Terry Chapman's - Sabbath Journey

inspired field of connection

Speaking of "connectionalism", I love this post from a mentor of mine, Otto Scharmer, whose book Theory U and teaching, is foundational for my thinking. (Emphasis mine)  I so desperately long for new "fields of inspired connection" within our church.  The time is ripe for us all to be open to the Spirit who creates these fields.  I really get the sense that this is what the PC(USA) has to offer the world.... if we can find our way.

igniting fields of inspired connection

Monday, March 29th, 2010 | Uncategorized

I just spent an amazing week here at MIT with a group of 30 young leaders from all sectors of Indonesian society: deputy ministers and top civil servants of several ministries, mayors, governors of small regions, CEOs of medium-sized companies, editors of major newspapers and TV news programs, deans of three major universities, members of the national and regional parliaments, leaders of environmental and human rights NGOs, and so on. An amazing group.

With 230 million people, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country and has the world’s largest population of Muslims. Spread over 17,000 islands, it takes 10 hours of flying time to from one end of the country to the other. Indonesia is a bit like our whole planet wrapped into a single country: it has every type of conflict that you can imagine (religious, gender, class, ethnic, colonial –you name it). A real microcosm of our planet. Given this complexity, no wonder the leadership challenges are daunting. The challenge is to transform the relationships between the three sectors (government, business, civic sector) from mistrust to trust, from blaming and blocking to system-wide cooperation, innovation, and change.

What was so amazing about this week was watching how the group (and the relationships between sectors) progressed on that journey of transformation. This week was the beginning of a ten-month (U process) innovation journey with this group that will involve deep sensing, connecting to source (presencing), and exploring the future through prototyping new forms of collaboration.

I have guided two other tri-sector groups through a similar ten-month transformative leadership journey. What has struck me most is that, even years later, the inspired field of connection and collaboration among them is still as alive and vibrant as ever. We have seen some major innovations from these groups already. More innovations will follow. To me it feels as if we are touching the deeper power of human evolution and creativity. Once they touch that deeper place, there is NOTHING on earth that such a group can’t do. That’s how it feels, anyway. Since we are now in the process of co-creating similar platforms and programs for China, Brazil, and some other places, I wonder where all this will lead us. Will these new fields of connection be able to generate new forms of global collaboration and governance? Have you seen similar developments anywhere? Have you experienced fields of inspired connection that change how we relate to each other, to our context, and to ourselves?

Connectionalism for the emerging church

What wisdom can be found in the intersection of emergent and mainline?  

A core value that Presbyterians hold is that of “connectionalism”.   The discovery or rediscovery the nature of this connectionalism is, I think, at the heart of the matter.  

Previously held models of connection were based mostly on local initiatives, small story contexts, and homogeneous conversation partners.  The glue that held the PC(USA) together has been mostly institutionally based polity and judicatory structures.  This seemed to work pretty well until the middle of the last century when the world began to shift.  The scaffolding of this structure remains intact but the building that it once supported is going through a major renovation.  Like the anonymous poet said, “I thought the fire was out.  I stirred the ashes and burnt my finger.”  This core value of connectionalism can be a wonderful gift to the emerging world, IF we can find a way to change the scaffolding to fit the emerging structure.  

This new structure, or emerging structure, is the gift that can be offered to the PC(USA) institution.  Here are a few aspects of a new connectionalism that I think can once again become a core value and gift to the wider church.

1. Connectionalism fueled by networking technologies creating new opportunities to engage with “others” beyond small geographic, cultural, and theological contexts.

2. Connectionalism opened up by an emerging epistemological humility.  Emerging folks are more comfortable with questions than answers, conversation than conversion, dialogue than dogma.  Emerging followers of Jesus have an increasing capacity to suspend judgement when faced with what appear to be conflicting world views.

3. Connectionalism in the emerging context is forged in the crucible of life and grounded real life situations. With some of the scaffolding of a previous way of being together removed by virtue of an emerging entrepreneurial spirit new ways of seeking justice and peace in the world will help nurture a new connectionalism.

4. Connectionalism informed by new discoveries in the world of social technologies that posit a connectionism inherent in God’s created order.  For instance, Spiritual Direction, Theory U, Art of Convening, Collective Wisdom etc.  

“We believe there exists a field of collective consciousness — often seen and expressed through metaphor — that is real and influential, yet invisible. When we come into alignment with this field, there is a deeper understanding of our connection with others, with life, and with a source of collective wisdom. We are calling into awareness this field of collective consciousness and invite you to join us in building this discipline of collective wisdom, its study and practice.”  (From:  The Power of Collective Wisdom and the trap of collective folly, by Briskin, Erickson, Ott and Callanan.)

