The Elder’s Inheritance – A Fable

Once upon a time, there was a middle-aged traveler named David, who embarked on a journey through the world, unsure of what lay ahead but deeply aware that something was calling to him.

It was not a material treasure anymore. David had been a miner for these treasures for 30 years. He mined enough vanes to do well enough, but the vans always ran out, which kept him digging.

David wasn’t looking for a specific destination either. He was being drawn to, but something more elusive, something intangible.

David encountered many a few along the way, each at different stages of their own journey. Some had lived many years, some younger. Yet, all seemed to carry something deeper—an essence that David could not quite grasp, and although he tried, he couldn’t get his fingers on it.

There was a quiet strength about these people, a calmness in their presence that seemed to soothe the chaos of the world around them. They had a way of listening, of seeing beyond the surface, and speaking with words that felt both ancient and yet new.

One day, as David was now on one his many nature hikes, David met an old woman who sat beneath an old tree on a bench from a fallen log. She was gazing out into the valley, a soft breeze flowing through the tall Fir, Hemlock and Spruce above making that noise that only created when leaves are rustled by the by the wind.

Her face lined with the traces of time. She radiated a presence that David immediately recognized as the one he had been seeking. David could feel that essence, that spirit, that space, that essence he wanted for himself.

"Are you an Elder?" David asked, his voice filled with both reverence and curiosity. The old woman smiled, her eyes twinkling with a wisdom that seemed to extend beyond time itself. "I am," she said simply.

“What’s it like being an Elder?” asked David.

"Becoming an Elder is not something that can be learned from books or teaching alone. It is an inheritance passed down through generations—a gift, not of material wealth, but of something far deeper."

The old woman gestured for David to sit beside her on the moss covered log. "This inheritance is not something you can hold in your hands. It is wisdom, stories, experiences, and values that have been passed down, not just through your own life, but through the lives of countless others who have come before you.”

She paused and looked downward at her age-spots on her hands seeming amused by them.

“It is the very essence of being an Elder—a presence that comes from living deeply, from embracing both the light and the shadow of your own journey."

David listened intently, the words sinking into them like seeds planted in fertile soil.

"This inheritance," the old woman continued, "is not about knowing facts or accumulating knowledge. It is about becoming a container for wisdom—not just your own, but the wisdom of all those who have walked before you.”

David began to see the past continues into the present and has its place in it.

She took another long pause and then continued; “This inheritance is about seeing the invisible thread that connects the past, present, and future. It is the yeast that makes the bread of higher wisdom rise. And in this, as an Elder, you will find your true power."

As David pondered these words, he began to understand. Becoming an Elder was not about age alone, nor was it about what one possessed. It was about a deepening presence—a way of being that radiates from within.

The old woman shuffled her fee in the dirt as she spoke. “Being an Elder is a quiet, soft strength. It comes with a calling to serve something greater than yourself. It is the ability to hold space for others, to be a witness to their lives not the answer, and to offer wisdom that emerges from a place deeper than memory or intellect.”

"I think I understand," David said, "that an Elder’s wisdom cannot be taught in classrooms, in books, or on various screens. It is something gained through direct experience and awareness, through reflection, and through contemplation.”

David recognized Elder possessed a kind of wisdom that arises in the stillness, in the moments when you listen deeply to both your inner voice and the voices of those who came before you."

David had worked on a Native American Reservation in his early twenties and saw how the tribes included their ancestors in their daily life. They felt their presence. They spoke their names. They told their stories. They were part of their everyday existence.

After a long pause. She broke the silence with "As an Elder, you will find that the words you speak will not always be your own. They will be words born from the depths of your being, they will carry with them the weight of all those who have guided them and are guiding you. Elders speak eternal truths.

“Those words you did not know are there when you will speak with assurance, not because you have rehearsed, but because your words carry the wisdom of an Elder.”

David sat in silence, feeling the enormity of what had been shared. He realized that the true inheritance of an Elder was not something that could be grasped with the hands—it was a legacy that lived in the heart, passed down through the generations, woven into the very fabric of your being.

"For you see," the old woman said softly, "an Elder knows they did not arrive here alone. They were guided by the hands of their own Elders, those who have walked the path before and with them. They are part of a lineage that stretches back through time, and they are connected to it, not as a relic of the past, but as a living presence, part of the unfolding future."

David began to feel the weight of this truth, and in that moment, he understood the responsibility that came with this inheritance. It was not just about living a long life. It was about becoming a living bridge—connecting the wisdom of the past with the possibilities of the future.

"Your duty," the old woman concluded, "is to pass on what you have inherited. To share the wisdom, the stories, the love, and the challenges that have shaped you. For in doing so, you honor not just yourself, but every Elder who has ever walked this path before you."

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF MY ELDERS
I have followed this track of my Elders. I became part of their legacy. And they had elders before them, reaching back hundreds of generations, each one passing down wisdom, strength, and stories that have shaped the very fabric of who I am.

In their footsteps, I have found my purpose—not as an isolated being, but as a link in an unbroken chain of wisdom that stretches across time, connecting me to the past, guiding me in the present, and empowering me to pass it forward to those who will come after me.

I stand here, not just as a recipient, but as a steward of this inheritance, carrying the torch of my Elders into the future.