I've realized that in writing about the 2013 workshop in Ireland I cannot write about the participants since we request of them a confidentiality about what happened in the workshop. So, I won't use names or even change names, I'll just say "a participant...."
"A participant" got the workshop on the morning of the second day. You see, this is a workshop that doesn't require 'understanding' anything. In fact, one of the things I've said over and over over the years is "understanding is the booby prize". What you need from the workshop is to 'get' the workshop.
There's a sense in which the workshop is like a joke--you either 'get' it or you don't. And we all have the experience of having tried to explain a joke to someone who didn't 'get' it. There's just no way to explain a joke and have someone 'understand' it. You get a joke, or you don't. You 'understand' biology or physics or algebra. You GET a joke...and the workshop.
(Another thing you either 'get' or don't are the parables of Jesus. There's no 'understanding' involved. I often think of Jesus as a stand up comic: "A shepherd lost a sheep...get it? Or how about this, a woman lost a coin...get it? Or this, a man lost his son....get it about 'lost things'?")
In one of the rare times I was in the front of the room (this workshop being about the Irish leading it, more than anything) a question by one of the participants revealed to me, without a doubt, that he 'got' the workshop two days too soon. That often happens in workshops. Just as some people 'get' the joke first, some 'get' the workshop early. And there are two possible outcomes: either the early 'getter' is impatient and frustrated that he or she is first in on the joke, or they just lean back and let the workshop work for everyone else. Happily, this 'getter' was in the latter group and simply smiled and beamed the whole rest of the way.
"A participant" was, from the beginning, so involved, so connected to the others and the leaders that I began to realize she was 'in love' with the process and the distinctions and centering prayer and the whole thing. And when it came time, after all the moving backwards creating a free space from which to declare who you 'be'. She was one of the first to stand up and declare, "I am Love!" And I knew it all along and it rang so true, so true....
"A participant" was both the humorist and philosopher of the group. God love him. To be both humorist and philosopher is a rare and lovely thing. And he would forward the movement of the workshop from time to time with humor and from time to time with philosophy and always with integrity and "being". Would that we could plant one of those in every workshop. It would just make the leaders' job easier and more enjoyable. What a gift he was.
"A participant" was in the midst of some agenda of his own that had nothing to do with the workshop. The reason that person had come had made sense in his/her mind. But he/she was working on stuff much different from the stuff we were presenting. The way I speak of such people, who show up all the time in workshops, is like this "He/she is here for his/her workshop, not for ours...."
The leaders didn't 'get' that and he/she took us on a rabbit trail for quite a while. But when we met as leaders, the leaders 'got it' and just let him be. (Another mantra of the workshop is this--mostly about the distractions of centering prayer but also about the distractions in the workshop--"if you 'let it be', it will 'let you be'."
I can't tell you how amazing this workshop is. It's called Making a Difference. And if you Google "The Mastery Foundation" you will find lots of stuff about it.
It is one of the primary sources of both my Pride and my Humility that I have been a part of it for over 25 years. I wish I could be a part of it for another 25 years--but then I'd be 91 and in my dotage. But I have a few years left and I want to train people, like the three leaders in Ireland, to keep this work alive.
Really. It's that important.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Sunday, October 13, 2013
The musical preferences of birds
Our Bose radio is right beside Maggie's cage. It is always tuned to the Classical Public Radio Station because Maggie seems to like music better than the talk radio Public Radio Station.
She sings along with Mozart, Bach and Beetoven, and other classical stuff. On Sunday nights there is a show that is rare and alternative music. Maggie is still and silent during all that.
I wonder if she likes it or not.
That's the kind of thing I wonder about and ponder.
Whether our parakeet is enjoying the music or not.
Go figure.
Lots of stuff to ponder and I ponder that. Like I ponder why my spell check didn't catch 'Beetoven', which I'm sure I misspelled. Twice now.
Lots of stuff to ponder.
I just want our bird to be happy....
Who knew that was what life was about?
She sings along with Mozart, Bach and Beetoven, and other classical stuff. On Sunday nights there is a show that is rare and alternative music. Maggie is still and silent during all that.
I wonder if she likes it or not.
That's the kind of thing I wonder about and ponder.
Whether our parakeet is enjoying the music or not.
Go figure.
