[Dialogue] FW: Ready for a New Mission? by Kathryn Alexander

Sun Jul 14 22:46:36 PDT 2013

Kathryn Alexander is a ToP grad (from YEARS ago, mid-90s). I found the
comments below a valuable reflection

Sunny

From: Ethical Impact, LLC [mailto:ethicalimpact at gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, June 6, 2013 10:04 AM
To: sunwalker at comcast.net
Subject: Ready for a New Mission? by Kathryn Alexander

<http://emailStats.fullpartnerpro.com/images/pro_emailStats_20130606110049.g
if?emid=13640s46544> 

<http://www.ethicalimpact.com/utility/showarticle/?objectID=91227&proAppName
=EthicalImpact> Ready for a New Mission?. 

 Large Combine Caterpillar
<http://www.ethicalimpact.com/images/database/7997.JPG?proAppName=EthicalImp
act> I got an interesting email in my inbox this morning. It was from the
<http://www.globethics.net/gtl> Globtheolib, a group that is focused on
sharing religious thought worldwide. They are committed to ensuring that the
Christian church community is a learning community. What struck me, however,
was their definition of church: "The church has often been described as
being built on four pillars: (unity and communion); (mission);  (justice and
peace) and (worship)." I want to change worship to reverence, but with that
one small change what a powerful statement for a spiritually integrated
society: unity and communion, mission, justice and peace, and reverence.

Could we say that a healthy and spiritually vibrant society would have as
its mission the expression of reverence as a vehicle to engendering unity
and communion with all life as a means of ensuring justice so that enduring
peace become possible?

I like that and it makes a wonderful home for the Sustainable Values SetR!
Isn't that statement above aligned with nature's intent, that all actions
create the conditions that support life? Wouldn't that mission do just that?
If we acted in this way, then could we use the expanded health and vibrancy
(a favorite word, just now) of the environment (both human and natural) as a
measure of how well we are doing?

If we took this path, then we would learn how to see more clearly what we do
and can do to enhance and develop our mission while, at the same time,
unlearning those beliefs that lead to actions that undermine our mission.
Surely the church has a role in that transformation? Surely religion has a
role in that transformation!

One of the issues I've been wrestling with lately is how to show people
their mistakes without making them wrong. When we have black and white
thinking and we are passionate about wanting to be 'good,' then it is easy
to feel that anything else is 'bad and/or wrong.' A very big part of
unlearning is self-forgiveness if self-identity is mixed up in being 'good.'

If 'good' is seen as 'successful' then the very definition is tightly tied
to the current structures and beliefs of society and change becomes quite
threatening, indeed. Those who choose another path - a path closer to the
mission described earlier, may not look 'successful' as they are working and
living outside the mainstream. This often equates to making them poor role
models - if 'success' is your goal.

By redefining 'good' as living this mission, then perhaps we can shift
without having to see past behavior as 'bad' but just as inappropriate. By
understanding that old actions and beliefs don't make that mission's goals
possible, then turning to new actions and behavior just makes sense.

When you live as you have been told to do, when you have achieved success in
doing so, (money in the bank, respect in your community) then how can those
actions be harmful? We make peace with the disparities we see by expressing
reverence in very select areas, instead of making it a way of life. There is
an article in  <http://www.businessweek.com/> Bloomberg Business Week, May
20-28, 2013 that can serve as an illustration.

In the article on
<http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-16/caterpillars-doug-oberhelma
n-manufacturings-mouthpiece> Doug Oberhelman and Caterpillar, there is a
long discussion about the pain Caterpillar workers are feeling as their
wages are being reduced (in some cases by 50%) while executives have theirs
increase by 56%. Oberhelman stresses that Caterpillar needs to stay
'competitive' and so they are 'forced' to cut wages, but he says that , "I'd
love to pay people more. I'd love to see rising wages for everybody." While
reverence often seems a stretch in business, it starts with respect and the
deep appreciation that can follow that. If Oberhelman actually respected
Caterpillars workers would he be so quick to reduce their wages? A welder,
Emily Young, was quoted in the article as saying, "you're basically
expendable" since there are five workers waiting for your job. This does not
indicate respect for the knowledge and skill gained over time, when workers
are just seen as 'bodies' to do labor.

Where is the 'unity and communion' that hears and responds to the pain the
workers are feeling and expressing in walkouts and strikes? The adversarial
relationship suggests that there is nothing unified in the relationship
between labor and management and certainly very little 'communion.' We have
many examples of companies who have worked to develop a feeling of unity
with their workforce (Zappos is an example) and who have developed ways of
being in communion so that all points of view are heard, to know that those
companies are exceptionally successful. Success is NOT defined by
sacrificing a part of the whole, yet it can be achieved by that means, at
least for a time. Caterpillar is a good example of the difference between
'successful' and 'good,' between the difference that following our mission,
as defined above, can create versus just achieving monetary success.

The confusion between 'good' and 'successful' drives much of the behavior we
moan and complain about. This confusion can make good people do bad things,
and still feel good about themselves. Until we have a large enough agreement
on what our 'mission' is - as a society, we will continue to be hoisted on
our own petard and we will remain caught on the horns of a dilemma of our
own making.

<http://www.ethicalimpact.com/utility/showPage/index.cfm?objectID=EthicalImp
act,23584&proAppName=EthicalImpact> Get Off the Horns of Your Dillemma - Get
Coached!

  _____  

List Origin Statement: You are receiving this email because you have
opted-in as an RSS via Email Subscriber of 'EthicalImpact Blog RSS'. Blog
posts are published as they are created. You may remove your email address
from this mailing list at any time by using the unsubscribe link below.

  _____  

This email was sent to sunwalker at comcast.net, by
<http://www.ethicalimpact.com/?&proAppName=EthicalImpact> Ethical Impact,
L3C, located at 3125 Redstone Lane - Boulder, CO 80305 - United States of
America. 

*	To unsubscribe from this publication or remove your email~address
from all lists maintained by Ethical Impact, L3C, please visit:
<http://www.ethicalimpact.com/email/unsubscribe.cfm?u=sunwalker@comcast.net&
proAppName=EthicalImpact> Unsubscribe
*	To update your contact information:
<http://www.ethicalimpact.com/email/subscribe.cfm?ci=sunwalker@comcast.net&p
roAppName=EthicalImpact> Update Profile / Email Address
*	Read our Privacy Policy:
<http://www.ethicalimpact.com/help.cfm?happ=SiteAdministrator&topicID=645>
Privacy Policy

 <http://www.synduit.com?af=pro> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue-wedgeblade.net/attachments/20130714/43064d5f/attachment-0004.htm>