I hope these few thoughts can help us explore the intersection of what was and what will be in in our life together in the PC(USA).  

growing in my role as convener

I was asked to convene a 6 hour gathering with representatives from 3 Presbyteries [groups of between 45 & 60 PC(USA) churches] for the purpose of exploring shared ministries. After I sent out the design for the day which was built on the Art of Convening model one Presbytery, already quite tentative in their initial commitment, pulled out, questioning how the design would produce the needed results.  One other individual participant pulled out because they couldn’t see how the 6 hours spent together would produce "real “deliverables."”  Ten people came to the gathering.

We spent the morning, focusing on the intent of the gathering, creating a container with several rounds of stringing the beads in addition to an open community circle focused on five generative questions.  Initially it felt like there was good energy in the room although one of the “participants” spent the time drawing a cartoon on the paper table cloth. .  . which felt to me like a signal to the group that he wanted to get on with the “"real” business."

After lunch it felt like the positive energy began to slip away.  I was conscious of how a few remarks can shift the energy.  A few examples:

“"That’s (a suggested new paradigm for mission) nothing new, just another fad by a different name.  We've always done this... just by a different name."…”

Then, on several occasions,  when the silence seemed particularly generative someone would proclaimed a proverbial tidbit of wisdom.  I can’t remember what it was but something long the lines of … “"Those who_____ find themselves _____.”"  Ok, interesting but disconnected.

There were many positive movements and an increasing openness to the possibilities, and in the last half hour a breakthrough that will move us to the next step in our partnership.

I found myself struggling to hold, internally and externally, the container of possibilities.  But I did not respond, at least consciously, to this frustration.  I just let it happen.  In other words I did not assume responsibility to confront or take upon myself, what I perceived as “constrictive” energies.  I just noticed it and wondered about how it would effect the group.  After I wondered how effective I was in this.

At the end of the time I felt exhausted and spent an hour lying down and revisiting my core values and intention (Like the in the Canteen poem).  I then felt refreshed and renewed but sad when I considered how much resistance there is in the world, some of which I know resides in me. (That's when I wrote the reflection about the tears in a bottle...)

I think that I need to hone my awareness, understanding and skills when it comes to holding the container (inner and outer) wide open in the presence of resistance.

the exile plan...

On this morning's walk 

there were many young cedars 

bent over by the weight of the snow.  

But with one slight touch 

the burden fell and 

they sprung back to life.  

I long for such a touch.

I am heavy in heart as I consider the unfolding conversation with the PC(USA).  News flash... the church is broken and everyone therein.  So in order to fix this brokenness some want to form a "more faithful church so we can focus more on mission" and not be so "distracted by our brokenness" so that we can "build an ecumenical consensus with the majority of Christian around the world." etc. etc.

And the God of the wound weeps.... And I feel the burden of exile in exile... from the world and the church

Here are a few thoughts to add to the conversation:

Our Book of Order states:  “The church affirms ‘Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda,’ that is, the church reformed, always reforming’ also (not Latin in the book of Order) “secundum verbum dei”  - "according the the Word of God."  As if to claim a higher ground for their particular point of view some claim this as the centering hermeneutic.  But what is intended here is a christological and not a bibliological centering, thus the capital W in Word. In no way does this diminish the importance of the revealed and accepted canonical text.  But the text is not the center,  Christ is.  And Christ is revealed not only in scripture as it speaks to the church from the past but also from the future as Christ ushers in the Reign of God’s peace and justice.  The Book of Order goes on (I don’t hear this quoted as much in the conversations) to add “...and the call of the Spirit.”  Now the wind is blowing in a direction that may not be nailed down by text or by those who desperately long for a closed wound and a settled consensus.

I recall the words of Carl Jung, "God enters through the wound," and also Pete Rollins book, The Fidelity of Betrayal. Speaking about the Bible, literalism, interpretation, and a host of other bible-related things, Pete writes, "The words of the text, like Christ, are wounded." I thought this was an interesting “christological hermeneutic,” a way of moving toward both an approach to, and an understanding of, the biblical text.

Rather than expecting a clear path, with a rarified dogmatic faithfulness, and clear ecumenical consensus, Rollins argues that the text, God, faith etc. lead us not to clarity but approach and hold something that is always "frustratingly elusive," it is not a new thought, but it is nice to be reminded of in a fresh way the core reformed understanding of “semper reformanda" (always reforming or more accurately always being reformed).”   