Lots of stuff to ponder and I ponder that. Like I ponder why my spell check didn't catch 'Beetoven', which I'm sure I misspelled. Twice now.
Lots of stuff to ponder.
I just want our bird to be happy....
Who knew that was what life was about?
Ireland II
The Making a Difference Workshop is about Transformation. Almost every other workshop I've been to--and I've been to many: being parish priest is about 'going to workshops'--was about 'change'. Those other workshops have been about 'important things'. But MAD (Making a Difference) is about things not even on the continuum between important-and-unimportant.
Most workshops are about how to 'do' something or another. MAD is about 'who we BE' in the matter.
Ontology is a great old Divinity School word, a word of graduate studies in theology--what 'ontology' means is 'the study of being'.
And the way we get there in the workshop--to the discussion of 'being', to transformation--is through two arenas--Centering Prayer and 'distinctions'.
Distinction, according the the Merriam Webster dictionary is 'a difference that you can see, hear, small and feel, etc: a noticeable difference between things....'
What we do in the workshop is 'make distinctions'. Here's a simple one. 'Something happens' and then 'we talk about it'. Seems obvious, right? But the thing is, we human beings blur the distinction between 'what happened' and 'what we say about it' to the point that what we say becomes what happened. There's really no way to avoid that since it is part of the being of human beings to collapse the domain of Presence with the domain of Representation. Just what we do.
But, in the workshop, we ask people to 'notice' the distinction between 'what happened' and 'what we said about it' in a way that gives us more 'choice' in the matter.
(All that just oozed out of me since I am so recently a part of a workshop.)
What I really wanted to write about is the workshop in Ireland that I was a part of.
Ireland is a breathlessly beautiful island. It's latitude and the influence of the seas all around it make it a place not unlike Connecticut, where I live, except that it snows 12-20 feet each winter in Connecticut and Ireland has a snowfall only every other year or so. And, I suspect, it never gets as cold in Ireland as in Connecticut since all the conference centers I've been in have what would be considered inadequate heating systems compared to what Connecticut requires. I've never been there in deep winter, but I think I'm on track here. Ten below Fahrenheit (-20 Celsius) happens several times each Connecticut winter. (Once when I lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts--only 90 miles north of where I live now--in the winter of 1971-72--it went below zero (-20 C) in early November and stayed below zero until early February. I don't think that ever would happen in Ireland, though I'm not sure.
But what I finally want to get to is the Workshop in Ireland last week.
Those remarkable people I wrote about in my last posting did themselves proud. They were on the edge of their seats from the get go and remained there. The workshop is challenging because it seeks to disrupt our normal way of thinking. Some people are more open to that than others, but most all of the folks in this workshop were ready to go. That makes it easy because 'the workshop works' and 'the participants will give the leaders the workshop if we only listen well enough.
And that happened.
Later I will talk about some of the participants and some of the leaders. But I'm through for now. Later, I promise.
Most workshops are about how to 'do' something or another. MAD is about 'who we BE' in the matter.
Ontology is a great old Divinity School word, a word of graduate studies in theology--what 'ontology' means is 'the study of being'.
And the way we get there in the workshop--to the discussion of 'being', to transformation--is through two arenas--Centering Prayer and 'distinctions'.
Distinction, according the the Merriam Webster dictionary is 'a difference that you can see, hear, small and feel, etc: a noticeable difference between things....'
What we do in the workshop is 'make distinctions'. Here's a simple one. 'Something happens' and then 'we talk about it'. Seems obvious, right? But the thing is, we human beings blur the distinction between 'what happened' and 'what we say about it' to the point that what we say becomes what happened. There's really no way to avoid that since it is part of the being of human beings to collapse the domain of Presence with the domain of Representation. Just what we do.
But, in the workshop, we ask people to 'notice' the distinction between 'what happened' and 'what we said about it' in a way that gives us more 'choice' in the matter.
(All that just oozed out of me since I am so recently a part of a workshop.)
What I really wanted to write about is the workshop in Ireland that I was a part of.
