Story Share- Service- In Honor of Senan, December 2, 2018 @ 17:00 GMT in AJAX

Couple more thoughts. Steve chose an armoured samurai as his avatar and read and spoke often of samurai in his journal. I suggest at his time of dying he was obviously heavily invested in samurai ideas and I think it would be respectful to remember him in this way, a fallen samurai rather than the victim of some disease. Steve fought, hard, with the grace and composure of a warrior, in line with the teachings and reputation of the great Japanese sword-masters. I feel it right our reflections on his passing acknowledge that, alongside his unwavering Jedi faith (which he only grew in towards the end, by all accounts).

Larger version of his avatar for reflection:



I encourage his apprentices to speak to the shared emblem you guys created, and anything else relating to Steve's work as a master.

The icon I am using as an avatar was our dojo emblem, signifying Steve, Atticus, Goken and myself, and the message in my signature was a dojo motto he had a part in coming up with - per fraternitate consurgamus – “In brotherhood, we rise together”.

You all will notice, this space has been created in his Honor: https://www.templeofthejediorder.org/totjo-remembers-senan

If possible, I'd like to place the avatar there as well

Please do.

He made ours as (my current profile picture) as a continuing of the symbol he made with tzb, Atticus, and Goken. He told me that I was now a part of his extended family and came up with the icon. I wear it proudly on one of my custom hoodies (which he loved when I showed him). I plan on getting the symbol tattooed in the near future as a symbol of commitment, love, and memory.

Currently, the one I have as my profile picture has the date our apprenticeship officially started. I do have the standalone symbol in my laptop if you'd like me to provide that file.

Also, another song that we talked about by Flogging Molly (which was one of the things we shared in common) "What's Left of The Flag". Even though the original song is about the singer's lost father, I believe it fits the song list not only because Steve liked it, but because the flag is now to be raised by us.

Vlad your song has been added. I'm happy to add your emblem to the memorial page if you'd like

I would love that. I'm currently at work but once I get home, I'll reach out and send you the file.

Sorry for the double post, here's the icon Steve made for our apprenticeship. I'm very proud to have this symbol just like I know Atticus and my other brothers are proud of theirs.

I'll work on putting these up now

Ok the two emblems I have received permission to add have been added. Tzb-, did you want to add yours as well? If so, can you please attach and image file?

Rosalyn J wrote: Ok the two emblems I have received permission to add have been added. Tzb-, did you want to add yours as well? If so, can you please attach and image file?

Senan made this symbol for me at the beginning of our Apprenticeship as well. I believe I had just finished the lesson where we talked about personal symbols and he mentioned the one that both he and his Master shared, and the one he shared with Vlad...and then he asked me to brainstorm something that he and I could share together. Now at that time, I wasn't able to see my own creativity and I quickly jumped to admitting this to him. We talked about some of the symbols that I found interesting and nothing else was said about it until the next week when he plops into my Apprentice journal and posts this beautiful symbol. It's a simple Thomas purple and Steve's red influenced dharma wheel sitting in front of stalks of bamboo. The Dharma wheel symbolizes the Eightfold Path and the bamboo reminds us to be firm, yet flexible...recognizing the emptiness that we share with the interconnection of everything within existence in the confines of the rigidity of form.

I'll carry this symbol as a token of the love that we shared together, my brother.

Everyone here has done such a wonderful job describing the beautiful light that Senan shared with us all. I'd have to say that our relationship and the time spent learning from, and with him will always have a place in my heart. Senan embodied this form of being that was 100% genuine and 100% him. Throughout our time together, he always provided that since of pouring every ounce of himself into preparing Vlad and I to be the very best versions of ourselves as possible. There was just that pure something about his presence that reassured you that he cared and that was the driving force to help mold me into the person I am today. The light of his life, unbounded, completely transcending what I can only describe as physical or visceral to impact so many people, in so many places, just because he wasn't afraid to be simply who he was. Despite his physical aliments and his duties to his family, Senan made the conscious effort to choose to spend a piece of his life with us...dedicating, upwards to several hours a day to ensure that his Temple, our Temple, could flourish.

