In Homer’s Odyssey, one of the tribulations Odysseus must confront and over which he must prevail, as he pursues his heroic attempt to return home, involves steering his ship through the strait of Messina on the northeast coast of Sicily. Bordering this narrow strait on one side is Charybdis, a whirlpool that can easily suck in and “disappear” a sea vessel. On the other side of the strait is Scylla, a monstrous rock against which even a well navigated ship can collide and founder.

Those of us seriously committed to conflict resolution, it seems to me, have our own Charybdis and Scylla. On one side, we have our very human urge to return slight with slight, allowing ourselves to become polarized, less compassionate, less intelligent, and less in command of where we’re going. On the other side of our various straits of potential embattlement, we enjoy the equally human urge to be BIG even if, in the process, we split off from our seemingly less noble impulses and fall out of alignment with ourselves.

These are murky waters. Is His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, exacting a price from himself and perhaps even others when he refuses to regard those in charge in Bejing as his enemies?  And, for that matter, what was Barack Obama doing with the all but unavoidable impulse to spurn and impugn when subjected to John McCain’s bitter onslaughts in their recent debate?

We are, I submit, in uncharted waters here. It no longer suffices to say with Nietzsche that “turn the other cheek” is a suppressive ploy of the weak to undermine the strong. On the other hand, we are constantly bombarded with false pieties and facile “correctnesses” that make the Rush Limbaughs of the world possible. Perhaps, at the end of the day, the planet’s schizoid bouncing between “NO TRESPASSING” on the one hand and “GOD IS LOVE” on the other is a very sophisticated Koan. Perhaps it will be only when some of us who have dedicated our lives to peace making throw out our scripts and, with heartful vehemence, shout at the top of our lungs, “GO TO HELL” that God or whatever we choose to call the Cosmic Zen Master will strike us on our heads with the appropriate bamboo instrument and declare us truly purged.  AMEN

Tags: Community, Interfaith // Add Comment »

By Wendy Brown-Báez
“If one does not stand in the darkness, he will not be able to see the light.” – Dialogue of the Savior, Nag Hammadi text

When I was a young adult, I joined a commune. Our philosophy was based on a mixture of imitating the lifestyle of the first century disciples of Jesus Christ and liberation from structures and institutions, a liberation that had been fostered by the counterculture of the 60’s. The practical reasons I joined were that I wanted to create a new family, a place where a Bohemian artist, spiritual seeker, and cultural rebel felt she belonged, a place where a single mom would find comfort and help in raising her child. Another reason the group attracted me was that there was a strong component of taking care of the less fortunate as stipulated in the Gospels: “Whatever you do to the least of these my brothers, you do to me.” We took in the homeless, street winos, Viet Nam vets with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), the mentally ill, travelers and seekers. We provided free meals, showers and laundry, a warm place to sleep, companionship and conversation, and music. Later we visited and corresponded with people who were incarcerated. We believed that when Jesus said Blessed are the poor, he meant those who live in poverty and when he said Give everything away and follow me, he was speaking to each of us personally.

The spiritual reason I joined was that I was completely confused about my spiritual practice.

Finally Discovering the Facade by Heather Muller

I had meditated by TM and zazen; [Editor’s Note: TM is an acronym that stands for Transcendental Meditation. Zazen, which literally means sitting meditation, is one of the central practices of Zen Buddhism.] read The New Testament, The Autobiography of a Yogi, The Golden Bough and Zen Mind, Beginners Mind; taken LSD and vows of silence; been celibate and promiscuous; gone on retreats at the Green Gulch Zen Center and the Lama Foundation and visited the Sikh ranch; had my astrology chart and my Tarot cards interpreted; was a vegetarian, a peacenik, and a disco queen.

I yearned to make a difference in the world. I believed in justice and harmony but had become disillusioned by every group I had ever been a part of–from my childhood church to my peers–by the shadow side of back-biting, gossip, adultery, greed, anger, power-mongering, and laziness, although I didn’t know then that those traits might be considered the shadow. [Read more →]

Tags: Community, Creativity, Interfaith, Vision // 1 Comment »

I have been listening to the Awakening The Impulse To Evolve conversations at: EvolutionarySpirituality.com. I am greatly encouraged that there are many of us exploring this evolutionary edge. Humanity is evolving. Can we grow to be the critical mass that is needed to breakthrough? Will we do it in time? Am I doing my part? What is my part?