Ireland is a breathlessly beautiful island. It's latitude and the influence of the seas all around it make it a place not unlike Connecticut, where I live, except that it snows 12-20 feet each winter in Connecticut and Ireland has a snowfall only every other year or so. And, I suspect, it never gets as cold in Ireland as in Connecticut since all the conference centers I've been in have what would be considered inadequate heating systems compared to what Connecticut requires. I've never been there in deep winter, but I think I'm on track here. Ten below Fahrenheit (-20 Celsius) happens several times each Connecticut winter. (Once when I lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts--only 90 miles north of where I live now--in the winter of 1971-72--it went below zero (-20 C) in early November and stayed below zero until early February. I don't think that ever would happen in Ireland, though I'm not sure.
But what I finally want to get to is the Workshop in Ireland last week.
Those remarkable people I wrote about in my last posting did themselves proud. They were on the edge of their seats from the get go and remained there. The workshop is challenging because it seeks to disrupt our normal way of thinking. Some people are more open to that than others, but most all of the folks in this workshop were ready to go. That makes it easy because 'the workshop works' and 'the participants will give the leaders the workshop if we only listen well enough.
And that happened.
Later I will talk about some of the participants and some of the leaders. But I'm through for now. Later, I promise.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Ireland
I've been going for quite a few years now (my linear time deficiency prevents me from saying precisely how long I've been going) to Ireland to help lead the Making a Difference Workshop. I just got back yesterday from the '13 workshop. This was the one when the Irish team of leaders did most of the work and my role became, for the most part, their guide and coach.
The workshops are part of my heart. The one I went to as a participant over a quarter of a century ago, transformed my thoughts about leaving the priesthood into giving me my priesthood all new. And since then, being a priest has done nothing but enliven me and give me joy. The difference before and after the Making a Difference workshop for me was that 'before', I was 'doing priesthood' and 'after' I was 'being a priest'. All the difference in the world, I assure you.
Since then I've helped lead between 30 and 60 workshops (I have a deficit in remembering numbers as well as being confounded by linear time). It has been a huge part of my life and every time I helped lead a workshop I came away with a deeper commitment to myself and my ministry. This time is no different.
I squirmed uncomfortably in the back of the room for much of the workshop, longing to be up front leading, until I realized the possibility I needed was to 'be coach' rather than 'be leader'. As far as I can tell, there are only three to five of us still active in leading who have mastered the role. We need more leaders. So my focus needs to shift from 'leading' to producing new leaders.
This workshop at Dromantine--home of the African Missionary Society of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland and one of the most beautiful spots on this planet or any other--was one of the five best I've ever been a part of...and here's the thing, it was my coaching (difficult as it is) that made that possible, not my leading skills.
There were a remarkable diversity of folks, lay and ordained, in the workshop. Five RC priests--one in religious life, the others in parishes--, a church of Ireland (Anglican) retired bishop and a CI priest and layperson. The lay folks were in all sorts of roles from a chef to a minister of Youth to a member of the Larch community (who work with those with special needs both physically and mentally) to a social worker to folks who work in 'the Living Church' movement (seeking to re-imagine Catholicism in Ireland after the scandals and pain) and several nuns from different orders.
Over the years, I've come to think of the Irish as being like people from Minnesota, somewhere in the upper mid-west of this country. They are friendly (but not overly so) mostly quiet and eager to learn and share. But this group was entirely too boisterous and wild to be from Minnesota. They were great, really.
It was one of the top five of all the workshops I've been around. No kidding.
I've never been to an Irish workshop that didn't include gatherings at night after dinner for music and poetry and jokes and stories. That doesn't often happen in the US. The Irish are intoxicated by language--spoken and sung--which is one of the reasons the workshop goes so well there since Making a Difference is, in large part, created in languaging (an awkward word at best and one my spell check doesn't recognize. But it is true that the workshop lives and creates with 'language'. And language of story and joke and poetry and song is something dear to the Irish soul.
That's enough for now.
I'll write most of this week about the transformation and growth and learning and deepening I garnered at the Irish workshop. Stay tuned.
The workshops are part of my heart. The one I went to as a participant over a quarter of a century ago, transformed my thoughts about leaving the priesthood into giving me my priesthood all new. And since then, being a priest has done nothing but enliven me and give me joy. The difference before and after the Making a Difference workshop for me was that 'before', I was 'doing priesthood' and 'after' I was 'being a priest'. All the difference in the world, I assure you.
