My Cohort Story: Brooke
A few weeks ago, we shared Sarah’s cohort story. Today, we share Brooke’s, who wrote her reflection in the form of a letter to herself. What a privilege to let us all read it.
Dear Brooke,
Here you are, at the end of your 2021 Cohort Hey experience. When you began this journey, you wrote yourself a letter to read at the end of the cohort and wondered if it would feel bittersweet, hopeful that you would feel satisfied by what you have learned and how you have grown. You shared that you were hopeful to connect more deeply with God, with His story, with others, and with who you were created to be.
The letter Brooke wrote to herself at the beginning of her Cohort journey.
You were proud of yourself for risking, for investing, for exploring this route of understanding and growth. You hoped to have found questions and answers that have brought peace and radiance to your soul.
While those hopes feel difficult to measure and experiences difficult to describe, I am so glad for the journey you have taken, with Stephanie and Lisa as facilitators/midwives, and with 9 other beautiful and fascinating souls in this Cohort Hey.
There was so much goodness in connecting with Living Presence, in reading, in asking and answering questions, in looking at the threads of Hebrew words throughout Scripture, in practicing Jewish traditions that have been practiced for thousands of years, and connecting with the stories of the Israelites, Egyptians, wanderers, and strangers.
The student in you loved the assignments, the readings, the questions, the opportunities to learn from others in a group setting with other wonderers and people on their journeys that were both similar and different from yours. The growing adult in you appreciated the openness and safe space for different perspectives, possibilities, and freedom to do or not do as much of the curriculum as you had space for in your current actual real life. I think you feel both more grounded and centered as well as more freedom and openness to explore, to listen, and to step out in courage.
Since 2021 was a primarily virtual year, it was the perfect time for you, as a Michigan resident, to be a part of an intentional part of “safe spaces for the curious, the doubters, and the hope seekers to wrestle through biblical texts using the ancient Jewish concepts of midrash so that - together - we can expand each other’s experience of what is sacred, whole, and good.” Doing Torah Roots was a great introduction to the style of study and community that the Cohort took to the next level.
The Cohort Hey Closing Retreat at St. Jane House in Minneapolis was one of the best weekends of your life so far.
It was such a gift to get to be with people that you had previously only really seen in equal sized rectangles on your computer screen to share physical space and taste delicious food, make real eye contact, hug and BE fully together. Especially after the ways the pandemic has shifted our relationships and experiences of safety in countless ways.
You wrote a poem about the days of Cohort Hey, and it ended with:
Tuesday, the day of seed 10,
Cohort Hey’s birth day,
emerging after 40 weeks
The bittersweetness in anticipation of change
We Zakar
(Remember and memorialize)
Bring to mind and adjust our focus
As we Consider and Act
To Yatsa
(Go forth, bring out, and exodus)
Together and separate
To share
Tov
Tov meod
(Good
Very good)
As we nurture the seeds of our collective and individual gardens
For nourishing and flourishing
For All of Creation
So, here you are, a couple weeks after completing the 10 seeds and the closing retreat, finishing one part of this journey, and beginning another.
Like a plant, you have been nurtured with rich soil, water, light & are participating in abundant life cycles of death and renewal, pruning and harvesting. But unlike a plant, you have words and people to share presence and choice with.
The verses that come to mind are Jeremiah 17:7-8 in The Message translation that you enjoy:
“But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,
the woman who sticks with God.
They’re like trees replanted in Eden,
putting down roots near the rivers—
Never a worry through the hottest of summers,
never dropping a leaf,
Serene and calm through droughts,
bearing fresh fruit every season.
May you continue to grow, to learn, to remember who you are, and this experience and community of fellow wrestlers and wonderers.
May your roots grow deeper and your branches reach higher as you experience the breath and wind of Living Presence in and around you. And may your freedom and grounded-ness also inspire others.
Love, grace & peace,
Brooke
Could this year be the year for you to join the Cohort program?
Over the course of 40 weeks, the 2022 Cohort will walk together through an intensive journey of study and community. The connections formed in the Cohort are often deep and lasting. The immersion in the Hebrew language and the midrash style of study equips people to see their faith and their lives through a different lens.
Our next Cohort starts in January and is filling up now. For more information or to read more cohort stories, check out our Cohort page.
It starts with a conversation, so email Steph or Lisa to grab a walk or zoom and talk more about whether this is the best next step for you.