In Gratitude and Acknowledgement
I, Sara Jolena, belong to a long lineage of strong women and caring men.
Centuries of mystics, visionaries, wise travelers, daring fools, songs, seeds, and everyday folk make this work possible.
I am encircled by the wings of living angels.
I offer gratitude
to my ancestors
and to my teachers along this path.
These include:
The Religious Society of Friends; Joanna Macy and the Work That Reconnects Community; Union Theological Seminary Professors including but not only: Dr Brigette Kahl, Dr Larry Rassmussen, Dr Sarah Azaransky, Dr Cornell West, Dr James Cone, Dr Hung Kung Chung, Dr Hal Taussig, Dr John Thataminal; Sam Freedman and the Book Writing Seminar Community at the Columbia School of Journalism; Ram Subramanium and the Sustainable Livelihood Network in Auroville, India; Elders Drs Mindahi Bastida, Geraldine Patrick and their family; Karenna Gore and the Center for Earth Ethics network including Lyla June Johnson and Catherine Flowers; Fletcher Harper and the GreenFaith Network; Fred Bahnson and the ReGenerate Network; Elaine Emily, Leonard Joy, Nancy Wilkinson and Strawberry Creek Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends; Drs. Melissa Leach, Gerald Bloom, Lawrence Haddad, Felix Bivens and the Institute of Development Studies Community; Rev Dr. Donna Schaper and Judson Memorial Church; the North American Healing Arts community; Rabbi Joanna Katz and the Clinical Pastoral Education team at Jewish Theological Seminary; Landmark Education; Sri Ramakrishna; Thirumalai Raganthan and the Nalla Keerai Community in Chennai, India; Shilpa Jain, Roy Jacob, Rashee Mehta and the YES! Jam network; The Fellowship of Reconcilliation; Dr Samsul (Anchu) Maarif, Dr Dicky Sojfan, and UGM community, Indonesia; Angakkoq Angaangaq; gkisedtanamoogk Hildegard von Bingen; Rebecca Cox Jackson; Howard Thurman; Mahatma Gandhi; Dr Martin Luther King Jr; Ella Baker; W.E.B. Du Bois; Starhawk; Willie James Jennings; Winona LaDuke; Walter Wink; Yvonne Gebara; Rilke; Hafiz; St Francis; Tiokasin Ghosthorse; Carol Adams; Laurel Kearns; Michael Sells; Josephine Duvenick and Hidden Villa Ranch; my father Kent Wolcott, Margaret Crogan Wolcott, Gladys Mastin and my great-grandmothers; my mother Diane Mastin Wolcott. My sisters-on-the-journey, including especially Storae Michele, Tara Bedeau; Kelly Ann Moltzen, Anna Mudd, Rachel Porter, and Maggie Jarry. My relatives the sequoia trees; the East Bay Watershed; oceans; serpent; moon; moose. And so many others! Thank You.