Re-Member Through Dialogue

I don't know about you, but I get excited when I learn something new!  The act of hearing or experiencing a different reality helps me to reconsider truths that I have long held, wondering how the pieces fit together.

For instance, this past week as I reflected on the issues coursing through our society, Mike - a dialogue colleague and friend, shared the following quote:

"The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth." 

-- African proverb

Do you see the beauty of your village?

Hearing this quote allowed me to re-consider the nightly scenes of voices raised and property razed.  What truths do we need to address when people have not been embraced or included as part of our local, regional, national, and global "villages"?

Mike also shared a story about how the members of an African village surround someone who has broken the rules or norms of that village.  Rather than criminalizing or ostracizing the person, the unbroken circle of family and friends remind the person of the goodness they see in that person.

This remembering -- drawing forth goodness -- re-members that person back into the community.

Where can you bring light into the world?

As Mike shared these truths from another culture, my mind exploded with possibilities:

• What would it be like if we re-membered all peoples?
• How does it feel when goodness is remembered -- about me? others?
• Is there a way to include -- rather than exclude -- ideas different than my own?

Think of the transformation in our society if we focused on the humanity of each person, recognizing and remembering the brokenness that we all share, and the goodness that lights our paths!

Can we name and heal the brokenness we see?

I know that I often raise walls when I feel threatened.  I seek to protect myself from those who may cause me harm.  This skill helps me survive.  But, I wonder, is there another skill that needs to be developed?

When we notice walls going up between Self and Other, what would happen if we:

• Acknowledged those walls;
• Talked about the threats we are feeling; and
• Remembered the goodness we see in Self and Other? 

Talking and re-membering -- bringing members back into our family circle, allows us to embrace one another and warm the human village with our goodness.

Prayers for justice and peace for all!

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

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