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?

What a way to go! We are all connected. To the degree anyone suffers I suffer. The extinction of the human species could be really good for the planet but I doubt that doing it this way could be very helpful to our spiritual evolution. Evolution demonstrates increasing complexity and cooperation. The wisdom traditions point to inclusivity, community, kindness, forgiveness and love. Extinguishing our species through cruelty, neglect, abuse, and other manifestations of our inhumanity would seem to be a major setback to our spiritual evolution.

As I delve deeper into my spiritual evolution I am finding that somewhere in my early years I must have sworn to hate my father forever. Now as I care for this 93 year old, as I hear of the horrors of war, the unfairness of life, and as we both regress to our two year old selves, I find my two year old hates him. Like all my years of dysfunction come out of that oath. Intellectually I can rationalize that this vet had been traumatized, had a short fuse, and deserves to be forgiven for his violent rages. Emotionally, when he gets upset, I still can feel the explosion coming and want to run and hide. I still have the rage inside that kept me going when all I wanted was to die. When I agreed to care for him I knew I had healing work to do. I didn’t know it would be this hard. It feels like my spiritual life hangs in the balance.

I recently wrote that we are called to bless everyone and every situation. I would like to have no resentments, no regrets and no unfinished business (Michael Dowd). I would like to see the Universe as friendly (Einstein). I would like to be awake to the beauty of existence and drawn into intimacy and trust (Brian Swimme). To some degree I do feel I manage to be in a place of always learning (Duane Elgin). I hope I move the evolutionary action forward (Andrew Cohen). I hope I change the universe by the change I am (Cohen). I want to rise above my personal particulars to universal capacities, awakening to context (Jean Houston). All these wants and hopes feel like the long forgotten memory of the future (Houston). We know we can have a world that works for everyone. Everyone includes me, stepping into each new day, free of fear, free of rage, free of hate, full of gratitude, blessed and blessing everyone and everything. Ah! Forgiveness work!

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.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, Justice, the pursuit of Happiness, a Healthy Natural Environment and Sustainability for ourselves, the Third Generation and the Seventh Generation.

— That to secure these rights, Organisations are instituted among Communities, deriving their just powers from the consent of the Members,

— That whenever any Form of Economy becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Relationship, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Economic Relationships long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them and their environment to ruin, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Economic Constraints, and to provide new Guards for their future security and sustainability.

— Such has been the patient sufferance of this community; and such is now the necessity which constrains us to alter our former Systems of Business Growth for its own Sake and Environmental Exploitation. The history of the present Theory of Economics is a history of repeated disasters, injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over communities and the environment. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

The Growth Economy for its own Sake has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, felled our forests, polluted our water and fouled our air.

The Growth Economy for its own Sake has exploited our talents, put us into debt, degraded our culture and eroded our relationships with the members of our community.

The Growth Economy for its own Sake has exploited mineral resources which by right should belong to people in perpetuity in order to obscenely enrich a few in the short term.

The Growth Economy for its own Sake has paved our farms, sprawled our towns, and destroyed the quality of live of our people and their children and grandchildren.

The Growth Economy for its own Sake has convinced us, for more than a century, to ignore the voice of scientific knowledge and reason in order to continue the acidification of our air and oceans through Sulphur Dioxide, Nitrous Oxides and Carbon Dioxide emissions from combustion of fossil fuels.

The Growth Economy for its own Sake has exploited the labour of people and environments that have no protection from ill use, and has persecuted people who worked for economic justice and equality.

The Growth Economy for its own Sake has assaulted the morality of our youth and treated them as a target market rather than with the respect of future citizens and community members.

The Growth Economy for its own Sake has corrupted the purpose of our governance and civic institutions, it has usurped the purpose of our curiosity and research efforts, and it has shifted the motivation for the education of our young from development of their intellect and character to exploitation of their labours for further growth of the economy.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the Transition Committee of Oamaru, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of this community, solemnly publish and declare, That this Community is, and of Right ought to be Free, that we are Absolved from all unsustainable and perverse requirements of the Growth Economy for its own Sake, and that all connection between this Community and the Growth Economy, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as a Free and Sustainable Community, we have full Power to reduce fuel and electricity consumption, restore our environment, protect our culture, nurture our agricultural assets, set aside our resources, refrain from extracting minerals, stone or fossil fuels, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Local Commerce based on our own principles and theories, and to do all other Acts and Things which Sustainable Communities may of right do.

