December 12, 2014 - First Posting from Cotacachi, Ecuador

It has been months in planning, this move to Ecuador! Dennis retired, and we decided that we wanted Life to be an adventure in our "advanced age". We looked at several places that we thought we could afford, and have an adventure, and - though we had never been here - we decided for various reasons on Cotacachi, Ecuador. [We had first thought of Cuenca, but a few bloggers' remarks convinced us that we didn't want to live in a city of over 350, 000 people which was also becoming more and more polluted.] We connected online with many people who had moved to Cotacachi, and we liked what was being said. Of course, we Googled and read everything we could find.

We decided to keep our wonderful little house in Silver City and rent it out. [Silver City is a funky, fun, high-desert place to live in the far SW corner of New Mexico. If we decide to return to the States, we would be happy to live in SIlver City; we loved our three years there.] We decided to sell everything - and we did, except for a few things we put in a small storage unit - which will cost us $360 a year - something I said I would never do, it being (to my cynical mind) such a crass consumerist materialistic thing to do (!) done by millions of people:  stuff, stuff, stuff and more stuff! Maybe I'll start a storage unit business ..... like products for old people and booze, it is lucrative and will have a big clientele for a long time to come barring a complete economic/political collapse!

Being an accomplished procrastinator, Dennis and I were taking the last few things to storage an hour before we were to leave! I have learned to "go with the flow" on this:  I really do work better under pressure! Much of the process was fun; we had Estate sales and plied people with wine and other drink, and we sold things on the street for a few days and chatted with people. Now lots of people have our stuff, and there are many houses of our friends with things that will remind them of us, and us of our former possessions if/when we visit them!

Have you ever heard of an apostille? It's a protocol that authenticates documents if you need them for other countries ..... though of course Canada does not participate in the Protocol, so I couldn't get my birth certificate apostilled. [That may cause some problems.] We had to get documents verifying our monthly income, and we had to have police reports from the NM State Police, and our marriage licence (which is not recognized in Catholic Ecuador, but which they will accept as proof of our domestic partnership which, laudably, Ecuador has) affirming that we were not criminals. Everything has to be notarized. One gets the records from the appropriate bureaucrats; then sends them to the Secretary of State from which they originated, who "apostilles" them. THEN you have to send them to the Ecuadorian consulate, and they issue appropriate documents authenticating the apostilled documents .... and of course mucho dinero changes hands at every level!! We finally got the last needed things on Dec 2, and we decided to leave on Dec 9. I won't go on ..... but it worked, and we bought our Business Class One-Way tickets [Yippee; first time we have ever done that and it was great!] and after 4 nights of little sleep worrying about what could go wrong with the weight of bags, immigration officials, etc., we sailed through everything and our driver brought us to our lovely house in the San Miguel area of Cotacachi. A lesson relearned about Worrying accomplishing nothing! [The only point of Worry is to get one to ponder what alternatives there might be if Plan A fails.] So: enough of this. WE ARE HERE! We have rented a wonderful house - BIG! - for a year. Now to live in a new setting, learning a new language - I can manage so-so with the basics, but I intend to get much better!

Here are some pictures:  This is our view from our front gallery [the Quebec word for a porch when I was a boy]. Cotacachi is right on the equator, so flowers and vegetables etc grow all year round. To the right is Mt. Imbabura, an extinct [so I'm told] volcano to the southeast. The Cotacachi volcano is to the northwest.

Here's our house from the front:

And here's the fountain in our back yard. The back yard, planted with fruit trees, is big enough for Queen Elizabeth to have a Tea for 500 people!

Here's Dennis in the kitchen ... all marble, as are the bathrooms, which have huge showers and the Master Bath a tub big enough to do laps in!

Our "neighbours" out the windows are Maria's cows! Rather thin, but they smell great as they are fed on grass!

So: more later. We live in a gated community. Our mentors, Patrice and Dave,who used to live in this house until they built their own, have been terrific, getting us acclimatized, where to find things, etc.

We are looking forward to our year in this wonderful new place, and once we get our Permanent Resident Visa (6-8 weeks), we will begin to travel, exploring Ecuador and other South American and Central American countries ..... though we may take 10 days of loafing on Santorini in May.

Cheers! Dennis is roasting chicken with fresh carrots and onions, and we are imbibing Chilean white wine ..... just fine, as we have uneducated and unsophisticated tastes, thankfully in line with our beer-budget level!

