There are people that you meet that have a powerful effect on the course of your own life.  Bob Elmendorf was one of those people for me.  

As I was cleaning my house today at about 4:30 a bird flew into my home out of the pouring rain.  All the doors and windows were closed.  It stopped trying to fly through the plate glass window and then perched on the TV.  

"How did you get in here?" I said to the bird.  

He just cocked his head to one side as if to say "don't you know?" 

I opened all the doors and windows and out he flew.  

A few minutes later my phone pinged me.  It was a message from Bob's neighbor in Malden Bridge letting me know that he had passed.    

Bob loved to feed the birds and was always letting me know which bird he'd seen and whether the bears had toppled over his feeders.  

The first time Bob interacted with me at the Meeting was to let me know that my committee "assignment" was with OPJ.  Bob had an unconventional way of handling Nominating Committee. 

The truth is that Bob Elmendorf was a force majeure when it came to Outreach, Peace and Justice.  Bob would talk to anyone about anything related to any one of those items; whether it was over a chicken at potluck or a coffee and savory scone at the Old Chatham Cafe & Bakery.  He didn't care a whit about being a "Quiet Quaker."  He'd whip out those little palm cards and invite everyone he  came into contact with.  

He took Outreach seriously.  

When Bob left our meeting for The Eddy it left a great hole not just in the life of the meeting but in OPJ.  I'd been quietly taking over those responsibilities as clerk, but always felt inwardly "how the heck can I fill Bob's shoes?"  

Bob was a hard act to follow.  

When that little bird flew away it was Bob"s way of saying "I'm in the Bardo now, I've passed over. I'm like a bird. I've taken flight from this world and am ready to move on to the next."  

Farewell Bob.  Many loved you; including me.  

~ Joseph Olejak

When Robert Redford was asked about what inspired him he replied "it was the film Treasure of Sierra Madre"  The thing about that film was the themes of greed and power.  He went on to say “I find them appealing, because greed and power make things go. The wheel finally turns on greed and power. They’re the motives that are important to know. All systems that control us, whether political or financial, or simply an industry that controls a town, run on greed and power.”

One can see the truth in that especially on the commercial side of life, but what about the spiritual side?  

Are we just skin bags out for whatever we can get? 

I'd say yes and no.  

There are lots of people who are deeply invested in the material world and have nary an altruistic bone in them.  And that's fine they'll have the kind of life they have ... mostly transactional and devoid of meaning. 

And then there are the people (maybe more than we realize) that are long term thinkers and doers.  They understand that building community and even making a self-sacrifice in the short term is good for everyone (including the sacrificer) in the long term. 

In terms of Quakerism, it is common that Quakers make choices today that might not bear fruit for a generation.  We tend to play the long game and thank God there are people who think beyond the next business cycle. 

If you want to use a monetary or investment analogy, that gift we give of our time and our empathy will pay massive dividends in the end in terms of goodwill and community building. 

And Robert Redford knew it.   He did lots of stuff for goodwill.  The Sundance Film Festival comes to mind.  It created a platform for indie film that did not exist before he created it.  He also donated his time to climate concerns and other political causes.  

America has lost a giant in American film, but his example endures.  

~ Joseph Olejak