Holding the Gold

2011-10-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

Thedifference between a teacher and a mentor is that a mentor is interested in oursoul.

About20 years ago I met two old men who profoundly impacted my life. One of the men died within a few yearsand left a great hole in my life. The other man is still alive, though quite elderly. He lives a distance away and there aretimes when I wish we could just sit and talk about what it means to live a fullhuman life.

Meetingthe old men altered my life and my understanding of it. They neither forced a belief system onme, nor a way of life. They didn’tjudge me. They simply allowed me to explore with them the complexity of being ahuman being. In the course of thisexploration, I began to understand what life is and what my role in it is. By this time, one of the old men haddied and I could only communicate with the other by letters.

Robertexplained to me that I had been unable to claim my own inner wealth, my gold,and see who I truly was and am. His responsibility was to hold that gold for me till such time as Icould claim it for myself, to reflect back to me his vision of my worth till Icould see it for myself. Hisresponsibility to me was to gladly give up the gold in celebration. Robert told me how he’d had a teacher,a very famous man, who’d refused to give up the gold and set Robert free intohis own life. Robert left and meta mentor who could do this. When he told me the about the concept of “holding the gold for someone,”he added that it was now my responsibility to do the same thing for others.

Ifind I am most free and happy when I can assume that responsibility, that it’sprofoundly more important to me than attempts at self-glory. This attempt to fulfill myresponsibility toward these old men is also the motivating force behind mywriting, is actually the motivating force behind all that I do. For each reader who has fatefullystumbled on my writing, I hope to give that reader a sense someone is holdingthe gold for him/her, that someone believes in his/her ability to understandwhat life is and what his/her role in it is. I’m willing to hold that gold till it’s joyfully claimed.

Imay stumble in trying to express this responsibility, and even fall short ofthe necessary skill with words, but all I can do is try.

Nature, Craft, & Soul

Holding the Gold