— And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

            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

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. Current research indicates the qualities that yield the best results in organizations are collective, connective and inclusive. (Alimo-Metcalfe. 2006) This British study indicates that groups who function the best and are most productive have higher scores in: honesty, concern, accessibility, trust, encouragement, teamwork, vision, and learning from change and mistakes. A separate American study (Balthazard. 2006) indicated that dysfunctional organizations demonstrate the opposite qualities.

Creativity, required to make the changes needed to survive, is supported by the qualities of collectivity, connectivity and inclusivity. The great teachers in all traditions have advocated for the qualities, the values, that facilitate creativity and community. Individual creativity is valuable but communal creativity will be needed to grow through the challenges humanity faces.

Creative leaders are individuals who together are willing to step into the unknown, access new possibilities, and nurture those possibilities in the face of the status quo. When together we slow down and utilize practices and exercises that activate unused inner resources (90% of our minds) we see connections and openings that were previously invisible. Inclusive, nurturing, community provides the support to do the research, find the fit, develop new all inclusive co-inquiries, and embody behaviors that are sustainable.

References

Alimo-Metcalfe, Beverly. (2006). More (good) leaders for the public sector. International Journal of Public Sector Management. 19(4). 293-315. Retrieved February 11, 2008 by Metro State University Library. http://ill.mnpals.net/exlibris/ill/il6_1/tmp/mtr2081746.html

Balthazard, Pierre A. (2006). Dysfunctional culture, dysfunctional organization: Capturing the behavioral norms that form organizational culture and drive performance. Journal of Managerial Psychology. 21(8). 709-732. Retrieved February 12, 2008. from Metro State University Library. http://ill.mnpals.net/exlibris/ill/il6_1/tmp/mtr2082102.html

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.

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.

The objective being to press everyone to take a stand based in their faith tradition. Some grandstanding, theatrical, dramatic, great debate, defend your faith, pre-event publicity may be needed to encourage participation. This would be followed by breakouts in which participants are invited to speak out, engage, and practice the skill set needed to work with a group of passionate defendants of their faiths. The conference would close with a common meal.

Possibilities: Despair and Empowerment Work, Fishbowl, Open Question Circle, Open Sentences Practice, Widening Circles Exercise, World Work,

Event Series: Four to six public forums around topics that evoke a faith based response. (October / November)

Participants: These events will be facilitated at different houses of worship to encourage the presence of worshipers from differing traditions.

Objective: The faithful will experience standing up for their faith in ways that encourage others to stand for their own beliefs while honoring self and other. As a result they will continue these conversations within and between their faith communities with the resulting events being inviting to a greater range of believers.

The events: There could be simultaneous series in Saint Paul, Minneapolis, and suburban communities. They could be structured with the presentation of opposing points of view on a “hot topic” followed by in depth circle discussions and an appropriate breaking of bread.

Possibilities: Just war and nonviolence, punishment and forgiveness, judgment and non-judgment, good/evil and all one, free will and karma,

Wrap Up Conference: The Blessing of Controversy in Interfaith Work II (December)

Participants: Facilitators from the series and participants who would like to facilitate the next series.

Objective: Participants will integrate learnings, what worked, what didn’t work.

The event: This could be an excellent opportunity to use a fishbowl format and play out (dramatically) different occasions from the series so the entire group could analyze the dynamics and learn from them. Three or four real events, reenacted and analyzed in sequence. Followed by a major celebration.

Email to Circle Keepers.

Circle keepers and facilitators: Attached find a brief description of a series of Interfaith events. To be successful we need experienced volunteer facilitators for the breakout circles at the opening conference. This would involve a preconference meeting and the Sunday afternoon/evening of October 12 or 19^th. If you would be willing to serve the Interfaith community by sharing your skills in this way please reply to this email and I’ll keep you posted. Thank you for the great healing work you do.