081314 - Myth, Metaphor, and Atomism

Here's Pooh:

It seems fairly clear that the only time we can actually live is "today". The past is just that; the future will come in some form. Both may have an influence on how we live the Present. But "Today" is and should be our Favourite!

I've been thinking about the word "spiritual" ... as in this usage:

I don't like to use the word "spiritual" because it always seems to imply that our material nature is extraneous ... and inferior to the "spiritual". We talk about the "flesh" being discarded, and the "spirit" being eternal .... though to me "eternal" is a dubious concept, especially in the ways people conceive of it!

I've been seeking for another word to describe "us". For the moment (everything can change, and indeed both must and should!) I've settled on "atomistic". I would rephrase the above to say simply, We are Atomistic, having an Experience. "Being Human" is an Atomistic Experience.

It is my belief that every person, every culture, every society, is a Mythmaker ..... by which I mean, we develop stories which help us to explain how we understand ourselves and our experiences. I call Myths "Truth Stories". I don't think that some myths are intrinsically better than others (though some will speak to us individually more powerfully than others); all of them are someone's attempt to comprehend, or to seek meaning. As well, I think that all myths are, to some extent, what we would call propaganda. They are, in part, crafted to justify any group's beliefs, biases, prejudices, hopes, vision, etc. For example:  Jewish scripture claims that God gave them the "Promised Land". Christian scripture claims that Jesus is God. Both claims, deriving from the deliberate shaping/redacting/editing  of "scripture" by both communities, tries to establish their assumed rights or power or superiority. 

Figures in Myths are always metaphors ..... they stand for "large" meanings. "God" is a metaphor. Metaphors are very useful; they allow us to expand ideas or concepts beyond the limitations of our intellectual abilities, primarily by pointing us beyond our limitations and inviting to "see" into Mystery.

So:  what do I think "God" is, since I no longer feel confined by the common intellectual or institutional "explanations"/definitions? I can only try, with my limited human intellect:

"God" is the metaphor for Emergence.

Emergence simply happens. "Behind" Emergence is, perhaps, a Mystery. It does not help us to try to "box in" that Mystery.

Ethics develop from our human reflection on Emergence. As part of this process, we choose. This is the profound gift of human essence. We create "God" .... because this is the way that the Mystery "works". I accept no philosophy, theology, which denigrates the sublime beauty and creativity of being Human. Ponder this!

Well, Dennis and I are in Pueblo CO, on our way to Rapid City SD, to visit a friend and see Mt. Rushmore (and for me, even better, the Indian Chief carvings!). Then we head to Wisconsin. It was 91F when we arrived in Pueblo ... one never knows!

I wish you an awareness of your Emergence!

073114 - The Way of Subtraction

God is not attained by a process of addition to anything in the soul,

but by a process of subtraction. 

~ Meister Eckhart

Well, it was towards the end of 2013 that I first read this quote from Meister Eckhart. (Eckhart von Hochheim O.P. (c. 1260 – c. 1328; a German theologian, philosopher and mystic, born near Gotha, in the Landgraviate of Thuringia in the Holy Roman Empire.) Little did I know how, across those 700 and more years, he would change and enlarge my Life! 

I followed his "advice"; I began to practice a "spirituality" of a "process of subtraction". [I use the term "spiritual"; but I am not a dualist; I believe that who we are as incarnated/enfleshed beings is a unity.] I decided not to be licensed to officiate as a priest, after having done so in the parish for the previous year in SIlver City. I began to search my mind, my inner life, and to examine all of the concepts, ideas, beliefs. I examined "God", worship, church, liturgy, language, core principles of living, ethics, "religion", and many other things. 

It was, and still is, an exciting and very liberating time.

Obviously I can't deal with all aspects here. But in essence what happened was that I was calmly, gently, catapulted into a profoundly different universe of Being. When the shift happened, I recognized that I had been on this journey for a long time. I also knew where I was .... it was familiar, someplace I recognized. It was a quiet "aha" moment. I remember smiling; I "felt" peace and openness flow around me. To invoke an image attributed to the Christian apostle Paul, it felt as if the "glass darkly" had absorbed light and I was living in a different Reality. Presumptuous as it may sound, it seems to me that I had been seeking unity with all Being and that, once I "subtracted", it was possible to be integrated.

