Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
New Visions
What’s Left

What’s Left

Last updated on: July 15, 2024 at 8:00 am by Mark Nepo

0 Comments

What’s Left 2024-07-14T10:41:19-05:00 Mark Nepo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I learned today that in 1917 the novelist E.M. Forster was in Egypt for the first time. As a conscientious objector in World War I, Forster served as a Chief Searcher (for missing servicemen) for the British Red Cross in Alexandria, Egypt. Fate kept making him look for what was missing. It was during this time that Forster, who was openly gay, fell deeply in love with an Egyptian tram driver, Mohammed el-Adl, an affair that changed his life.

Eventually, Forster had to return to England, but the two men kept a faithful correspondence, even after Mohammed married. Their love sustained, despite being inter-racial and gay and despite living a continent away. When Mohammed died in 1922 from tuberculosis, his wife, whose name is impossible to find, sent her husband’s wedding ring to Forster. It is this deeply tender gesture from a woman whose name I’ll never know that stopped me, that made me want to know the center of this love: the love between the two men, the love between Mohammed and his wife, and the love of this woman for her husband’s lover.

What deeply human pain and release allowed her to be so giving in a time of such grief? This is the wisdom I want to learn. This is the story I want to piece together from the smattering of affections found like feathers in the rain.

In the center of our pain and beyond what we can comprehend is a release that heals, when we can endure the pain and give over to its release. I felt this pain and release during my struggle with cancer when I was young. I felt this pain and release during the dissolution of my second marriage when I had to leave in order to live the life I was given back. I felt it when my father, staring into Eternity, held my hand before his death. And now, across the years and miles, I feel it in the small drop of Mohammed’s ring into an envelope that his tender wife sealed and sent to England.

It is the unexpected gesture that binds us. It makes me think of my dear friend Robert scattering seed for the ground feeders in his yard. It makes me think of my dear friend Paul rowing the empty boat of his life now that his sweet wife has died. It makes me think of my dear friend George sanding the shelf of a bookcase he is making for his granddaughter. It makes me think of my dear friend Don adding dabs of red to a painting he created almost fifty years ago. The moments that keep us connected are like the drop of that wedding ring in its envelope. It makes me think of my dear wife Susan holding our dog’s head during a thunder storm. It’s all we can hope for, really, to hold each other through the storm and share what’s left.

A Question to Walk With: Describe a seam in the Universe you have encountered, a deep and lasting gesture of love and how it has affected you.

This is from my new book just published, You Don’t Have to Do It Alone: The Power of Friendship.

Mark will be offering retreats, free events, and a few special journeys in 2024. Here’s the list of what’s coming up!

July 21, 28, & Aug 4, 2024 | Finding Inner Courage: Our Walk in the World

A 3-Session Online Webinar with Mark Nepo To register visit Live.MarkNepo.com ✅

July 31 6pm ET: FREE EVENT You Don’t Have to Do It Alone: The Net of Friendship, reading and conversation followed by 45 minute river walk at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. Free event. Please register in advance here. ✅

Aug 16-18: You Don’t Have to Do It Alone: The Power of Friendship, weekend retreat, at Mercy By the Sea, 167 Neck Rd, Madison, CT. For more information or to register, click here. ✅

Sept 8 11am PT/2pm ET – FREE ONLINE EVENT You Don’t Have to Do It Alone: The Power of Friendship, Join Mark Nepo with Joel Fotinos in Conversation, hosted by Banyen Books & Sound. Register for this free event here. ✅

Sept 16–21: You Don’t Have to Do It Alone: The Power of Friendship, a Mastery Week Retreat at the Modern Elder Academy in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Click here to get information and to register. ✅

Sept 29 1pm PT/4pm ET: You Don’t Have to Do It Alone with Mark Nepo in Conversation with Brooke Warner, this online ticketed event is hosted by Book Passage. Register here for the zoom link. ✅

Uncategorized

Previous Post

July 8, 2024

In Florence

Next Post

July 22, 2024 Finding a Common Language

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Hi Karl, I enjoyed this very much……..I mean, granted I am not sure I understand ..."

JustPassingBy

At Gate 3 in August

"I'm not at all sure that we are all talking about the same thing when ..."

"that made me laugh. his own wound ruined his momentff.LAURENS.CLUB\v5963pw"

Milkori

Imparting Bliss

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 3i projects current events emotional states Heart in the news Mark's weekly reflections Michele's vlogs poetry Three Intentions happenings Uncategorized writing/books

Select a Month November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz