliberate in this learning, have consciously committed ourselves in some way, large or small, to helping steward the world through this liminal space, and giving proper shape to the New Story that is to become. We are grounding ourselves in the lessons of the old so that we may help guide ourselves and others, individually and collectively, people and institutions, towards a greater good, a greater operating structure for all. We are the stewards of the New Story.
Witnessing the Old Story
We then move into witnessing. Witnessing the Old Story. Witnessing the house of cards we have built for ourselves. Witnessing how this old story is collapsing upon itself.
We also turn our attention to witness what would be a better way. When we begin with nature and its rhythms and cycles, those dominant backdrop forces in the universe, we can find ways to live as part of those rhythms rather than attempt to tame them. Why try to surf into a wave when you can ride it by going the right direction, with the wave, at the right time? So too, we ground ourselves enough to witness the cycles of nature, then witness what emerges as humans gather and work together in communities. These natural cycles and emerging forms of community are the basic frameworks for a future. These should be the dominant foundations, not subordinate features of a greater market economy or political system.
And so, we work to witness ourselves, our institutions, our natural cycles, our systems. By witnessing, we come to know, to understand. We can become more objective, less attached, and much more free.
Grieving Together
Yet, we must also grieve. Seeing all that we have come to know breaking, falling apart, dying, is heartbreaking. There is, however, growth in grief. We find a certain peace. A certain basic ground. A certain element of our own humanity that ties to something that is holy, sacred, eternal. Moreover, we all have that in common. And sharing our grief bonds us. We can collectively acknowledge the pain and suffering we are experiencing, and move on, together, with that pain, that suffering, that knowing, in common.
And that unity is actually a source of strength. That shared grief, that shared knowledge of what we witnessed together, and what we grieved together, that becomes a sacred bond that is irreplaceable. That shared knowing creates a commonality that gives us a foundation upon which to rebuild something better, stronger, more enduring. We can embrace the past, embrace the lessons of the Old Story and move into a New Story with a shared orientation of love, compassion, and concern for one another and our world at large.
Grounding Ourselves in the Divine
How, then, do we engage proactively? The short answer: connect to the divine as a ground, and let that guide all action. How do we connect? We quiet ourselves. We meditate. We immerse ourselves in compassion and pray for others, for the planet, for the world at large. We pray about and for the dying structures we witness and grieve. We offer prayers of gratitude to experience and amplify our connection with the radiant joy and love of pure being, and we find the relief of giving our burdens to the divine in order to allow ourselves to come back to this moment, here, now, free of anything other than the ever-present awareness that always just is.
Living from that space, and standing as that space, our steps align with those of Spirit. The more we release our own will, the more the light of Spirit can enter the world through us. That then helps drive our action, or at times, inaction. Nonviolence in the face of violence. Standing strong in the face of shame or humiliation. We never know the ripple-effect our quiet alignment with Spirit can or will have. Nor do we need to know. We only ask, pray, and commit ourselves to our practices that allow us to stay grounded in Spirit, and allow that life force that permeates all creation to come through us.
Giving Birth to the New Story
From there, we engage in what emerges for us as we walk with Spirit. As we move through liminal space and towards a New Story, we begin experiencing some clear shifts from the Old Story. We find a greater respect for women and feminine principles. We begin respecting the land as sacred. Time becomes a bit less linear and we return to the rhythms and patterns of nature, the seasons, and how Spirit brings events and circumstances into our lives. Traditional hierarchies fall and new non-hierarchical structures emerge as the central modes of organizing. Communities emerge to engage, support, and accomplish. All of this is in recognition of our shared Oneness. And that allows love and care for one another, and for the earth, to become a shared central spiritual principle.
And that, that, is the New Story. That is what we are giving birth to. Midwifing into being. And the more consciously and deliberately we can give ourselves to that process, to those actions, the more effective Stewards we can become.
If this reflection has been of value, you’re welcome to support the time and care that go into this work.
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