Havel on Hope
HOPE
Either we have hope within us or we do not.
It is a dimension of the soul and is not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world.
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Hospitality
|Photo by Original Nomad|http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonmonk/5371124284|
HOSPITALITY is not to change people, but to offer them a space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.
It is not to lead our neighbor into a corner where there are no alternatives left, but to open a wide spectrum of options for choice and commitment. It is not an educated intimidation of good books, good stories, and good works, but the liberation of fearful hearts so that the words can find roots and bear ample fruit.
It is not a method of making our God and our way into the criteria of happiness, but the opening of an opportunity for others to find their God and their way. The paradox of hospitality is that it wants to create emptiness – not a fearful emptiness, but a friendly emptiness where strangers can enter and discover themselves as created free; free to sing their own songs, speak their own languages, dance their own dances; free also to leave and follow their own vocations
-Henri Nouwen
Leave a commentFour Agreements
Toward the end of last year I tweeted about stumbling back upon Don Miguel Angel Ruiz’s Four Agreements, thanks to a reminder from a participant in the Hanley Center Health Leadership Development initiative. They were invoked as being key to keeping people grounded when their collaborative skillsets were being pushed to the limit by challenging circumstances. In thinking about these agreements more deeply over the winter break, they struck me as powerful and appropriate intentions to set for the new year, especially in our social change and sustainability work. Here they are with my own editorializing: Read More
Leave a commentBurn Brightly
|Photo by L.C. Nottaasen|http://www.flickr.com/photos/magnera/3984411975|
Another calendar year is coming to an end, and as of today, the seasonal darkness begins to recede. As I look forward to 2011 and the return of the light, I am reminded of the following words of George Bernard Shaw. Through them I find meaning in the busy-ness of life and blessing for the fullness of each day that calls on my whole self to be of service. May we burn brightly and steadily in the coming year and bring clarity and warmth to a world in need. Read More
Leave a commentA Process Poem
Thanks to the current ICL/Hanley Center Health Leadership Development class for the conversation that inspired this impromptu composition . . .
How Matters
How matters,
Perhaps more than you think.
Who you invite matters,
And how you invite them.
How you come together matters.
What you talk about and how you talk about it matters.
Where and how you start matters,
As does where you go next,
And where and how you end.
How matters.
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What We Need Is Here
|Photo by adrian valenzuela|http://www.flickr.com/photos/adrianv/5110801617|
Wishing you all a restful and nourishing Thanksgiving, along with reminders of the bounty that may be closer than we think.
The Wild Geese
Horseback on Sunday morning,
harvest over, we taste persimmon
and wild grape, sharp sweet
of summer’s end. In time’s maze
over fall fields, we name names
that went west from here, names
that rest on graves. We open
a persimmon seed to find the tree
that stands in promise,
pale, in the seed’s marrow.
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear,
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye
clear. What we need is here.
From Selected Poems of Wendell Berry, by Wendell Berry. Copyright 1998 by Wendell Berry.
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Pearls of Systems Wisdom
|Photo by hollaa01|http://www.flickr.com/photos/idrewuk/3548905692|
Last week I attended Pegasus Communications’ annual Systems Thinking in Action Conference in Boston and had the privilege of meeting and hearing from extraordinary people from around the country and globe, all interested in helping others to better see and work with wholes. From systems mappers and modelers to complex facilitation practitioners to researchers and preachers, my teachers were many. I was one of many tweeters spreading the wealth of wisdom cycling through that dynamic event and system. Here are some of my favorite take-aways in the form of quotes heard, read, and spiritually imbibed: Read More
Leave a commentA Whole Heart
Over the last few days my family has been going through a sort of sacred grief. The mystery of connection, the power of vulnerability, turning to life with one’s whole heart – these are the themes covered by this wonderful talk and confirmed by my own experience.
It is quite likely that you landed in this page to take a quick peep at this blog, that you did not come here for a twenty minute commitment, but I encourage you to take the time, a shift in perspective is enough to change a life. Samantha and I are so convinced that this is central to our work in the world that we have decided to prototype a “Whole Heart Workshop,” a place for us to practice better ways of being-with. Stay tuned for more, this will be good.
Leave a commentLetting Music Go Free
Is it ok to brag about one’s clients? It better be! I’m so proud that I have done work with Community Music Works! The front page of today’s Boston Globe highlights the power of letting music go free. Our First Lady just bestowed the National Arts and Humanities Youth Programs Award to Community Music Works, just a month after its founding director, Sebastian Ruth was awarded the McArthur Genius Award!
I’ve been doing more and more work with arts organizations lately – events like Creative Change and groups like the Arts and Democracy Project. I’ve been seriously considering the role of the arts in our quest for social transformation, and I have to agree with my future wife, Samantha Tan, who is an artist herself – “We’ve exhausted out left-brain approach, linearity found its limits and the problems that we face are now calling on our full self, art is the way.”
Leave a commentNaming What's Broken
Seth Godin at Gel 2006 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.
This video of Seth Godin’s funny Gel Conference talk about why so many things are broken around us has, from my perspective, many truths and considerable wisdom to it. One thing that has become clear from the last few years’ worth of meeting and working with community groups and social change advocates is that it’s time for more of us to step up and name what’s broken. From our antiquated and alienating public participation processes (see this link for a list of 21st century engagement techniques) to mind-numbing soul-sucking meetings to our siloed and overly simplistic ways of seeing and approaching complex and systemic problems, we know we can and must do so much better. So say it with me – “It’s broken.” This isn’t about complaining or assigning blame (because that would be broken too), it’s about getting curious about the brokenness and creative about reassembling the pieces into something that better supports our collective humanity. And, to follow Mr. Godin’s lead, why not have a sense of humor about it?
3 CommentsNaming What’s Broken
Seth Godin at Gel 2006 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.
This video of Seth Godin’s funny Gel Conference talk about why so many things are broken around us has, from my perspective, many truths and considerable wisdom to it. One thing that has become clear from the last few years’ worth of meeting and working with community groups and social change advocates is that it’s time for more of us to step up and name what’s broken. From our antiquated and alienating public participation processes (see this link for a list of 21st century engagement techniques) to mind-numbing soul-sucking meetings to our siloed and overly simplistic ways of seeing and approaching complex and systemic problems, we know we can and must do so much better. So say it with me – “It’s broken.” This isn’t about complaining or assigning blame (because that would be broken too), it’s about getting curious about the brokenness and creative about reassembling the pieces into something that better supports our collective humanity. And, to follow Mr. Godin’s lead, why not have a sense of humor about it?
Leave a commentHumanizing
Beautiful and timely video. Historically, we have shown and unbelievable ability to dehumanize one another. We seem to like dehumanizing one group at a time. In the United States today, it seems like Muslims have become the latest target – this video goes a long way to bring our beauty into perspective. Art leads.
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