I love Jim’s probing questions in response to Jack’s pronouncements about all the places “we failed.”  

And I appreciate Dick’s gentle defense, based on his experience in the trenches of each.  

I also appreciate Jack’s subsequent expansive philosophical commentary that, as only Jack can, enlarged the context such that none of us really disagree.

But I do.

I believe we DID win in renewing the historic church as it existed in the latter part of the 20th century  (via RSI and our comprehensive curriculum -the Academy), in large part by expanding Religious Houses (via initiating the LCX and Parish Outreach Projects), and globalizing our work via HDP Replication (via Town Meetings, HDTS and Global Collegia such as the IERD.). And then the “we” had become the “us” — so many people of myriad cultures, languages and faiths, working “as local people, to build the earth, the planet earth."

I measure our “win” versus “failure” in the words of human beings whose lives were “utterly changed/transformed” by their interaction with us, the OE, the ICA, the “blue shirts”, etc…….Joe and I  have heard those words, over and over again.  These need not be documented in polls or quantitative research.  I trust these voices are echoed in our archives and can contradict themes of “failure.”

Grace and peace,  Marilyn (and Joe)

On Sep 3, 2019, at 10:05 AM, Jack Gilles via Dialogue <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:

Dick,

I just wanted to affirm your response to my rather glib use of the word “failure”. All of creation, through a sensitive and response capacity, experiments with new forms. They are then constantly refined in the creative process over eons of time to what became lasting. So do we humans. We evolve through experimentation, learn from that experience and adjust. So we certainly were trying to be responsive to a vision of, (HDP, for example), what the new local needs to look like. We may not have succeeded but we learned. And it is that learning (and experimenting) that needs to be shared with other awakened one; and the time is short. You are exactly right: “failure is what drives life”. One thing clear to me is the new paradigm is here. The question is how fast that new paradigm becomes the operating paradigm. Telling the New Story is the new evangelism. 

Thanks!!

Jack

On Aug 30, 2019, at 16:18, Richard Alton via Dialogue <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:

Great question Jim: I did a lot of replicating and would not describe any of them as failures or for that matter the 3 religious houses and for that matter a life time of church renewal- all have been awesome experiences, although would agree if you are saying the basic nature of life is failure....failure is what drives life
Dick

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 30, 2019, at 1:15 PM, James Wiegel via Dialogue <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:

Jack:  you said in a recent email . . .

We failed at replication, but now we know why.

We failed at expanding Religious Houses, but now we know why.

We failed at renewing the historical Christian church, but now we know why.

I tried hunting around the archive website and looked a bit around wedgeblade.net.  Is there a document somewhere that outlines these “why’s”?

_______________________________________________
Dialogue mailing list
Dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net
http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net
_______________________________________________
Dialogue mailing list
Dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net
http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net

_______________________________________________
Dialogue mailing list
Dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net
http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net