Since then I've helped lead between 30 and 60 workshops (I have a deficit in remembering numbers as well as being confounded by linear time). It has been a huge part of my life and every time I helped lead a workshop I came away with a deeper commitment to myself and my ministry. This time is no different.
I squirmed uncomfortably in the back of the room for much of the workshop, longing to be up front leading, until I realized the possibility I needed was to 'be coach' rather than 'be leader'. As far as I can tell, there are only three to five of us still active in leading who have mastered the role. We need more leaders. So my focus needs to shift from 'leading' to producing new leaders.
This workshop at Dromantine--home of the African Missionary Society of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland and one of the most beautiful spots on this planet or any other--was one of the five best I've ever been a part of...and here's the thing, it was my coaching (difficult as it is) that made that possible, not my leading skills.
There were a remarkable diversity of folks, lay and ordained, in the workshop. Five RC priests--one in religious life, the others in parishes--, a church of Ireland (Anglican) retired bishop and a CI priest and layperson. The lay folks were in all sorts of roles from a chef to a minister of Youth to a member of the Larch community (who work with those with special needs both physically and mentally) to a social worker to folks who work in 'the Living Church' movement (seeking to re-imagine Catholicism in Ireland after the scandals and pain) and several nuns from different orders.
Over the years, I've come to think of the Irish as being like people from Minnesota, somewhere in the upper mid-west of this country. They are friendly (but not overly so) mostly quiet and eager to learn and share. But this group was entirely too boisterous and wild to be from Minnesota. They were great, really.
It was one of the top five of all the workshops I've been around. No kidding.
I've never been to an Irish workshop that didn't include gatherings at night after dinner for music and poetry and jokes and stories. That doesn't often happen in the US. The Irish are intoxicated by language--spoken and sung--which is one of the reasons the workshop goes so well there since Making a Difference is, in large part, created in languaging (an awkward word at best and one my spell check doesn't recognize. But it is true that the workshop lives and creates with 'language'. And language of story and joke and poetry and song is something dear to the Irish soul.
That's enough for now.
I'll write most of this week about the transformation and growth and learning and deepening I garnered at the Irish workshop. Stay tuned.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
be back soon
I'm leaving for Ireland tomorrow night.
Probably won't post until October 10th or 11th. Will if I can.
I'll miss you.
Shalom, jim
Probably won't post until October 10th or 11th. Will if I can.
I'll miss you.
Shalom, jim
An ultra-liberal for the death penalty
I am, admittedly and proudly, so far to the left politically that, as I tell people, "I sometimes scare myself." I am the Tea Party's worst nightmare. I am left of left. Some Tea Party folks who have a drive time little display (I won't honor it by calling it a protest) in front of Cheshire Town Line have a sign, among others about 'freedom' and 'liberty' and such, that says: "YOU KNOW OBAMA IS A SOCIALIST!"
Oh, I wish.....
I'm not sure I'm a socialist, really, but I lean that way.
But I just read an article on line about a man who kept his German Shepherd tied to a tree for four years. The poor dog, from the photos with the article, was emaciated when rescued--every rib was tight against his coat and his eyes were eyes of despair and suffering.
I am a liberal with a Capital L I B E R A and L. And I would without a moment's hesitation, suggest the death penalty for the man who did that to a dog.
Tomorrow, the Cluster Churches are all celebrating the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi with the blessing of the animals. (The real date is October 4, but this is good enough....)
My dog, just this moment, tried to break into a bedroom we keep locked so he can't break into it. But I simply said, "Leave it!" and he did. The bedroom is about 6 feet from where I'm typing this. And he is a very bad Puli. But I love him with all my soul and he loves me even more than that and how could you tie a creature that loves you more than you could ever love him to a tree for four years?
Dog is God spelled backwards. Cat is Tac spelled backwards, which doesn't work as well, I admit, but there is something about animals that eats at the deepest part of me.
Don't hurt an animal. Ever. If I weren't a carnivore this would be more believable. But I tell you this, if I had to kill the animals I eat, I wouldn't eat them.
Though there is this: since I grew up where people ate the animals they raised and killed them to eat them, I know that they had a strong bond with the chickens and ducks and pigs they raised for food. They did not kill them without honoring them extremely and thanking them for their contribution to their lives. Farmers, I know, don't 'name' animals they will eat. That would make it too personal. But they do honor the animals they eat.
