Rudolf Steiner's Vision for the Future - Anthroposophical Society in ...

Members Who Have Died
Helen Angermann, Janesville, WI died; 11/19/2010
Anne Day, Rochester, NY died; 11/26/2010
Emily Kimball, Linden, PA; died 9/2009
Martha Starkey, The Woodlands, TX; died 12/12/2010
governing council and becoming a major influence in relocating the
branch to its present building. A tireless and devoted student of Rudolf
Steiner, Rose never, one felt, let anthroposophy migrate from its central
place in her consciousness. Late in life, she became a dedicated class
holder in the First Class of the School for Spiritual Science.
For the many, many friends and former students of Rose her
memory and her example will long be treasured. Her quick enthusiasm
at the sight of a friend, her eagerness to lend an attentive ear, the
genuine appreciation she expressed for even the slightest contribution,
the confidence she conveyed in you and whatever your undertaking,
these were part of the overall joy she took in knowing people, young
and old, and sharing in their lives.
Thoughtful and studious though she was, Rose was equally life's
eager celebrant. In keeping with the saying, mentioned by Steiner, “The
rose adorns herself in order to adorn the garden,” Rose liked to dress
to honor the occasion. To acknowledge the specialness of a society event
where others gathered Rose would select her finest attire, adorned by
her signature long, flowing scarf, perhaps accented with a bold strand
of exotic beads, her tall, handsome frame perfectly balanced on highfashion
heels. She was our ever-mindful celebrant of birthdays and
special occasions; an endlessly artful giver of gifts; fabricator of delicate,
watercolored cards bearing her carefully inscribed personal message;
the hostess who so enjoyed preparing the table with fresh fruit, flowers
and festive plates for a simple tea and conversation. These, and the
heartfelt pleasure she took in welcoming others into her home and,
equally, into the branch, were some of the everyday qualities that none
of us who knew her shall forget.
That Rose was able to prolong living well past the time she had
been given when diagnosed with an aggressive cancer is in no small part
due to her strong spiritual grounding, to the fine-tuned equilibrium she
maintained throughout, and to her absolutely clear will to live. Steiner
has referred to cancer as being a balancing out of our weaknesses, though
not necessarily of our causing. Like the flower for which she was named,
Rose blossomed fully and repeatedly, each layered petal part of a larger
unfolding that could readily be sensed, though now no longer seen.
Who Goes There?
During the past few weeks,
we have had two people die in
our extended family, in one case
someone old, and in another case
someone in the middle of life
(53 years old). I find myself at moments
saying things like, “Oh, but she’s not here—
we won’t be going to Rio Rancho to see her
next week. How can she just
be gone like that?” And then, no matter
how often death comes, that surety of
absence does not quite settle in.
But what is (actually, or potentially)
our relationship with the dead—especially
those in our consciousness and dear in
our lives? What is our relationship to the
human dead, and also to the dying,
though beautiful-nourishing-resilient,
Earth (whose death is at least evident now in
the seas and land, through the
Gulf of Mexico disaster, if not also in many
other graven illnesses of the Earth)?
In our world, it seems we have
compartmentalized the dead, as we have
compartmentalized the existence of the old
and the so-called mentally ill and the petty
criminal (but not the Wall Street criminal),
and the children locked away
in schools, and so on. Our world is
full of prisons, places of keeping people
in and keeping people out.
But where do the dead go?
Can we have an active, vital
relationship with the dead
—I will say with the
*living dead*?
As I ponder these questions
a poem comes—as search,
as prayer:
first issue 2011 • 65