Remember
You are the hands of the present generation.
You hold the hands of a future generation.
You hold the hands of past generations, some now departed, and they in turn held the hands of older generations.
Hearts that once beat with life still beat in remembrance.
It is All Souls’ Day, a day not recognized through the spring and early summer of my life. Since writing the words above as the Foreword of Resurgam – Standing on the Ground of Remembrance in 2008, there have been the departures of older generations and the arrivals of younger generations.
Now it’s a day with meaning, a day to pause, to remember them and reflect on all those hands and hearts that once walked on this earth and cultivated the ground in so many loving ways. All the unseen actions that went unrecognized yet made a difference in the future, which has become the present.
To honor them and remember them, I’m sharing “Stones Unknown,” about finding peace in the most unexpected place. The inspiration (not surprisingly) was a stone. This is a chapter from the revised story—The Ground of Remembrance—the fruit received through cycles of seasons from the hearts and hands of older generations. As the early story of Resurgam goes, “They lived. They loved. They have a story to tell.” I have been listening and learning. This small, yet new chapter took 25 years of learning how to listen and trust my heart. It is the beginning. My heart overflows with gratitude for a gift from past generations that continues to grow.
Read: Stones Unknown
Background: A photograph of a solitary soldier standing on a hill of ruins captured my attention in 2013. (Hill of Loss) Something was familiar. The caption revealed the location: “A solitary American soldier looks at a ruined church on the crest of Montfaucon, France, after the town was captured.” I had been to there! My guide took me to Montfaucon on my way to Cote 304. That discovery and the journey inspired a new chapter of fiction, Stones Unknown in 2022.
From the book “RESURGAM – Standing on the Ground of Remembrance” – the discovery of Montfaucon, France (and the Center for Peace):
(c) 2022 Jean Niedert, an excerpt from “The Ground of Remembrance”
creative meander 