One of the most memorable life lessons that I carry with me stems from expanding on tzb's warrior reference that was mentioned a bit earlier. When Senan first reached out to me to speak about what would turn out to be our Apprenticeship, I was in that flowerly stage of Eastern influence where peace and non-violent interventions were the only solutions that I could conceptualize...I'll never forget that conversation with him when he taught me about the parable of the battle-ridden warrior. We have these conceptualizations in books and movies that the Warrior/Hero is this Knight in shiny armor who swoops in and just saves the day without so much as scuff on their uniform. He shared that the experiences of Knight who return from battle with their armor tattered, bent, and broken are the ones who have gone through their trials and returned with a sense of knowledge that could only be obtained through that direct experience. Senan never advocated for promoting satsujinken (the life taking sword) but recognized the importance of having the courage to prepare himself to use katsujinken (the sword of defense). Throughout his battles with cancer, Steve courageously shared his life's light and journey with us and taught us, in my opinion, the most valuable lesson anyone could teach, the manifestation of embodying his principles and values, regardless of the circumstance, and how to preserve...or what he called The Art of Senan.

I wonder if it would be suitable for us to have a portion of the service devoted to lighting a candle in Senan's honor.

Also, I didn't know him as well as some of you. Would you mind telling us what sort of food he liked? What places did he like to go to?

I think in this period of mourning and any time in the future, when we keenly feel the loss, to try and remember him in any way that we can.

Sure:

Another song Steve mentioned he found haunting, associated with death and dying:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqba0IUdiBk

And a quote from Steve himself, written on 8/23/16:

"I am more interested in how people will remember me. This interests me because even though my body will be gone, I will live on in the memories of those I leave behind. Will they remember me for the causes I dedicated my entire time living to, or will it be one distinct moment? Would my family and friends be more likely to remember my voice, my appearance, the things I said and did, or the titles I accumulated? I imagine it will be different for each person, but if it were up to me, I’d like to be remembered for how I made people feel.

When I am gone, I want my legacy to be that I was kind, generous, and thoughtful. I want people to remember me as someone who was giving with my time. I hope people will be able to say that I helped them at some point in their life, even if it was only in a small way. I want my legacy to be a life of service to others. I want to be remembered as a person who embodied the ideals of a Jedi, even if others don’t know that is what I called it. I want to be an instrument of peace during my life so that the memory of me will encourage others to be the same.

This legacy is the one I want to leave, but that doesn’t mean it is the one I will actually be remembered for. My actual legacy will more likely be that I was a happy person who tried to share that happiness with others. I am not always able to help, but I try to be optimistic and encourage optimism in others. I imagine that people will remember me as someone who liked to laugh.

[...]

I don’t know if I will be able to observe what my legacy will be from wherever “I” will go when my body dies. I’m not sure if returning to the Force includes a recap of what the rest of the world thinks of me. I tend to think that the Force will have little concern for how I am to be remembered because as an expression of the Force, I never really die. That is not to say that those I leave behind won’t decide what my legacy is anyway. Perhaps that is how it is meant to be. My legacy will be what other people decide it should be. All I can do is live this life as the best version of me I can be right now so that hopefully my legacy is a positive one once I am gone."

I've yet to fully share my stories because I'm still in disbelief. I will share, however, one of the smaller pleasures that Steve introduced me to, and, a joke amongst our little family.

POOL PARTY!



It's the little things that we remember that bring us the smallest and happiest memories. This little thing is one of the emotes on Skype. Usually when a new apprentice entered the family or something good happened, the little guy in his pool outfit with the little tube would come out. It was definitely something that I will cherish forever.

vladucard wrote:

POOL PARTY!

Attachment poolparty.gif not found

It's the little things that we remember that bring us the smallest and happiest memories. This little thing is one of the emotes on Skype. Usually when a new apprentice entered the family or something good happened, the little guy in his pool outfit with the little tube would come out. It was definitely something that I will cherish forever.

This made me smile.

Pool on!

Hiya

I was sent a message about whether TOTJO would be donating anything to organizations/charities which are helping to win the fight against colon cancer in honor of Senan. I think that donating is a wonderful idea, however, there is a fee assessed when utilizing our paypal account. To get more out of your donations, please donate directly to the organization of your choice.

I have found a website which offers a list of those organizations helping to find a cure for colon cancer.. The website provides a breakdown of how the organization uses funds so that you can be sure your money is going into research, but neither I, nor TOTJO, can vouch for any of them, so a bit of independent research is required.. This particular link is only for those based in the US. If there are others based in other locales that you'd like to add, please if you would be so kind to post them here.

Also, With permission I have added Kyrin Wyldstar's durge and the dojo emblem to the memorial page

Rosalyn J wrote:
Also, With permission I have added Kyrin Wyldstar's durge and the dojo emblem to the memorial page

Due to circumstances beyond my control, the dirge has been moved from Senans tribute page to a link in my signature. Please refer to that link moving forward.

Thx!

Senan was also a founding member and Knight at the Monastic Order of Knights, if that is of interest or suitable for inclusion;
http://monasticorderofknights.org/index.php/first-knights