(a long story)
Then, about five months later, my life was turned upside down. Everything seemed in chaos -- I'd been laid off from my job, my daughter had decided to disown me, and I'd made a decision to leave everything that was familiar to me in Michigan -- my friends, my church and my daughter -- to move to Texas with a woman I loved. But inside, I had this deep sense of inner peace. It seemed really odd to me.... how could everything inside seem perfect, when everything around me seemed chaotic? It felt like a hurricane, a storm.... but not just any storm, a "Perfect Storm". So, I took on a new animal name (I call it a "Spirit Name" now).
Before I left Michigan, I sat in a circle with one of the three men who had formed The ManKind Project nearly twenty years earlier, Rich Tosi. I know now that he's a living legend. But when I met him, he was just a new man who showed up in my circle of men for the first time -- which was the last time I ever sat in that circle. When he heard of my decision to move to Houston, he pulled me aside, pulled out his address book, and gave me the names of three other New Warriors to contact when I got to Houston.
When I moved to Texas, my lover and her family were the only people I knew. For about four days. I called one of the men I'd been referred to -- the Center Director in Houston, and he gave me directions to the lodge -- the central meeting place for New Warriors in Houston. I drove down to meet him, and I got a warm welcome to Houston, in the form of a big bear hug from a brother I was meeting for the first time. We talked for a while, and I told him what kind of work I was looking for. He suggested I get in touch with another New Warrior, a man who owned a Personnel Agency. Ten minutes after I left the lodge, my cell phone rang... it was another New Warrior who needed some computer help (my specialty at the time). I met that man, and I got a hug, and made another friend. I visited with the New Warrior who owned the Personnel Agency; when I entered his office, his staff knew I was coming, and he came out to the lobby and gave me a big hug. I found that I'd moved to a new city where I knew no one, but I had 2,500 brothers who were glad I was there.
While I was in Houston, I received a very sad email from one of my Houston brothers. A man I'd never met was putting his story out to our community, and asking for help. He'd been a graphic artist for a number of years, succesfully self employed. Then, on the same day the twin towers came crashing down, so too did his world. He was told he had Lou Gehrig's disease -- a progressive muscular disorder that attacks the body but leaves the mind intact. His disease was chipping away at his ability to provide for his family. As a last resort, he wrote an email to the community, swallowing his pride and asking for financial help. His story left me wanting to help, but I had no money. I offered to help him find computer technology for the physically challenged that would allow him to extend his ability to use his computer.
When I went to his house, he greeted me warmly. I could see how difficult it was for him to move about and hug me. We sat in his study, and checked in with each other. He had difficulty talking, and it took a lot of effort on my part to understand what he was saying. But as I looked into his eyes, I could see the passion and beauty of a powerful man's spirit. His eyes literally gleamed with fire and love. Over the coming months, he and his family became my good friends. I came to his house a half day each week... initially to help find and secure the computer technology, and apply for grants to help pay for it. Later, I did work around his house -- minor maintenance stuff that he could no longer do, and stuff to make his life just a bit more comfortable - like hanging a ceiling fan in his study.
Hugh's animal name was "Magician Gorilla who Flies". Pretty unusual. He had all kinds of gorilla paraphenalia in his study -- stuffed gorillas, carved gorillas, paintings of gorillas. I asked him one day if he thought he could come up with a symbol for the Perfect Storm. His eyes literally flashed fire! He was so excited about the prospect of giving something back to me, he rushed me out of his house so he could begin work on it.
What he created was absolutely beautiful. A satellite image of a category 5 storm developing off of Baja California. Graphically enhanced in a manner inspired by God, through the hands of a soulful artist. I loved it.
The ManKind Project of Houston had their own retreat site where they conducted eight initiation weekends a year. It was about two hours north of Houston. While I was there, they blessed me by nominating me the site's manager. Land of My Grandfathers was sacred ground. Well over a thousand men had transformed their lives there, over countless initiation weekends. And as I entered the grounds to prepare it for an initiation weekend, I could literally feel the sacred energy of that place. Once, after my lover had decided to leave me, I went there for several days to open to Spirit's guidance for a new direction for my life. I took several sacred objects, among them my beautiful Perfect Storm symbol.
I spent a good deal of time meditating over the course of those days, with my sacred objects on a makeshift altar in front of me. When I opened my eyes after one meditation, the Perfect Storm symbol took on a new meaning for me. I saw something in the picture different from its old meaning. Now, instead of an inward focus (the world in chaos and peace in the eye of the storm), I saw an outward focus. Check this out. www.geocities.com/ibuyhouses77042/pstormpic.html
The eye of the storm was now blessed by God, and the power of the storm moved outward forcefully from the center toward the rest of the earth. I am the eye of the storm. I am blessed by Spirit (the rays of light from above). As I flow Spirit's gifts to those around me, the storm builds. I give Spirit's gifts to you. Then you give those gifts to others in your lives. And those people pass them on to others in their lives. And the storm grows and becomes more powerful. And the world is transformed.
Another thing came to me in those same moments at Land of My Grandfathers. Jesus' story. How one man, with no mass communication, no high speed transportation, traveled from one small village to another on foot or on a donkey. And he touched people one at a time. He spoke of love. For three short years, in a geography maybe the size of Rhode Island. And he changed the world forevermore.
And then he gave us a huge gift. He said "these things and more can you do, too". Jesus was the first Perfect Storm. And each of us who live by that sentence can become a Perfect Storm too. Jesus said so. And I believe him.
So now you know the story of the Perfect Storm. Are you a Perfect Storm? I think maybe so, if you've read this far...
If you've ever seen the movie "Pay it Forward" you get a sense of what's possible. Yes, it's a fictional story. But it's not fiction. Each of us can transform the world around us. And when enough of us begin living by Jesus' powerful words, the world will become a new and beautiful place. Look around you. It's happening.