Border Crossing

Free from high school and primed for adventure, a friend and I went on a loosely planned motorcycle trip. A

Wide open Manitoba prairie

Yamaha Enduro was my friend's bike while I rode wild and crazy on a Honda 175. Leaving from southeastern Minnesota we went north. Cruising along Lake Superior's north shore brought us into Thunder Bay, Ontario.  We returned to the North Star state via Fort Francis, Ontario. I have no remembrance of either border crossing. What I do remember is not having Canadian currency. Gas and food was paid in US dollars. Lodging in Thunder Bay consisted of laying on a picnic table underneath a canopy in a city park. 

During the early years of marriage and family, trips were made to Regina and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, along with Winnipeg, Manitoba. I felt out of place sensing I was in a foreign country. Measurements were different. Currency exchange rates were now factored in. Both English and French were used on signs and consumer products. The Folklorama Week in Winnipeg exposed all of us to diverse expressions of culture and living not seen in northwestern Minnesota. 

Local cooks and servers

The frozen, sparely populated, and windswept prairies of Manitoba have drawn me over the past decade to an ultra endurance event named, "Actif Epica." Similar to other winter challenges, participants choose a

230km bike start

predetermined distance and one of two modalities (bike or foot) to complete that distance. Mid-February is the time frame. What serves as a counterbalance to the
harsh conditions is the generous hospitality of local people and the copious amounts of lovingly created foods. Soups, breads, smoked meats, pierogies, sweet and savory treats, and beverages, along with salty snacks and candies await behind the doors of the unique checkpoints. It is not published, but of equal challenge to the austere environment, is the fortitude required to leave the warmth and conviviality of the checkpoints. The event may learn more toward emotional stamina that physical prowess. 

Proud banner at the start+finish

The tagline for the event, "Celebrate Human Resilience" is more than a published phrase. First of all the event is a cornucopia of humanity. All ages, ethnicities, nationalities, and lifestyles are embraced. In reality no one asks about those categories. Instead the inquiries are about hunger, thirst, physical condition, and celebrating the current accomplishment of distance. Secondly, there is celebration. This is not a competition for podium placement and medals of achievement. Participants are supported and recognized for who they are at that given moment. Whether a person goes back on the course or decides to conclude their effort, each person is embraced as part of a community facing unique internal and external realities. Finally, the characteristic of

50km foot participants
(Gregory C. McNeill photo)

resilience, whether spoken or unspoken permeates the setting. This is not limited to the participants, but to the volunteers, support staff, checkpoint hospitality providers, and family and friends who give from their hearts, as well. Not only are Manitoba prairies wide and awe inspiring, but Actif Epica reflects the reverence and expansiveness of human connection with equal grandeur. 

In my current experience the celebration, humanness, and resilience in life are retracting into tightly walled borders. Restricting community to those of a defined social, ethnic, and economic status closes interaction. We no longer celebrate one another for their unique journey which brings them to the present moment. Instead we negate and denigrate out of 

Being in the moment
(Gregory C. McNeill photo)

misinformed notions of scarcity. Even long established relationships are cast aside because we choose anger toward others out of the disingenuous perceptions propagated by those in leadership and the media. I believe it is time to open our personal borders so we can cross over, as well as allow others to come into our lives. The recognition of our humanness, the celebration of our unique journeys, and the strength generated by respecting resilience will create a meaningful life far greater than that promised by massive walls and impassible obstacles. 

Actif Epica, I will return to again be enveloped and celebrated for nothing other than being human!

50km finishers from Crystal
Spring Hutterite Colony
(Scott Sugimoto photo)

                                                 

                                     

Cornucopia of humanity

Playmate

(Online image)

It was an invigorating and secretive part of my mid-teenage years. I was able to buy a used copy of Playboy magazine from a schoolmate. Do not ask about the articles in the publication. I was not interested in reading! I wanted the excitement and fantasy of the pictures. I had a Playmate!  As much as I wishfully dreamt, a meaningful relationship never developed. However, I certainly enjoyed many aspects of this titillating relationship. 

