<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html;
charset=ISO-8859-1"
http-equiv=content-type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 9.00.8112.16443"></HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff text=#000000>
<DIV>Hey there, Gordon, you ole rabble-rouser. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>What a terrific video that certainly captures the passion and energy of the
ToPs and Occupy facilitators. 'Twas good, indeed, to see your familiar
countenance and presence amidst those gathered, although I can't say I spotted
other ICA colleagues. (The passage of years does change
some of us.) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I loved the comment one of the young men made about the Occupy gatherings
usually attracting a younger crowd, and that he appreciated seeing a "wider
age spread" (or something to that effect.) I sensed a brief pause as
he spoke, and expected him so say something like "so many grey and white heads"
-- but he was quite gracious. Good for you in sparking this
engagement. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We recently heard the new head of the MA Council of Churches speak, and she
admitted the church leadership (herself included) missed the boat in not
being more fully involved in this movement from the beginning. Let's give
thanks for the young, sensitive and responsive ones in our society! (And
to those courageous elders who join them.) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Cheers, Marilyn</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> <BR>Dr. Marilyn R. Crocker<BR>123 Sanborn Road<BR>West Newfield, ME
04095<BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>On Thu, 17 May 2012 00:45:00 -0700 Gordon Harper <<A
href="mailto:gharper1@mindspring.com">gharper1@mindspring.com</A>>
writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; MARGIN-LEFT: 10px"
dir=ltr>
<DIV><BIG><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">I know that many of us are engaged in
some way with the Occupy movement, and it's a subject worth talking
about. We've had Occupiers in our facilitation training here in Seattle,
and Molly Shaw and I have worked with several of their projects.
<BR><BR>I caused something of a disturbance in the Force (who, me?) this
January. I announced at the annual ToP conference in Sacramento that I
thought we might have some things to learn as well as to share about
grassroots facilitation through dialogue with the Occupy movement--and that I
had therefore invited about fifteen Occupiers from Seattle and UC Davis to our
gathering for an interchange session. <BR><BR>This came about because I
had mentioned to some of my troublesome friends here in Seattle that I would
be attending this conference and then learned that a number of them would be
on a trek visiting other Occupy groups along the Pacific coast during that
same time. It became very clear to me that God intended for our two
groups to connect.<BR><BR>The ToP leadership team put this on the schedule as
a small Open Space option on the last afternoon of our conference. It
would be while most attendees would be completing </FONT></BIG><BIG><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS">action planning in </FONT></BIG><BIG><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS">their task forces for the year ahead.
<BR><BR>However, when I asked that morning for how many were interested in
being part of this Occupy encounter, over 90% of the hands in the plenary shot
up. The leadership team died: there went the prime working time for all
that planning. (I may never be invited to another ToP
conference.)<BR><BR>Nonetheless, despite shooting me looks that would have
dropped a more sensitive soul in his tracks, our leaders rebounded gracefully,
declared it a consensus that the whole conference would adjourn to the hotel
veranda outdoors for this event and that the scheduled planning would simply
start earlier, over lunch that day.<BR><BR>As you'll see from the video, I had
a ball doing this. This included participating in a little direct action
after the session, led by the Occupiers, at the Capitol Mall a few blocks away
(what's called a Guerrilla Mic Check, to use the technical term--not something
included in this clip. The marching that opens the video is of us on our
way to cause that trouble). No, no one got arrested doing
it.<BR><BR>Joanna Kohler was our videographer, and Marti Roach and I worked
with her on the editing. You'll recognize a number of Order colleagues
in the group, as well as interesting ritual activity, a great witness, clearly
stated rubrics for participation and team facilitation being created on the
spot by people who have just met one another. <BR><BR>Enjoy--and, if you
share my sense of its importance, let's talk more about just what is going on
with this movement and why we maybe should pay attention to
it.<BR><BR></FONT><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><A class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnjmWcJjET4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnjmWcJjET4</A><BR><BR>Gordon</FONT></BIG>
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Dr. Marilyn R. Crocker<BR>123 Sanborn
Road<BR>West Newfield, ME 04095<BR></BODY></HTML>