YOU ARE INVITED TO BEGIN A DIFFICULT CONVERSATION TO RESTORE HOPE AND BEGIN HEALING.
Margaret Wheatley, in her 2002 book, Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future wrote:
“It’s not easy to begin talking to one another again. We stay silent and apart for many reasons. Some of us never have been invited to share our ideas and opinions…. We can also take courage from the fact that many people are longing to be in conversation again. We are hungry for a chance to talk. People want to tell their story, and are willing to listen to yours. People want to talk about their concerns and struggles. Too many of us feel isolated, strange, or invisible. Conversation helps end that.”
In her 2012 book, So Far from Home: Lost and Found in Our Brave World, she wrote:
“I’m learning that the capacities and skills we most need— patience, compassion, discernment, effectiveness, courage— are available to us if we can see the world honestly and not flee from its harshness.”
And in her foreword to the 2005 book, The World Café: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter, Margaret Wheatley wrote:
“The World Café process [of community conversations] reawakens our deep species memory of two fundamental beliefs about human life. First, we humans want to talk together about things that matter to us. In fact, this is what gives satisfaction and meaning to life. Second, as we talk together, we are able to access a greater wisdom that is found only in the collective.”
The election season has finally ended – and the work of addressing fears, restoring hope and beginning healing among us all needs to begin. You are invited to join me in an honest and courageous conversation about the concerns of our nation and communities and how we can move forward together. Let’s get it started this Sunday, November 13, following 10:30 worship. Let’s say noon in the Rainbow Room. Bring a sack lunch or stop over at Subway – I’ll provide drinks.
Let me know if you plan to participate – or if you are inspired that day, just show up.
Together in mutual support and hope,
Pastor Eric