[Dialogue] Quote from Bonhoeffer

Mon May 14 05:23:08 PDT 2012

Thank you for your heart-spoken words, Jean. 

I experienced work on the Town Meeting Campaign, in the Archives last week,
as an opportunity for amazement and appreciation. In glancing down at a TM
report on progress in a community, there was an announcement of a recycling
program launch, circa 1977. Stopping in the hall to talk with Karen Snyder,
she reminded me of the 77 neighborhood meetings done in Chicago in the 80's.
A meeting for Accelerate '77 was about to begin in the ICA boardroom, and
right across the hall there are banana trees, WITH BANANAS, growing in the
8th floor women's bathroom, thanks to the imagination and work of Pam
Bergdall. 

A while back someone asked about quotes, which reminded me of the late 70's,
early 80's when Sue Laxdal and I combed through EI/ICA talks and the
songbooks words to quote. The selected quotes were beautifully hand-written
by a calligrapher (this was before the refinements of desktop publishing)
and sold as Desk Art through our short-lived company NewSpaces, Inc. I still
have a set and took a look this morning. 

Jim Kelly once said to me, "Time was created to keep everything from
happening at once." So, maybe not so past at all.

"The world needs that which is in every person, if sparked, will give new
life." Kay Lush, 1979

"Be careful of free advice - only people who are committed are going to live
what they do." Larry Ward, 1981

"Creation didn't stop because someone wrote a story about it." Larry Ward,
1980

"People need to see resiliency." Elsa Bengel, 1980

"This will cost you your life and it is worth it." Larry Ward, 1980

"Dream about the future and how it will look." Rod Wilson, 1981

"The future is just as open as if something else had been decided." Richard
Loudermilk, 1979

And from a couple of songs:

"Consider the past, its good,

Respond to the now, let's act! 

Create a new day, start now,

Set sail, fly, you can work miracles."

"Listen and you will hear, the future is coming clear, and everybody alive
has something to say."

Today I'm especially appreciative of our colleagues, old and new, who
invented "Accelerate 77" and to John Cock for daily sending words and images
to start the day.

Beret Griffith

From: dialogue-bounces at lists.wedgeblade.net
[mailto:dialogue-bounces at lists.wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Jean Long
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2012 11:59 PM
To: Colleague Dialogue
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Quote from Bonhoeffer

Greetings wonderful colleagues --

This is Jean Long.  I work in the Archives.  Now, I don't know from quotes
about the future generations -- all I can relate to you is what I have seen
developing here in the Kempter Bldg. with the new staff who are running the
ICA.

They have attended courses like Elise and George Packard's on Imaginal
Presence (forgive the title - it is something like that).  They are working
with a lot of profound old war horses -- and it is transforming their
perspective on life. 

They come to our staff meetings and talk about "used to have a job here -
and now they see that they have a mission in life to be here".  They are
learning to work as one team instead of little fiefdoms.

The bldg. manager and the finance person have decided to move onto the 7th
floor.  The way they described it to our resident's meeting is, "Working
with the ICA folks is the most extraordinary experience they have had - and
they want to know more and figure moving in to live amongst us is the way to
pursue that.

We have monthly Friday night meals where we do an opening context about the
role the meal has played in history - and in the ICA.  We do birthday
celebrations and a short conversataion at the end that lets us talk about
who we are as a community - leading into a secular absolution.  Even the
bldg. construction mgr. and his crew come to that!!!

So I don't know from quotes - but living with examples of care, compassion
and sacrifiice has done a lot to shape the next generation here in the
Kemper Bldg.

PS - About 6 of the new staff are paying the way to the Nepal Conference.
...and two parents are taking their teenagers to have this experience with
them.

Jean - moving to Kemper has made all the difference in my life - and theirs.

On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 2:44 PM, William Schlesinger <pvida3607 at gmail.com>
wrote:

Guess our eschatalogical hero got it wrong!  Should have put Pontius Pilate
away!

On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 12:14 PM, R Williams <rcwmbw at yahoo.com> wrote:

Calls to mind the phrase out of the Patton monologue, "Your job is not to
die for your country..."

"Listen to what is emerging from yourself to the course of being in the
world; not to be supported by it, but to bring it to reality as it desires."
-Martin Buber (adapted)

From: William Schlesinger <pvida3607 at gmail.com>
To: Colleague Dialogue <dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net> 
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 12:48 PM
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Quote from Bonhoeffer

Of course, sometimes the coming generation needs to see people going down
fighting like heroes in the face of certain defeat!  Or at least, taking the
hit of what seems like certain defeat, and disclosing that certain defeat
isn't all it's cracked up to be...

On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 9:41 AM, Terry Bergdall <bergdall2 at gmail.com> wrote:

"To talk of going down fighting like heroes in the face of certain defeat is
not really heroic at all, but merely a refusal to face the future. The
ultimate question for a responsible man to ask is not how he is to extricate
himself heroically from the affair, but how the coming generation is to
live." 

I believe this is from "After Ten Years" in Letters and Papers from Prison.
Terry

On Wed, May 9, 2012 at 8:50 AM, George Holcombe <geowanda at earthlink.net>
wrote:

What was that quote from Bonhoeffer a few days ago about lost causes, or
going down with the ship, something like that.  I was trying to look it up
and couldn't find it.

George Holcombe
14900 Yellowleaf Tr.
Austin, TX 78728
Mobile 512/252-2756
geowanda at earthlink.net

Hope appeareth, but it is not your Hope-you do not have anything to do with
it. It just appeareth. It comes as a stranger, as an alien-it just
appeareth! You do not even know why you hope. How in the world could you
hope when there is absolutely nothing to justify any hope?    ~Joseph W.
Mathews

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-- 

Bill Schlesinger

Project Vida

3607 Rivera Avenue

El Paso, TX 79905

(915) 533-7057 ext. 207 <tel:%28915%29%20533-7057%20ext.%20207> 

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_______________________________________________
Dialogue mailing list
Dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net
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-- 

Bill Schlesinger

Project Vida

3607 Rivera Avenue

El Paso, TX 79905

(915) 533-7057 ext. 207 <tel:%28915%29%20533-7057%20ext.%20207> 

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