At the same time I hear other messages. That: this is the last generation. Souls will no longer need human vehicles. Physicality is evil. Suffering is good. The more people there are to suffer the better. Basically; Trash the place we are on our way out. Or: We will leave in rapture and everyone else will be left to suffer a horrible end. Or: We are a malignant species killing our host planet therefore we deserve to die. Human species physical extinction? Spiritual evolutionary success or failure? [Read more →]

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Do not all spiritual traditions attempt to teach us how to live in community with each other? The older traditions include teachings that help us live in harmony with the earth and other life forms as well. Driving truck over the road through the heartland I see brushland where there once were forests, endless expanses of bare ground and pastures grazed to the roots. My recent reading has included “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan and “Inspiring Progress” by Gary T. Gardner. Both address the issue of stewardship. Pollan, as a personal responsibility and Gardner as an institutional possibility.

In my spare time I am attempting to network sustainable communities. We need to learn to work together to survive peak oil and thrive in harmony with nature. We need to work together to develop a post-consumer economy. The following adaptation of the Declaration of Independence caught my eye and evoked more than a few tears.

http://transitionculture.org/2009/01/15/the-transition-declaration-of-independence/
See also: http://transitiontowns.org

Transition Declaration of Independence Adapted from the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America Thomas Jefferson, 1776
Adaptation by Dr. Susan Krumdieck, 2008

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the economic bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. [Read more →]

Tags: Community, Inclusivity, Interfaith // 2 Comments »

Our planetary situation demands that we totally refocus our human values. As we continue to strive for the necessities of life we are faced with the stark reality that the way we have been going about this is not sustainable. Conquistador, missionary, dominator, imperialist, capitalistic practices will kill us all, after it hardens and breaks us.

The models of leadership that we have perpetuated based on domination are obsolete. Models of servant leadership based on compassionate understanding remove some of the distance of the dominating models. [Read more →]

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Demons and creativity don’t mix. I am using demon to point at that which we deify as an irresistible force sabotaging our best intentions. Some of my demons are victimhood, obstacles, Sisyphus, fear of intimacy and self loathing. I look at global warming and the domineering mindset of much of humanity, my heart fails and I surrender to victimhood. I see our fear and isolation, a high stress future, and see the fear growing. I know how important 360˚ feedback is to working together and the development of community and see myself resist it. The exploration of creative leadership renews my hope for compassion, inclusivity, community. To the extent that it has made the world a kinder, gentler place for me the exploration of creative leadership has helped me conquer a few inner demons and is giving me greater access to my creativity.

Several thought systems are converging for me, creating a new question. The old “distant,” authoritarian leadership paradigm is obviously (multiple studies) less productive than a “near” collective, connective and inclusive leadership paradigm. Most of the worlds’ traditions have been preaching the new paradigm for centuries. Yet much of the planet is operating under the old paradigm, failing to address the issues at hand, and not adopting the new. What paradigm do we need to access to learn and grow through the twenty first century? To work, it will have to be irresistible as well as being good for the world.

We are social animals, we naturally want to circle, to congregate, to work together, to play together, to learn together and to celebrate together. Is this what could make this transformation, this paradigm shift, so irresistible the mass of mankind will tackle inner demons and stand up to outer demons, the dominant powers. Playing with this new question lends a greater urgency and a new clarity to my work of developing a community building curriculum; a collection of games, processes and rituals designed to connect us. I need community to keep my hope alive. All of us together need to be in community to tackle both the inner and the outer demons of greed, separation, fear and resignation.

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(Minnesota Council of Churches, Saint Paul Council of Churches, Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches, Twin Cities Interfaith Network, Saint Paul Interfaith Network, Interfaith Bridging Initiative etc.)

Opening Conference: The Blessing of Controversy in Interfaith Work I (October 12, 19)

Participants: Circle workers willing to ground these breakouts and clergy and interfaith workers who are committed to serving as facilitators for the entire series.

Objective: Experientially equip participants to use controversy constructively.

The Event: Open the series of events with a retreat in which the keynote not only addresses the issue of “Constructive Controversy” but engages interfaith workers in a controversial inquiry. Professor Kenneth Fox, chair of Conflict Studies at Hamline Law School should be a great presenter and an adept facilitator for this process. [Read more →]

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