Gone Too Far?

Isn't life interesting?  We learn.  We strive for our goals.  We achieve... or keep trying.  But there are times when we come to a dead end, a challenge too great, or the edge of a precipice.  At each interval of learning, goal setting, and arrival, we have choices:

• What do we want to accomplish?
  
• Will our values inform our decisions?
  
• How shall we proceed... individually and collectively?

I don't know about you, but recent events have brought me to my edge!

Questions to consider as we look down and outward: What are we noticing? What are we learning about ourselves?  Have we gone too far?  Do we want to take this next step?

What do you do when there is no place to go?
(Photo credit:  Higher Education on the Precipice, AACSB)

Media outlets have reported that some are comparing our current situation to the American Revolution or Civil War: fighting against tyranny or an ideology that is abhorred.  The violence at the US Capitol on January 6: is it the beginning of more division, violence, and hate -- OR -- is there a choice not yet seen?

 

As a country, have we forgotten the death and destruction resulting from earlier choices?  Are we ready to experience these forces again in our society?

Are you prepared for the death of dialogue?
(Photo credit: Then and Now Pictures of the Battlefield, Gettsyberg, NPS.gov)

I remembered this quote from Wendell Berry (Standing by Words, 1983) a few days ago:

"It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings."

 

I wonder:  what is impeding the stream of our dialogue?  Can we focus on that obstruction and allow it to "sing" to us?  Maybe the choice is in listening... together... to that impediment.

When is it time to come together?
(Natural Bridge, Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada)

Though we must stand by the words, values and commitments that are dear to us, can we take a long loving look at the other person?  Can we sit in our surety... and uncertainty... as we seek ways to bridge our differences?  (This doesn't mean the differences will disappear.  The emphasis is on the bridge!)

If our answer to these questions is "No," I wonder again about the precipice before us.  I am afraid of the next step!

 

May we notice the impeded streams in our lives this week... and the song they are singing to us.  May we notice the impediments... and choose wisely our next steps.

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)