For me, the word "God" is a metaphor. By "metaphor", I mean a pointer towards an Eternal Reality, a profound Mystery, eternally to be entered into. Most mystics of all paths say something like, "Once you have said everything you can say about God, you haven't even begun". Alas, being human, we can only talk about "God" in human terms. It is impossible not to present "God" in some version of our own image ... and in doing so we create God to meet our own needs .... and endow God with our own foibles. My Journey seems to have pushed me on the path towards being freed from this understanding.

Well. Dennis and I had a great 3-week trip around California. We're home, getting rid of things in preparation for moving to Ecuador. Seeing doctors, etc. August 13 we head out for a 7 week trip out to the East coast and back, seeing family and friends. Slowly our house is beginning to look like we are camping out! We've rented our house in Cotacachi. Here it is:

The birds here in NM at Casa Uccello are wonderful ... and they all came back after we had "abandoned" feeding them for a month! Ecuador is one of the premier birding sites in the World (1600 species), and boy am I looking forward to seeing them!

Here's some "wisdom" I want to live by:

Cheers!

From Cambria CA - July 16, 2014

One doesn't have much time to ponder profound things while having fun traveling, visiting with delightful friends, drinking good Black Russians and wines, and eating great food! Anyway, our little PriusC is zipping nicely along, and we are basically relaxing.

The exciting thing is that Dennis and I have been accepted as the next tenants of the house in Cotacachi, Ecuador. We've sent the security deposit, and the house has been removed from the internet. Dennis and I are both Cancers, so a place to be at "home" is important .... doesn't matter if it's a shack or a mansion. At least we know that we can fly to Quito, get to Cotacachi, and get a taxi to take us to our house! Then we will get out our Waterford glasses for our Black Russians/Gin & Tonic, put a couple of Jan Fell's superb bird miniatures out (including the lovely Ecuadorian Rufous Crested Coquette [hummer] she painted for us as a going-away/retirement gift), get out the olive oil for a salad, and sit and toast our Adventure! Maybe build a little fire in one of the two in the house, and contemplate the two volcanoes which will be part of our view. What fun!

We are off to Davis CA tomorrow to see an old friend of 47 years; I want to stop in Big Sur to see the Camaldolese monastery (trust monks to build in a fabulous location!).

It seems to me that the whole World is in a state of decline and disintegration. [Democracy Today says this morning that Iraq has already disuntegrated; not surprised; I thought that would happen when George Bush started this debacle 11 years ago.] I suspect that this will be the case for a few decades, and that we had better adjust to it. Meanwhile, of course, doing our best to create kindness and friendship around us as we can. Seems to me like an appropriate thing for someone my age to be about. It's up to the Millenials to try and shape their World.  One of "them" said recently that we Boomers really screwed it up, buying into the worship of Mammon (they didn't use that term), making it all about money and possessions, etc. I tend to agree; why we did that I have to ponder. In part I think it has to do with the fact that faith/religion lost it's soul and became just a club to curry to peoples' prejudices, fears, etc. (At the moment I'm just being cranky; but I will settle down to do more reading on this whole thing.)

Do you like to listen to music that you have stored on your iPad or whatever? Dennis and I do as we set out a picnic on some quiet country road. Answer?:  consider purchasing the BOSE Soundlink mini ! (No, I don't get a commission.) The sound, like all BOSE things, is superb! And it's all wireless .... so the country air can be filled with glorious Beethoven, no plugs needed, and the clink of wineglasses!

Cheers!

Lulu's !! And Ecuador.

Lulu's has been here in Palm Springs for awhile, but we have been there only once, with friends. It is a "California Bistro". And it has a "Bar Menu". It's FANTASTIC! Very reasonable prices, and a fun setting. Lunch was "lightly friend" oysters ($7.99) and tonight ... yes, we went back! ... was "lightly friend calamari ($7.99). I really get so sick of American restaurants that pile your plate with too much food; this is so much more sensible. All drinks are $5.00 or so, all day! Well, enough of the debauchery of the Dennis Much Memorial Retirement Tour! Dennis is loving it; I can't tell you how many times he has said to me how wonderful it is to know that he doesn't have to go back to work!

I wrote to a much admired and beloved friend today, and I said that in my blogs I was going to try to be irenic, honest, and amusing. He wrote back and said, yes, honest and amusing .... but that he doubted I would manage "irenic" since Republicans and religious fundamentalists pissed me off toomuch! I got his message .... so I will try to pay attention! Isn't it great to have friends who know you well and can tweak you with love!

