Our Family Would Not Exist Without EBMC!
Wonder (萬德) would not exist if it were not for EBMC! Wonder is our exuberant, four-year-old child who loves to run and run and run when he is at EBMC. We chose an apartment within walking distance to EBMC because, other than our home, this family-friendly meditation center is the most important place in our lives.
Our family was formed when Abe and David fell in love after serving as volunteer coordinators for the Alphabet Sangha for EBMC, back in 2010. We lived out our dreams of becoming a two-dad family and welcomed Wonder into our lives surrounded by the love and support of our Sangha members. A handful of EBMC friends wrote songs for our baby shower including one our favorites: “Imagine Baby Wonder/ It isn’t hard to do/ With two wonderful Dads/ And a loving sangha too…”
EBMC is where our multiracial, queer family learns to show up for ourselves and others in community. We find sacredness in the persistent practice to honor ourselves, one another, and the greater EBMC beloved communities that are hurt and marginalized, whether by internalized or external “isms.” There were times during the initial first few years of parenting that being able to sit in silence at EBMC would bring up tears of gratitude and release. Now that Wonder is older and we are able to show up more at EBMC again, we are relishing the moments of connection and deepening practice we find there.
We are active in the Family Sangha and movement classes, as well as the Midday, Alphabet, and POC Sanghas and the Alphabet Brothers of Color and Transgender Deep Refuge Groups. We are at EBMC several times a week! We relish showing up as our embodied selves more and more, and, moment after moment, learning to listen, gaining wisdom, and honoring our individual strengths and collective spirit. And now Wonder is playing games of counting his breaths, and we are talking about what it means that a bully has been elected President.
During this time of intense fragmentation and uncertainty, we find refuge in EBMC as a sacred public space where wondrous, imperfect beings, like our family, can show up and be in deeper relations and open our hearts. In support of the radical and beautiful practice of gift economics at EBMC, this year, in lieu of a holiday tree, we are redirecting our family funds to make an additional end of year contribution to EBMC. Instead of a tree, we decided to pitch the holiday tent pictured here!
With tremendous gratitude to everyone who makes EBMC juicy and real,
Abe, David and Wonder Wu-Doherty