They don't tie them to a tree for four years.
Someone who does that should (and this is a leaning socialist, ultra-liberal, anti-capital punishment guy telling you---should either be tied to a tree for 4 years and starved or killed outright.
Don't mess with animals unless you want to deal with me.....
I got a hangman's noose for you if you dishonor or hurt your pets.
Really. When a Liberal like me is willing to kill you, you've done something unforgivable....
Oh, I wish.....
I'm not sure I'm a socialist, really, but I lean that way.
But I just read an article on line about a man who kept his German Shepherd tied to a tree for four years. The poor dog, from the photos with the article, was emaciated when rescued--every rib was tight against his coat and his eyes were eyes of despair and suffering.
I am a liberal with a Capital L I B E R A and L. And I would without a moment's hesitation, suggest the death penalty for the man who did that to a dog.
Tomorrow, the Cluster Churches are all celebrating the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi with the blessing of the animals. (The real date is October 4, but this is good enough....)
My dog, just this moment, tried to break into a bedroom we keep locked so he can't break into it. But I simply said, "Leave it!" and he did. The bedroom is about 6 feet from where I'm typing this. And he is a very bad Puli. But I love him with all my soul and he loves me even more than that and how could you tie a creature that loves you more than you could ever love him to a tree for four years?
Dog is God spelled backwards. Cat is Tac spelled backwards, which doesn't work as well, I admit, but there is something about animals that eats at the deepest part of me.
Don't hurt an animal. Ever. If I weren't a carnivore this would be more believable. But I tell you this, if I had to kill the animals I eat, I wouldn't eat them.
Though there is this: since I grew up where people ate the animals they raised and killed them to eat them, I know that they had a strong bond with the chickens and ducks and pigs they raised for food. They did not kill them without honoring them extremely and thanking them for their contribution to their lives. Farmers, I know, don't 'name' animals they will eat. That would make it too personal. But they do honor the animals they eat.
They don't tie them to a tree for four years.
Someone who does that should (and this is a leaning socialist, ultra-liberal, anti-capital punishment guy telling you---should either be tied to a tree for 4 years and starved or killed outright.
Don't mess with animals unless you want to deal with me.....
I got a hangman's noose for you if you dishonor or hurt your pets.
Really. When a Liberal like me is willing to kill you, you've done something unforgivable....
Friday, October 4, 2013
Gravity works
Bern and I saw "Gravity" this afternoon. I don't have much to say except I don't remember when I've been so tense for almost two hours (that seemed like 30 minutes) since "2001--A Space Odyssey".
Something about being in space that weirds me out--confinement, distance, no up or down--like that.
There are only three characters in the whole movie and one of them dies early on. So, looking at George Clooney and Sandra Bullock in space suits for most of the movie and Sandra Bullock in short-shorts and a tank top for a good part of the movie would make it worth seeing.
But, in my mind, it is one of the most remarkable films I've ever seen--the views of the earth from outside the realm of gravity would make it worth the viewing, but the music...the score...is beyond wonderful. Astonishing in fact.
Walk, don't run to see it. Remember 'gravity' holds us to the earth. The last scene, the first one with 'gravity' is astonishing.
Don't take my word for it, go see it, and prepare to be floating against your will most of the time.
Many technical Oscar nominations are in store. And if Sandra (who I've loved and been in love with for years) isn't nominated, there is no Movie God to believe in....
Something about being in space that weirds me out--confinement, distance, no up or down--like that.
There are only three characters in the whole movie and one of them dies early on. So, looking at George Clooney and Sandra Bullock in space suits for most of the movie and Sandra Bullock in short-shorts and a tank top for a good part of the movie would make it worth seeing.
But, in my mind, it is one of the most remarkable films I've ever seen--the views of the earth from outside the realm of gravity would make it worth the viewing, but the music...the score...is beyond wonderful. Astonishing in fact.
Walk, don't run to see it. Remember 'gravity' holds us to the earth. The last scene, the first one with 'gravity' is astonishing.
Don't take my word for it, go see it, and prepare to be floating against your will most of the time.
Many technical Oscar nominations are in store. And if Sandra (who I've loved and been in love with for years) isn't nominated, there is no Movie God to believe in....
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