June at Reflection Park

“Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.”

― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

This week, in the northern hemisphere, we observe the Summer solstice and usher in the longest day of sunlight in the calendar year. Whether this marker is spiritually meaningful to you, or just an opportunity to take an evening stroll appreciating the extra daylight, it’s natural to feel a sense of abundance and light at this time of the year. But, what about when we don’t feel that? What happens when the international headlines bring a sense of doom or our personal circumstances include grief, sadness, or loss? How do we reconcile the despair we feel with the obvious joy of the songbirds and flowering plants at this fecund time of year? The brilliant Robin Wall Kimmerer extols us to choose joy over despair; a laudable goal and profound reminder.

And yet, is there another option? Instead of vacillating between the choice of joy or despair, could we instead choose joy within despair? This solstice, as we move closer to opening Reflection Park to the public, we feel excitement and gratitude. And, we also acknowledge that a burial park, no matter how beautiful or peaceful, will always be a place where humans will reflect on loss, experience grief, and remember suffering. Our hope is that Reflection Park will be a place where joy and despair coexist, the former making the latter tolerable and the latter enhancing the serendipity of the former.

We at Reflection Park wish you a sense of wonder and peace to carry you through this season.

Board Update

The Reflection Park Board is delighted to share that it has hired its first Executive Director: Dr. Basil Eldadah.

Last month, after an open search, the Board hired Dr. Basil Eldadah to lead the organization. As one of Reflection Park’s co-founders, Basil has a unique understanding and unmatched passion for Reflection Park’s mission. He was motivated to help found the organization after going through an unpleasant experience with his father's burial. He is also deeply drawn toward personal growth and transformation, which are often catalyzed through significant life events like loss and grief. Basil's professional training is in internal medicine, clinical pharmacology, and neuroscience, and he recently retired from a lengthy career in biomedical research administration at the National Institute on Aging. We are thrilled that he chose Reflection Park for his next professional chapter.

Basil previously served on Reflection Park’s Board, but stepped down from that role before throwing his hat into the ring. His application was joined by those from several other well-qualified candidates, each with unique and complementary backgrounds, who are now joining Reflection Park’s efforts. We are thrilled to expand our team’s already diverse skill set and we look forward to future events where you’ll have an opportunity to meet everyone.

The Board is grateful for Basil’s formative years of service and is currently working to develop a recruitment plan to bring on additional members.

Land Update

Despite the recent rain, construction continues to remain mostly on schedule to enable our opening towards the end of the Summer. The land has been graded for the long spine road through the property and paving will begin soon.

Landscapers will later plant high quality grass seeds in the first three burial areas (Peace, Salaam, and Shalom) and fill the rest of the land with Maryland Upland Mix, a diverse blend of native upland meadow grass and wildflower species for perennial cover. Native hardwood trees will be replanted throughout the burial areas in the upcoming Fall planting season.

In April, Robert Fina, a sustainable trailmaker, created a one-mile hiking trail loop that will be open to the public during daylight hours. The trail meanders through a lush forest dominated by towering tulip poplar trees and passes by winding creek flows and sunny fern-filled clearings.

Over Memorial Day weekend, team members and volunteers along with some hired hands delivered and spread out hundreds of loads of wood chips along the trail that were generated by the trees removed during construction of the internal roadway. We are grateful that we could provide a second life for some of these trees by keeping their biomass on-site and enhancing the longevity of the trail.

We expect that trail maintenance will be one of the many volunteer opportunities we will have to offer after we open. If you are interested in being on our calling list for this or other volunteer opportunities, please let us know by completing this online form.

Stay tuned for more information about hikes and tours of the land as we approach opening. As soon as we open, we can begin taking pre-need reservations. We’ll start by contacting those who have completed the contact form on our website.

Reflection Park held a small land blessing ceremony and planted a Hawthorn tree –– long associated with healing, protection, and the heart –– as both a vital food source for winter wildlife and a living symbol of our shared intention to create a place of reflection, remembrance, and renewal.

Spring Event Recap

As part of Reflection Park’s education series, we met at Busboys and Poets in Takoma Park on April 17th for a screening of the movie The Last Ecstatic Days. Featured on PBS, this thought-provoking documentary explores the profound significance and transformative power of embracing death as a community.

Following the film, Reflection Park team members hosted an interactive community discussion with Dr. Aditi Sethi, Executive Director of the Center for Conscious Living and Dying (CCLD), based in Asheville, North Carolina. Dr. Sethi plays a significant role in the film, and her founding of the CCLD was inspired in part by her experiences documented in the film.

This event aimed to foster meaningful conversations around the end-of-life journey and the possibilities that arise when individuals and communities come together to support one another through one man’s journey of dying. We plan to continue similar programming in the future.

If you missed the screening, the film is available to watch on your own here.

Reflection Park is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity and all donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. We are grateful for every dollar contributed in support of our mission to create a sacred place that celebrates the cycle of life, death, and renewal. More information can be found on our donation page.

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