Some powerful ups and downs over the past week. Almost a week ago, I was at a Church Board meeting where an extremely tangled problem was tabled. It was never actiulally talked about, but everyone is concerned about it.The committee having the conflict was so at loggerheads that it dissolved itself and asked the Board to strike another committee. I've never been involved in such a volatile situation. People shouting at each other, confidentiality being broken, name calling and raw hostility. No idea how this will work out, The Board is hiring a mediator so the committee members can achieve some degree of reconciliation. More anon, as Doris Black used to say…
On the weekend I had the opportunity to take in a lecture series in Calgary, featuring a very radical and intense philosopher-theologian from Ireland, Peter Rollins. Very good stuff, but high intensity. He actually didn't "lecture," but talked rapid fire, with lots of movement, and a thick Irish brogue. Altogether stimulating and enlivening. Of course, now I have three more books to read!
On the weekend, I also had the opportunity bto visit with a friend with whom I worked briefly. I stayed with he and his wife. Great visit, fun playing with their Jack Russell terrier, and planning to go to a conference in Nashville in spring with him. It was actually good to get away and take a fresh perspective on things from a different angle.
Every now and then I remember that the world is bigger than the small circles in which I move, and that there are big movements happening that I can touch, and from which I can learn. The problem, of course, is how to actually put the new learning to work in a situation where I have very little power and control. Most of the time, that doesn't bother me: at my stage of life, being a supporting actor is just fine. But sometimes I see that those with whom I work are bogged down, and need a "re-invention" in order to be effective. I'm not quite sure how to broach this with the person concerned, or how deeply to go into it since there appears to be no invitation for this forthcoming. I'm learning to just sit and wait for things to unfold…or unravel!
I'm flat tonight, and although a lot is rolling around in my mind, I can think of no way to put iot our. Perhaps tomorrow, in the light, inspiration will come.
On the weekend I had the opportunity to take in a lecture series in Calgary, featuring a very radical and intense philosopher-theologian from Ireland, Peter Rollins. Very good stuff, but high intensity. He actually didn't "lecture," but talked rapid fire, with lots of movement, and a thick Irish brogue. Altogether stimulating and enlivening. Of course, now I have three more books to read!
On the weekend, I also had the opportunity bto visit with a friend with whom I worked briefly. I stayed with he and his wife. Great visit, fun playing with their Jack Russell terrier, and planning to go to a conference in Nashville in spring with him. It was actually good to get away and take a fresh perspective on things from a different angle.
Every now and then I remember that the world is bigger than the small circles in which I move, and that there are big movements happening that I can touch, and from which I can learn. The problem, of course, is how to actually put the new learning to work in a situation where I have very little power and control. Most of the time, that doesn't bother me: at my stage of life, being a supporting actor is just fine. But sometimes I see that those with whom I work are bogged down, and need a "re-invention" in order to be effective. I'm not quite sure how to broach this with the person concerned, or how deeply to go into it since there appears to be no invitation for this forthcoming. I'm learning to just sit and wait for things to unfold…or unravel!
I'm flat tonight, and although a lot is rolling around in my mind, I can think of no way to put iot our. Perhaps tomorrow, in the light, inspiration will come.
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