Rollins continues, "The claim that the Bible is the Word of God, whether true or not, makes sense only if it refers to the source of the gaps between the words; or more precisely, the source of the irreducible Gap within the words themselves. God's word is thus testified to indirectly by the parallactical nature of the text itself, being communicated by the rich, weaving web of wounded words that testify to the happening of a divine event." (p. 57) In my conversations with people in the emerging church I have found much more tolerance of what seems like ambiguity in this approach to the bible.

Will further divisions (as in a non-geographic synod, or a general splintering of the denomination) in the church heal our wounds so we can get on with mission?  

For me the crux of the matter lies in these questions:  Is the future of the church as it anticipates and participates in the reign of God dependent on closing the wounds?  Or are the wounds we carry a mark of our faithfulness to the God who is the wound?  I’m inclined to believe the latter reflects the “call of the Spirit” that is blowing through the PC(USA) today.

About the Presbytery Meeting

The "Designer Jewelry" poem (below) is really about the transition from an old (modern-era-where-reason-ruled) way of being together that is no longer able to hold the center in the "postmodern" world.  The Presbyterian Church (USA) had its peek at the hight of the modern era in the mid-20th century.  The binding material was an agreed upon form or structure, an idea if you like, that could be described as the idea of covenant or the idea of connectionalism.  The idea was tested from time to time and "splits" happened along the way.  New denominations were formed, new seminaries established and libraries filled with books defending new ideas.

Some, including me, believe we are living in a hinge point in history that seems to occur every 500 years or so.  Some, look through the fog and name this time the postmodern.  Ideas (beliefs) in of themselves are no longer sufficient to lead us into the future.  Ways of holding experience, beauty, art, and perhaps most of all - the capacity to hold the ineffable, untamable, mystery called life must be added to the ideas to create a path forward.  The stakes are now, of course, higher that at any other liminal time in history.

All this to  this to say that IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT LEADERS LEARN HOW TO HOLD OPEN THIS SPACE FOR THE FUTURE THAT WANTS TO HAPPEN TO EMERGE!  That is why I am very happy there are people who are leading the way in shaping the social technologies that will be like a compass to help us find our way into the future that is, by the way, also moving toward us.

A friend asked me about how I prepared for last night's meeting.  I prepared by paying attention to the authentic self in me that does not need to be defended against judgments, cynicism, anger or criticisms. I describe this as a posture of Holy Indifference which holds together a deep longing for life to emerge in the community with the felt knowledge that the gift of depth, intimacy, and idealism is not of my making.  The call is to be ready when it happens.  In Joseph Campbell’s book on the hero’s journey, he says that the only way to be a hero is to prepare and be ready for when the moment comes.  I think that is the key.  It is not about engineering our transformation but helping to create and holding the space for transformation to happen.

I went on long sabbath walks, prayed, payed attention to my breath, listened to the encouragement of friends, and payed attention to my body using some techniques from heart math.  All of this, not just in the hours and minutes before the meeting, but every day for a long time.  And as Saint Ignatius taught in his Spiritual Excersies, I am learning to "bank my consolations" in order to access them when needed in the times of inevitable desolations.   That is the practice of gratitude, to hold, cherish, romance, share the gifts of abundance when they seem most present so that when things appear dark there remains a fire that can be kindled into flame... one that need not die away.

I stood with a non-anxious presence in the midst of much charged emotion.  I spoke in a calm voice and slowed down the meeting whenever I could.  Before a vote was taken we stopped for silence and a gentle prayer.  But, other than this there were no obvious techniques employed in the convening of the meeting.

Although the presenting matter was decided upon the real outcome is unclear.  I think that some minds were opened, feelings were allowed to be expressed and with the voice of cynicism being somewhat suspended, we are one step closer to letting go into the future that wants to emerge. However we'll have to spend more time and shed more tears before there can be a collective letting go into something new.

I, for one, remain very hopeful.  And I know I am not alone.

Designer Jewelry

There was once a 

beautiful beaded necklace

each bead hand crafted

unique in shape, color, texture

through the empty space that 

runs trough the center of 

each bead ran a strong thread 

holding the parts in the whole

in time and with the shifting 

tugging desires of the 

ones who held the necklace the

thread broke and the beads scattered

no one can recall the moment

of separation and few remember 

what the many beads looked like

blessed by the tie that binds

now the parts are held by varied 

bead lovers with different ideas of 

how each bead, now with a life of its own

might once again become the one

those who remember the whole

grieve the loss of connection

those who still see the beauty 

hope that the Jeweler will 

once again pull a binding thread 

through the emptiness in the middle

before the opening is closed by 

some sediment of corruptive desire

If by the Jeweler's delight and will 

the beads are brought together

the whole will take a different shape

perhaps bearing no resemblance to

the necklace that once was

Two Poems Given at Double Trouble This Morning

The Smile

A friend hung a smile

on my heart this morning

clean, pressed, crisp

ready to wear

I think I shall 

wear it throughout 

this week

The Ordination

I stood before her

she the one who has

crossed so many rivers

scaled insurmountable mountains

overcome hurdles within and without

who was I 

to proclaim the 

audacious words that are so 

essential to her life’s call

You are now a Minister. . . 