For more than a decade I have been in a primarily one-sided relationship. I have been enticed and captivated by the siren song of politics. The promise of, "This is the most important election in history," captured my attention, devotion, and massive portions of internal energy. The promises grew and my response intensified. Over time this relationship became lopsided. I began to sense and now fully believe that I have been played. It is about abject loyalty. It is about taking sides and forsaking all others. It is about isolation and exclusion. I have come to realize that believing in politicians to care about me is the same as fantasizing that Playboy's Playmate would personally visit me because I gazed longingly and lustfully at her photos. 

Fostering and cultivating relationships is foundational to having a playmate. Play contributes to exploration, listening, and understanding. Play expands not only relationships, but the perspective of everyone involved. Playmates enhance and uplift one another. Even in the midst of disagreement there is a commitment to respect each other. 

I choose not be be played in the current deluge of political pornography. Visual and online media bombard enticing images and alluring sound bites with little concern for their effects on people. Everyone involved in this morally offensive drama wants to entice, stimulate, and engorge which produces an organism of venom. No soothing endorphins and cuddly afterglow follows. Rather it becomes an addictive rush to gain false righteousness and seek retribution.

Farmer's Market in L'Aquila Italy

I am intentionally focusing on relationships and interactions which are positive, playful, and enhancing. This does not mean that I choose ignorance or apathy. Instead of wallowing in anxiety or the quagmire of misinformation, I am cultivating perspective through action. I want to feel free, alive, and aware of my surroundings and the people who make up the communities in which I interact.  A healthy system of community will withstand the chaos of random humiliation, exclusion, and elimination. My plan is to continue enjoying time with people in personal, civil, and life affirming interactions.

70 Isn't 40

Just a few varieties.

SPAMtown was my address thirty years ago. My spouse had a meaningful job, I was in a residency year at the Mayo Medical Center, and the daughters were involved in school. The commute from Austin to Rochester, Minnesota was far more scenic than the flatlands of the Red River Valley. Opposite ends of the state, as well as opposite outlooks on the future.

The recognition of my fortieth birthday was a surprise event. I was positively impacted by the friends who traveled to mark this occasion. I was also apprehensive about the future. At midlife I was making an uncertain shift in my career focus. Leaving parish ministry behind, I was in a Clinical Pastoral Education residency program. The training provided national qualification and recognition as a Chaplain, but little else. There was no guarantee of employment once the training concluded. With young children, a single income, and more transitions in the future, there was no inkling of security. Forty was a fretful experience. 

Running scared

At seventy the future is less fretful. The worries are in the past. There are no surprises kept nor next day clean-up with which to contend. I have a deeper sense of security because all that is yet to come is death. Yes, that word is complex and numerous emotions are attached to it. However, I now see it as more inevitable and less disruptive than at forty. I am not certain how it will present itself, but it will happen. I am unable to change it.

As humans we prioritize security. In other words, if we can control the external, the internal sense of well-being should ensue. Yet our society thrives on promoting insecurity. There is never enough. Cameras are more important than doorbells because people come to steal not visit. We divide into factions. We are fearful that someone else may get what we deserve. We speak of wanting change and vote for change. Change often means returning to what was seemingly secure in the past. We want change to benefit ourselves at the expense of others.  For our businesses, governments, and healthcare institutions to maintain their status they need to promote a fretful future which only they can control. 

Wisdom and guiding principles flicker like candles in the wind. Like all things in life they are tested, used, and suspended. Yet if they endure through time and regularly return to our mind, then it must carry wisdom. These words of the late educator and author, Stephen R Covey have served and continue to serve me well, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." These words evoke reflection, exploration, timeliness, and thoughtfulness. At points in my life the main thing became getting ahead, achieving status, and being recognized. I don't believe I ever achieved those things. If I did, I wasn't satisfied. The

Satisfied in all seasons

overarching main thing which I have finally come to accept is to marvel at creation, accept human nature, and embrace what is. I feel secure in life, but not invincible. I enjoy life while not being fretful of death. Seventy isn't forty. I'm satisfied.