Dennis and I are planning to move to Ecuador to live in December. We've been looking for a place to rent, and I think we have found it. Here's a picture:

It's in Cotacachi (not too far from Quito); 2500 sq. ft; 1 acre; 3 bedrooms, 2 bath; partly furnished; 5 min by bus or 15 minute walk to town; close to Mindo, the premier birding site (Yippee! and Ecuador and surrounding area has 1600 species of birds):  around $550 a month. We are negotiating with the (American) owners. Hope it works!

So, we are munching on home-made chocolate truffles (just one each!) and drinking cold white wine for dessert. It was 108F today, but is cooling down, and we will soon be in the pool cooling down as well. 

Both of us no longer attend "worship" of any sort. Much of "religion" is community; of course we have many friends from "church" who are part of our supportive community. But we didn't go to church primary for "community. Gayfolk are our primary community, as well as supportive "straight" allies, friends and family. We "went to church" seeking support for the process of transformation which we believe to be at the heart of "spiritual seeking" ... not found most of the time in "church-going", alas. Of course, in every Christian parish in which we have worshipped, we have found that core (and I was a parish priest for 25 years) who share the goal of seeking what the Christian (And other) faith calls the "unitive way", and they remain part of our valued family. Of course, there are many who are not Christian, or who have no institutional  connection. Our intent, now, is to live out of a sense of that union with All Being, and we certainly accept that Love is one of the primary paths for such a Life. And that a deep understanding of Jesus and the Gospel is a "sure foundation" for a life of Love ..... though we do not see that in the way that a great deal of American popular Christianity is portrayed and lived.

How terrific is the Internet! We are in Palm Springs listening to Michael Feinstein and his programme on WQXR in New York City streamed live to us. I love it!

Time for the evening swim, and watching the stars emerge in the darkening sky. There is so much for which to be grateful and in which to be delighted!

One Day After my 68th Birthday

Well. I begin the living of my 69th year of Life in this incarnate, "mortal" form! I am now married, to Dennis, my partner of nearly ten years. I've been retired for 6 years, having spent 41 years as a priest in the Episcopal Church. From the age of 21 until 35, I was a monk of the Episcopal Order of the Holy Cross - a religious order which, like most religious orders (certainly in the Episcopal Church) was /is 99% Gay. More on that in the future of course! Dennis retired on June 20th, 2014. He gets his Social Security  this month ..... and I get spousal benefits:  keep this in mind, you same sex folks who have recently married and are of the appropriate age! We are presently at the beginning of a "farewell" tour for 4 months in our lovely little Prius C (getting an average of 55 mpg), visiting friends and family. We are divesting ourselves of all our present possessions, getting our house in Silver City NM ready to rent, and in early December we are moving to Ecuador. Dennis and I decided that, in "retirement", we wanted Life to be an Adventure!

On April 3, 2014, I formally renounced my orders in the Episcopal Church. More on THAT later too!

I read this this morning:  “The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off!” Good ole Gloria Steinem! I don't, however, feel pissed off in having "discovered" in my advanced age  the "truth" that for the most part institutionalized "religion" is "failed" religion. Meaning - having spent 45 years pondering this business - that most religions began as an attempt to assist human beings to experience their unity with all Existence and so be liberated to live as deeply, joyously, profoundly, fully, as possible. They all developed "paths" i.e., religions, to guide people towards the Goal, which goes by many different names. My view is that they all have essentially failed ..... collapsing into organizations which spend most of their resources on self-perpetuation, providing mostly ways for people to feel good about themselves and to denigrate other paths and their followers. My sense is that this is now pervasive throughout the World ... and the human community is in a pretty sad state. The truth pisses me off ... but it also has set me free:  free to be grateful for the vision of the unity off all things, and to try to live out of that core within myself. 

All "belief", I now accept, based on the past 50 years of my Life, is personal choice. No "belief", no "sacred text", no philosophy, is "right". All are human attempts to understand the wonder we call Life. Each of us is responsible for making the choices concerning our "beliefs", and for living them out with integrity. 

These are the things I'll be reflecting on in this blog ..... alone of course with the experiences of people and places that Dennis and I will have as we set out on our Adventure. If you are interested, follow along. And I'll be happy to receive any comments and your own thoughts and ideas ..... as long as they aren't just mean or nasty!

Cheers!

July 8, 2014