was it gratitude, and humility

or awe - that soulful combination 

dread and wonder 

that flowed from her

eyes to mine and back again

in that Kairotic moment 

when time stood still

we both hung on to the 

tread of connection that

holds our church together

in that blessed moment 

the things that divide 

and distract us 

became strangely dim

in the face of the tie that binds

then when we returned

to the chronos of the

gathered community

I was able to let the 

rest tumble from my lips

... of Word and Sacrament

in the Church of Jesus Christ.

Full of Hope But Not of Optimism

As I read this quote from Margaret Wheatley this morning I felt a strong resonance with her assessment of the state of the world ... and yes the church.

I'll sit for a while in the silence and reflect on what this means for me, for us, for faith, hope and love.

“I need to warn you that I’m not cheerful anymore. I have no interest in being optimistic; I just want us to be together and explore what this time together might be. It’s like we’re on the Titanic. I feel that my own function in this situation is (for I don’t believe that our civilization is strong enough to see us through this time and that this is a time of dissolution and unraveling) to see if we can get more people on the lifeboats.”

taken from a talk given by Margaret Wheatley at the May 10, 2002 Thought Leader Gathering, San Francisco, CA

Presbytery Discernment part 2 - Imagine a new world!

This place and time of generative PAUSE between "observe, observe, observe" and "act in an instant" creates an opportunity to engage in Spirit filled imagination.  When we go from conflict - action without the Sabbath pause there is no room to let the Light in, no chance to be inspired - to pause for new breath.  The pause is not a "holding of breath"!  It is breathing in HOPE!  A day out of my Sabbath Journey resource helps draw attention to the relationship between Sabbath and potential transformation.  Sorry for the long post.

This is what the Lord says- he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,

the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. 

(Isaiah 43:16-21)

“God who gives life to the dead calls things that are not as though they were.” 

(Romans 4:17)

       

"Knowledge is limited, Imagination encircles the world."   Albert Einstein

       

Sabbath is a time to look into our hearts.   As we have seen, it takes much courage, perseverance and patience to look inside.  Sometimes we are disturbed by what we find. The fears, loneliness, materialism leave us feeling more than disquieted. The shadows of greed, lust and selfishness stir in us a hunger for God's healing touch.  However Sabbath is not just an opportunity to look at the internal realities of our lives. It is also an opportunity to look at the reality of sin in the world around us.  As we begin to see life against the infinite horizon of God’s love our compassion swells for those in our world who suffer needlessly.  

Sabbath also brings an invitation to trust God and to acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves or our world.  Here we are free to hope in God’s future.  Letting go of the paralyzing myth that we can actually fix it all we are now free to imagine what God can do.  And God can do amazing things!

When Isaiah delivered the promise of “water in the desert” the people of Israel languished in foreign exile.  Think of how their imaginations must have been stirred when they heard the words of the prophet.  The imagination is the highest power of the knowing mind.  As we seek to find meaning and purpose for our lives we must nurture a habit of imagination - the power by which we sort and shape all the disparate elements of our world using images, symbols, stories, and rituals. 

I'm not saying we should live in a fantasy world. Fantasy can be an okay thing. I think it can be helpful to have an active fantasy life. Fantasy can keep the mind open and limber; it can entertain; it can be a means of experimenting. The problem with fantasy is that it need have no relationship to reality and can hence lead to its own seductive pleasure or horror.  The imagination incorporates fantasy but its highest function is to find relationships that are truthful and grounded in existential reality. The work of the imagination is to create the real. The imagination seeks to put things together that belong together.

The four authors of a helpful book titled Common Fire Lives of Commitment in a Complex World, conducted a study of 100 people who made a significant commitment to the common good.  A common theme or common fire emerged as they looked at the lives of these compassionate and dedicated people.  One of the common ingredients in these people was the capacity to imagine. The authors noticed a regular progression of thoughts as the imagination for something new; something better took root in the lives of the people.  A starting point for healthy imaginative work is a consciousness of conflict.   Something is not right, dissonant. What is won't work.  This disturbance in the status quo was followed by an intentional  pause. Once a conflict comes into view, but before it was resolved, we need to pause before judgment.   For the Sabbath pilgrim this pause is prayer, a long, loving, look at the real.  It is out of this fruitful pause that an image or insight emerges.  The gift of the pause is the Ah-ha! An image (not necessarily visual) emerges from our prayer. "The image which may emerge from within or be borrowed from without, crystallizes a new insight which presents itself to us with the force of reality."

