Shelburne’s Lady Leaf People
I recently read Senator Ron Wyden’s memoir, It Takes Chutzpah. Ron was fresh out of the University of Oregon School of Law in 1974 when Ruth Haefner, a retired social worker in Portland, asked him to help her co-found an Oregon branch of the Grey Panthers. Ruth’s friend, Maggie Kuhn, and a handful of other elders founded the Consultation of Older and Younger Adults for Social Change in 1970. Their motto was “Age and Youth in Action.” A New York producer referred to them as the “Gray Panthers,” and the name stuck. Maggie and Ruth called themselves the “Wrinkled Radicals.” Their priorities embraced elder rights, peace, politics, poverty, and civil liberties. They had chutzpah.
Turning 75 on October 4, I laugh at the prospect of becoming a Wrinkled Radical, perhaps with a little of the flair of the lady “Leaf People” in Shelburne. Parker Palmer has encouraged me for years to practice humility and chutzpah, the two habits of the heart that he thinks are essential for a healthy democracy. Note that both must be practiced simultaneously.
Here are some ways I aspire to be radicalized.
May I practice radical acceptance. I am 75 with funky feet—Charcot Foot inherited from my father, to be exact. It’s a degenerative disease. May I accept my limitations and those of others. Wobbling on my own, I am inspired by the wise men and women I know on walkers.
May my pain inspire radical empathy for the pain of others, be it physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. May I especially feel empathy for those who think differently than I do. How many times have I changed my mind?
May I live in radical amazement. I am amazed by the miracle and mystery of life in all its mind-boggling forms. How could I be wise without wondering? I like the idea of wise wrinkles.
May I practice radical generosity with my attention, time, talents, and treasure. May I listen generously and put loving kindness on my daily to-do list.
May my to-do list become my to-love list. May I live radical love. May I love my neighbors—no exceptions. May I love myself and others unconditionally. My dogs have been good teachers.
Radical Grace is the ultimate form of radicalization. It is boundless and unearned. When I am open to radical Grace, I am not afraid to love myself and others into positive new possibilities.
Acceptance, empathy, amazement, generosity, and love are universal human needs. They are all gateways to Grace. May we all choose to see our wrinkles, literally and metaphorically, as invitations to practice radical Grace.