Service in a Rose Garden

Jim Shorr,

Wilsonville, OR

Service is the cornerstone of my life.

In my job as a financial advisor I help folks with their retirement and related financial priorities. My commitment to church ⎯ where the majority of my T’ai Chi Chih classes take shape ⎯ work with T’ai Chi Chih students, and work with fellow TCC teachers complete the circle for me.

The Universe works in strange ways. We gather monthly as a community of T’ai Chi Chih practitioners at the Rose Gardens in Portland on the third Saturday of each month from March to November. It’s a formal practice, followed by a brief reading and silent meditation. We then have a short community “feed” of tea and pastries, and conversation. Someone often offers a tip or reminder to help folks go deeper in their individual practice. The weather is often uplifting, the scenery conducive to serenity as we conclude the end of each person’s week of activity. A longtime student reminds us, “It never rains on T’ai Chi Chih,” and in truth, it does rain on our community practices only one or two times a season (this in “rain country,” the Pacific Northwest).

Our “service” at these gatherings is to honor our home practice, in a communal spirit, remembering some of Justin’s word of focus:“loose wrists, move from your center (core), the weight shift leads, the hands only follow.”

In my client brochure, I indicate how important balance is: “Live the balanced life – time to work, time for family and friends, time for meditation, and time to pursue your dreams. Our stress is then minimized.” (A photo in the brochure shows a T’ai Chi Chih class at practice in the Rose Gardens.)

Another part of service is building community. We TCC teachers in the Northwest are holding the 2nd Northwest Retreat with Sandy McAlister Oct. 12-14 at the Menucha Retreat Center. Menucha in Hebrew means “ever-changing stillness.” The theme of our retreat will be “Sinking Into the Essence…Deepening Your Practice,” with co-hosts John and Roberta Taggart and Jerry Jonnson.

Retreats, intensives, workshops, special events and demonstrations all are forms of service. A year and half ago, for example, a group of TCC practitioners participated in a Health Fair in suburban Lake Oswego, talking to a Farmers Market crowd about the benefits and joys of our practice. We did a demonstration and handed out flyers about our Moving Meditation in the Park monthly practices.

What are the rewards? The May 7, 2007 issue of Forbes magazine quoted George Eliot [the pen name of novelist Mary Ann Evans, 1819-1880], who said, “The reward of one service is the power to fulfill another.”