  It has been my experience that the images of prayer take the form at least initially of metaphor. It's like a stream in the desert, a peace, a warmth, new energy, fresh vision.  Once a new image of what can be is found a connection between the new insight and lived experience is sought.  The authors call this re-patterning and refraining without which the new insight will languish. Somehow the Ah-ha needs to be shaped into our lives. How is the new thing; now it springs forth from our prayers, the way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, affect our lives?  If the new thing is to live in the world it needs to be articulated and acted upon in community with other people who are interested. As the authors put it, "We are dependent on trustworthy communities of confirmation and contradiction who can affirm that "Yes, life is like that." or respond, "No, that interpretation is inadequate, perhaps even dangerous."

There is much wisdom in the observation of the authors of A Common Fire. We need ways to shape a prophetic and healing imagination.  For better or worse Disney has been the primary shaper of the moral imagination of at least two generations, through stories such as Snow White, Pinocchio, The Lion King, and Pocahontas.

I believe imagining a new “world” is a primary task of the church. Could this be a model for evangelism, to let the words of Scripture and our tradition be the fuel for our imaginations? From the perspective of our faith and our experiences of the Holy, we can begin to notice "conscious conflict" the brokenness and contradiction, the sin in our world; to notice what is so that we can imagine what could be; to take time to pray with this brokenness; to pause, reflect, wonder, wait and discern. This is the work of prayer. Sabbath is the atmosphere where this sort of prayer can thrive out of the waiting to allow God's Holy Spirit stir within us an Ah-Ha, a new thing. In the free and spacious geography of Sabbath we can faithfully interpret that new thing so that it can have relevance for our lives.  Because Christian Sabbath practice is rooted in the community we are able to test what we have imagined in the context of community.

Presbytery Discernment

Theory U Haiku

Observe, observe, see. 

Retreat and reflect, allow. 

In an instant, act. 

The World Cafe´ meeting held on May 4th was the first step in the dance of discernment - observe, observe, see. In Theory U this is akin to moving down the left side of the U, from downloading to open mind, heart and will and from debate and discussion to more generative listening. Although some thought it best to skip this step as we are accustomed to doing, the Cafe´ meeting gave us a chance to step back and take a “long loving look at the real” (Which is one definition of contemplative prayer. Walter J. Burghardt). When people feel listened to trust is deepened. A holding place, which is absolutely necessary for any sustainable change to take place, begins to be formed.

The pause between the May 4th meeting of the Presbytery and the June 23rd meeting is the second step- retreat, reflect, allow. This is where we are now. The Mission Council, in its role as a visionary group, needs to find a way to describe this “holding environment” for the Presbytery. How can we invite others into this prayerful pause in order to “catch our breath” for the next move. Here I am thinking of the Biblical tradition of God’s penultimate creative act of deliberately not creating: of resting, of God's pausing and catching a breath. (In Hebrew, in Exodus 31, shavat va yinafash. Shavat, "paused;" va yinafash, "took a breath" or even "became a breath.") This is what it meant to make Shabbat, the Sabbath. This "holding place" is found at the bottom of the U. 

But on the Sabbath God did not cease God’s creative activity. The ultimate act of Creation is that of the Kingdom of God begun in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians are called to be co-creators in this eighth day of creation. Which leads us to the third step in our ongoing dance of discernment. 

In an instant act. Out of this generative pause an opening is created for the new to emerge. If not acted upon without “undo delay or undo haste” it can close as quickly as it opened. As we move together up the right side of the U the Mission Council can be like a conductor (condu-it/condu-ctor) who helps draw attention to what is about to emerge.  What is required is not a different marketing approach, or hierarchical administrating but profound innovation.  Think of a master conductor like Zubin Mehta. As you watch the video below note when (at about 2:45 minutes) the focus is on his soloist Placido Domingo.  Otto Scharmer comments,"The conductor is at one with Domingo.  The music that wants to break through from that special moment-from the now-rests in total stillness  Then our of that magic stillness, music bursts forth, manifesting energy that is flowing through Placido, Mehta, and the whole field surrounding them.  It is as the music continues to rise up through the ground, connecting everyone invloved in the creative energy field..." (U, p. 426)