Today is Father’s Day, 2022. My own father, George Kuzma Jr. has been gone now for 25 years. I remember him with gratitude for being my guiding sage.
Today is also Juneteenth. It marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865. They took control of the state and ensured that all enslaved people were set free.
Speaking of being enslaved. Do you feel like you’re imprisoned by grief today? Trapped in longing for that person who is no longer physically present as your person, sage, and beloved? Or perhaps grieving because the world seems caught in war, turmoil, and chaos?
What we need is peace. So, I’m sad and grieving today because a dear friend, and true man of peace, is gone.
Raymond Guy Jubitz, III died May 17, 2022, from complications of leukemia. Ray was one of those larger-than-life people. He and his wife Nansie, of 55 years, made a quiet international difference for peace.
As his former staff writes:
Ray was the founding director of the Jubitz Family Foundation. He had a vision for peace on this earth. Ray was instrumental in the founding of the War Prevention Initiative and is the ‘father’ of the Parkdale peace gatherings, where scholars, practitioners, and leaders of peace organizations from all over the Northwest and later from the country came together at Parkdale, Mt Hood, Oregon. These gatherings sparked discussions of complex issues about how peace can be accomplished, how militarism affects societies, and how wars might ultimately be prevented.
Ray was one of those people whose presence was palpable. You felt seen, heard, and appreciated when you were with him. He had a gift for observing, listening, and then asking just the right question to move one into curiosity.
It was a privilege to take Miracle Monday walks with Ray. Our pace was slow as he regained strength after a stem-cell transplant in 2015. Walking through his beautiful SW neighborhood, he shared stories of his life. The son they adopted in Africa, sent to college, and celebrated as a husband and father. Ray also shared his vision of Peace on Earth through the Jubitz Family Foundation. And we ended each Monday morning walk by praying together. An honor I’ll never forget.
Today, I pause to listen to my grieving heart. To see my life through the eyes of Ray. To hear the cries for peace. To appreciate that as I process grief through my body-mind, my heart and the world, are healed.
Click here to read more about the War Prevention Initiative.
You can donate to Ray’s ongoing work for peace and justice at this Donation Link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=X4CREC7F5RSR6
For Juneteenth, order Recovery from the lie of Whiteness: Becoming Aware: A 12 Step Workbook by Dr. Andrea Travers: https://www.amazon.com/Recovery-Lie-Whiteness-Becoming-Workbook/dp/1098364201
Love all around, above, below, to the left and to the right, before you and behind you,
Georgena
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