Setting out from Los Angeles once more, we drove all night and, after a brief rest, met up with Lisa Guerrero-Zimmerman for breakfast in Phoenix. We first met Lisa back at the beginning of our journey in Dornach last February. In Dornach, Lisa was one of the first to rise every morning, preparing the coffee, fruit, baked goods in our Begegnungszentrum housing, making sure everyone else was cared for. This conversation today was catching up and deepening our connection with an old friend who holds a special place in our hearts.
Lisa first encountered anthroposophy when she enrolled her children in a Waldorf charter school. She became a friend of Harvey Bornfield, a beloved friend of so many in the online community who passed away a few years past, and a study group participant with him and two friends from India looking at Occult Science. The questions Lisa carries unfolded over the course of our conversation, and they are considerations of tremendous depth and significance. Her interest lies in healing and writing. We discussed individual striving and initiative. How do we find our way fully to what we love to do, even when there is the ever-present force that would have us believe we are too old to begin, that we are too late to take our new initiative, to meet our heart’s true task? Can we dare to be seen in our vulnerability, to share ourselves fully with the world? Where are we in our dying and becoming?
In our time together, we discussed the relationship between the living and dead. How does one strengthen our connections to those on the other side of the threshold? How do we support them in our own beings? Rudolf Steiner shared the picture that three days after someone dies, she begins a backward journey through her life as well as when a youth passes away that the unused life forces are offered up to the angelic realm. During this time in what is known as Kama Loca, one experiences oneself from the perspective of the other. For example, one experiences the pain inflicted on another or the joy one has shared. This journey proceeds in triple time: three years of earthly life are revisited in one year after death.
Lisa’s final question for our journey forward: “How can we heal and encourage others while working on our individual needs, building a stronger, more supportive community. Helping the individual as a whole, as we come together to form greater whole forces in our communities?” Our question is can the community join in and support people who are seeking questions in this work and help shepherd them to study groups and gatherings in subjects where they themselves have expressed an interest? We are carrying with us the importance of finding others who are striving in their work, welcoming friends who show an interest, creating space for a true and deep encounter. Today was a beautiful day of meetings! We carry each person forward with us as we journey onward. We did not want to leave our dear friend, and we have great trust that we shall seek to meet again soon.
