By Tom & Carol Braford
Forty years ago as I was approaching 40, I was a little bit lost as 40 somethings of every generation seem to be and searching for some purpose in my life. One of my favorite things to do was to deliberately lose myself in Nature, whether it was a remote swimming hole in Missouri, a snow-covered mountain in Arizona or a jungle in Belize.
On one of those occasions, I found myself in the Superstition Mountains outside Phoenix, assisting a Native American healer named Peter Bigfoot to gather herbs on a mountainside by the light of a full moon. It was the bitter-tasting roots that we were after and so the ritual was to use an adze both to get at them and then to tuck the plants back into bed in a way that would catch the Spring rains.
I was curious so I popped some of them into my mouth and began to chew. Suddenly I briefly had the sensation of being unclothed and standing naked for a moment in the moonlight as a prayer came to my lips that I have continued to repeat since then.
“Oh, Great Spirit, do not pass me by. Lay bare my heart, reveal the hidden parts, lead me out of darkness into light, make me a healing agent in the Earth.”
For some time, I was afraid that I would discover some evil nature lurking deep in my chest, but as the years have passed, my passion to bring healing to St. Louis, Civilization and the Planet has only grown.
Now as I approach 80 with a few years to go, I believe the healing time is upon us. I invite you to join me and hundreds of others as we roll out the long anticipated Post Carbon Communities of Practice movement over the next couple of years.
Please click on the link below, give a thumbs up and comment on our idea to say how you plan to get involved. Also, be ready to cast your vote in December so the Board of Aldermen can decide what Ideas will receive funding.
Link to our Idea:
https://stlouis.citizenlab.co/en/ideas/post-carbon-communities-of-practic
ontact: braford@sbcglobal.net
www.ArizmendiEcovillage.com