[Jubilee] winter's JUBILEE JOURNEYS IV: Munich Musings

[Chris Steinbeisser-Fitz]

JUBILEE JOURNEYS PART IV
Munich Musings
December 14, 2005
Christopher Steibeisser-Fitz

I send warm greetings in this time of darkening days and lengthening 
nights.  I write from a cold and crisp Munich, Germany which is home for 
me, my dear partner, Tabea and our baby boy, Noah!  Like many in this 
season, i prefer to hibernate into my own cocoon to ponder a later 
return to the world of light.  But well, it's not easy to hibernate with 
a rowdy little human in your care -- and while learning to speak 
German.  But i write in this pondering spirit; there is much waiting to 
birth since the Jubilee Troupe tour came to an end in April.

These last eight months have been a blur.  We have literally scattered 
to the four winds.  Holly White is already finishing her first semester 
in a PhD program in Religion in Syracuse, NY.  Christina Cruz took a job 
directing activities in a retirement community in Lancaster, PA.  Joy 
Hodges graduated from Earlham College and moved to Johnson City, TN to 
work with a community also called "Jubilee."  Eva Neuhaus is in 
Washington, DC working on the last installment in her own 
movement-story-ritual piece.  And Tabea Steinbeisser and i tied the knot 
in time to move to Munich where we are learning to be partners, parents 
and in my case, an American in Germany.

In May, a month after our troupe convened its tour in North Manchester, 
Indiana, the core four of us (Holly, Christina, Tabea and i) met in an 
intensive weekend of reflection and evaluation around our rather unique 
four-month journey.  We also reflected with our advisors in a series 
conference calls that extended into September.  And now i want to share 
a piece of those reflections since they were often sparked by YOU and 
ultimately, may also impact YOU as this creative work continues!

First, we realized how we were so deeply touched by so many encounters, 
naming and offering thanks for so many of YOU -- your stories, your 
tears, your inspiration, your challenges -- all so honestly shared with 
us.  We felt a healing presence as we lifted up name after name of host, 
organizer, storyteller, co-participant.  Personally, i continue to feel 
that, returning to some of these moments in the most random daily events 
of my day, and with a heartfelt thanks.

In our session we also realized how we may have misused the tremendous 
trust YOU had given us.  Our busy travel schedule and post-troupe lives 
precluded us from continuing so many of the wonderful relationships that 
we began in this journey.  We wanted to be present long after we left, 
to continue supporting the work we began, to thank YOU so much more than 
we did.  In some cases, we may have left things hanging.  Such was also 
the unfortunate limitation of our work.

When i began this Jubilee Troupe journey in 2003, i was so frustrated 
and also so connected with the Church of the Brethren and the wider 
Christian peace church movement, that i subtley fantasized about pouring 
out my heart and soul into this work -- to be of course rejected -- 
after which i'd have a great excuse to finally leave.  That did not 
happen.  I don't know why.  We did a lot of weird stuff, and pulled of a 
few stunts -- going so far as to unwittingly reveal a butt-crack before 
hundreds one Sunday morning.  But when all was said and done, we were 
welcomed.  I now rest in this welcome and wonder what it means for my 
own calling.

In all of these situations, we are at the mercy of Grace -- a power 
greater than ourselves.  And yet we can learn from this experience and 
as a troupe, we drew some clear conclusions:

We realize that the full-time traveling troupe model is not sustainable 
over long periods of time in financial and personal energetic terms.  
While it wasn't a failure in these terms, we failed, especially on the 
personal side, to find enough time to consistently fill up our own 
cups.  As a result, if this experiment were to continue with such old 
farts as we are (HA!), we imagine something more stable with shorter 
excursions and longer periods of training.

We felt a responsibility to maintain connection with those with whom we 
have touched and who have touched us in this journey.  Seekers.  
Artists.  Activists.  Pastors.  Facilitators.  Improvisers dancing off 
the beaten path for the sake of Life -- yours and all others.  We want 
not just to connect with YOU, but also would love to connect YOU to one 
another.  So we've begun to think of ways to do that, extend the Jubilee 
Troupe community to a wider circle... that /is/ YOU!

This email list, finally cobbled together after months of juggling 
parenthood and multiple historic signup sheets, is a result of that 
thinking.  And it's only a start... since we all know too well the 
limitations of this and other electronic media.  They can get us 
started... and then we have to do the rest... if we desire.

To actually bring us together again, the wider circle of the "jubilee 
troupe," we are planning an exciting weekend retreat for next September 
to take place in Southern Pennsylvania.  Entitled */Moving Stories/*, we 
are designing the weekend with space to both connect inward and to this 
wider circle.  We envision it as a weekend for fermenting our own 
ripening stories and unlocking their healing potential in our own lives 
and the lives around us.  We will work and play with different forms in 
improvisational arts and encourage participants to share their own 
forms.  We have also invited guest facilitator Julie Portman, founder of 
Ki Theater in Washington, Virginia and author of Life Stories Workshops 
which she'll be bringing to us for part of that time.

Details for this weekend are still unfolding, but so far we want you to 
consider being part of....
*
*
*MOVING STORIES*
Working and Playing with Our Stories
Inviting Healing into Our Lives and Communities
September 22-24, 2006
Camp Eder
Fairfield, PA
(1.5 hours NW of Washington, DC, 3 hours west of Philadelphia)

YOU.  Seeker.  Activist.  Artist.  If you have a desire to step into 
this circle of moving stories, i look forward to seeing YOU there.

Meanwhile, i wish you many blessings in this winter's time.  I shall be 
joining the U.S. East Coast's winter in just a few days as i fly with my 
family to the States.  We are looking forward to our son being part of 
his American family too.  And so now i attend to that trip... and leave 
you with this timely translation of words from the fabled mystic, Mary, 
mother of Jesus:

    Sing out my soul,

    sing of the holiness of God: who has delighted in a woman,

    lifted up the poor,

    satisfied the hungry,

    given voice to the silent,

    grounded the oppressor,

    blessed the full-bellied with emptiness,

    and with the gift of tears

    those who have never wept;

    who has desired the darkness of the womb,

    and inhabited our flesh.

    Sing of the longing of God,

    sing out, my soul.


    Gospel of Luke 1:39-53


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	"I would only believe in a God who knows how to dance.
	"Ich würde nur an einen Gott glauben, der zu tanzen verstünde.
						- Friedrich Nietzsche

			www.jubileetroupe.org
 

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