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@lists.wedgeblade.net [mailto:dialogue-bounces@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@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@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@gmail.com>
To: Colleague Dialogue <dialogue@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@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@earthlink.net> wrote: