Introduction to the creation of The Elder Journey

Where did the idea of the Elder Journey come from?

In 2003, when I was MKP Elder Chairman I asked Ken Kuffner (recent past Elder Chairman) to take on the project of developing a training curriculum for Elders. This was something that had been included in the MKP Annual Operating Plan for the past two years but had languished.

The first document that Ken produced was called, “My Thoughts on Elder Matters” and he sent that out to the Elder Court and a few others. This paper contained 5 topics that were the early thoughts on an Elder curriculum of learning and training:

1. Shadows around Growing Older
2. I Create my own Reality
3. Accept the Projections
4. The Elder Warrior
5. Blessing

This was over 5000 words and became the beginning of The Elder Journey.

It was in January of 2004 that Ken produced another paper over 5000 words called, “A Suggestion for Elder Initiation: A Conscious Journey – From Aging Warrior to Honored Elder”.

In this paper he explores:

1. A Vision for Elders.
2. What, or Who, is an Elder?
3. What is Elder Energy?
4. Who are the Elders?
5. How Does One Get to be An Elder?
6. Becoming an Elder is Really a Passage
7. The Sacred Path of the Elder

And here he inserts the Elements of The Elder Journey of Initiation:

• A. The Discernment
• B. The Choice
• C. The Spiritual Path
• D. Developing My Elder Skills and Wisdom
• E. The Authentic Claim

He then finishes with the question, “Who will be the Initiators of Elders?”

Based on this work we then sent out a invitation to interested men to meet in Houston at Ken’s home to begin work on what would become “The Elder Journey”.

This first meeting took place March 27 and 28. 2004. Those in attendance were:
Ed Alley
Kirby Benson
Ken Kuffner
Vern Ludwig
Tom Oldham
Ken Plattner
Bob Stecker

We spent Friday evening and all-day Saturday discussing the information that Ken had brought forward. We realized this was important work that could serve and heal many men and women. We just weren’t sure of how to do this – how to present it in a form that would be useful. I had a dream on Saturday night that I was standing on a seashore and a gigantic wave was coming toward me and was going to wash over everything. When I woke up, I knew what could work if there was buy-in from the rest of the group. I had done research on developmental models in graduate school and realized that could be a workable form to put all this rich information in so it could be utilized by others. Ken was enthusiastic about the idea as well as the others and that is how it came about – The Elder Journey stages of development. It was a nice day and we sat out on Ken’s back porch and created the 7 developmental stages of the Elder Journey from all the material that had come forth up to this point.

1. The Awakening
2. The Choice
3. The Struggle
4. Resolution and Development
5. Acceptance and Being
6. In Service
7. Ultimate Stage – Passing On and Passing it On

Some other dates regarding The Elder Journey:

• A training program for Elders was approved at the Annual meeting of the Council of Elders at Glen Ivy in February 2004.
• The seven stages of Elder development were presented at the 2004 WEG in Bedford, Indiana. Benson and Kuffner.
• April 2004 – Meeting with Ex Comm at Gaia. Kuffner and Benson. The Elder Journey intellectual property was given to MKP.
• 2nd Meeting in Houston – April 2005. Present: Ed Alley, Terry Jones, Jack Graff, Ken Kuffner, Tom Oldham, Ken Plattner, Kirby Benson. Workshop presentation by Terry Jones and Ed Alley.