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@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, June 6, 2013 10:04 AM To: sunwalker@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. 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