One Hope, One Flame: The Future of Us

A few years ago I had the opportunity to travel into the Yukon Territory, covering many miles through a rugged and pristine landscape.  Coming to a rest stop for lunch, we watched sled dogs being trained at young ages to provide muscle and energy to transport people and supplies to various areas of this rugged region.  In the yard were puppies socializing with others in their group as they watched and mimicked the adult dogs.  The older dogs were excited, leaping about, waiting to pull a sled full of visitors.  When selected by the trainers, these dogs were harnessed together and to the sled.  Boundless energy being bound to a shared goal: pulling and straining together, moving a seemingly immovable weight.

In the midst of this chaotic and controlled frenzy, I came across a different scene: a mother dog with a pup between her legs.  An embrace?  For protection?  A timeout?  Was the tired mother showing her offspring how to settle down?  The mother was asleep, but the pup remained alert.  Not struggling to set itself free, simply watching the visitors and the other dogs.

An embrace?  For protection?  A time out?
In any case, a moment to slow down and remain alert.

This travel memory came to mind this past week as world news continued to swirl around:  conflicting views of military encounters, terrorist attacks, upcoming health care decisions...  I became exhausted as I tried to take it all in!

Whether we embrace differing views, search for ways to protect our loved ones, or require a timeout from this frenetic activity, perhaps it is time to slow down, remain alert... and focus.  Like the mother dog holding her pup, the discipline to slow down provides us time to rediscover a value or hope we may want to embrace, protect, and share.  Maybe it is time... to reach out comforting arms and speak words that encourage.  Maybe it is time... to wait and listen.
 
What value or hope comes to mind as you slow down?  Where do you find inspiration and energy?

One Hope, One Flame:  being protected and nurtured

One hope that I encountered this past week:  Pope Francis had been asked to address TED2017: The Future You.  His reflection, Why the Only Future Worth Building Includes Everyone, encourages You (an Individual) to become Us (a Community).

Through dialogue, slowing down and listening, embracing, and protecting, we learn to accept that everyone is needed in this Common-Unity.  In other words, our needs are met only when we share the gifts and resources that we individually possess.  The hands that embrace and protect become the hands that support the Whole.

(Click links to check out TED2017 and Pope Francis' reflection.)

One Hope, One Flame... One Heart

To step out and hope for a better world, Dialogue invites us to seek moments of courage and vulnerability:

• To say what is important to you... and to listen to what is important to the other person.
• To see that you have sacred worth and value... and to acknowledge the sacredness and value of others.
• To believe that each person tries to understand... and to hold tenderly when we misunderstand. 

May this week allow you moments to slow down, to listen, and to remain alert.  May there be moments of dialogue that will bind us together so that we can pull and strain together, removing seemingly immovable objects that weigh us down!

Larry Gardepie
Dialogue San Diego Consulting