Vigilant Sage
Deceased November 24, 2012
“Be who you is, not who you ain’t, ‘cause if you ain’t who you is, you is who you ain’t.” Paul’s smiling nudge to live authentically and bravely in a world we’re visiting for just a little while… What lit [Paul] up… were the scores of initiatory weekends he ran for men and boys seeking authentic lives…
Asked to distill Paul’s essence into a few words, those who loved him spoke of a man who – Cared only about the hard truth that usually resides somewhere underneath the “right way” … Spoke the truth as he knew it, and was one of the most fearless men I have ever met… [was] a mixture of east coast Mafia and west coast Zen master. Was forever pushing the edges of his understanding… Touched every life he encountered, always gifting it with wisdom and love. Was the juice of life, the sweet nectar of a true man on his journey of life and death.
Reflection from Bill Mawhinney: Only a memory of Paul at the last elder retreat he was able to attend in Oregon. Dressed in black jeans and a black hoodie, the hood pulled close around his face, he resembled the spectre of death… We sat together on a stone wall. I knew he was in the final stages of cancer; his voice was weak. Feeling strangely tongue-tied, not knowing what to say, I sat shoulder-to-shoulder with him and wished him a good journey. He was a courageous elder of our tribe