Sacred Conversations

It was a shock.  It was a mystery. It was a confusion.  There were not people in conversation. Deep soul searching, transparent conversation.  Business was flying at the speed of light. Crops were growing. Children were being born. But there were no transparent, life changing conversations.

People were talking but their hearts were not revealed.  And the only people who seemed to like the idea of conversation were people in recovery

Oh, there could be conversations around business transactions done with the fewest words possible.  There could be conversations around illness and distress.  There could be conversations about the ferries.  And everyone was agreed on what a good deed was ( is). Book clubs came the closest. People can share their hearts around someone else’s words sometimes. 

But the art of revealing oneself was not present.

“They’re just not in touch with their pain” someone told me.

Coming from an organization ( ok … a church) of four thousand that was internally defined by over three hundred small groups of people from eight to twelve people sharing their hearts on a monthly basis I could not get a grip ( and only now have just gotten it) on a place where people did their best to present well, but maybe not so much the truth about their lives.

And now…we are unraveling at the core. Yes, we are. At the core.  We are unraveling because there were not sacred conversations. Sacred means, in this case, you hold the other person as worthy of life and living and respect and listen while they share their heart.  When a whole council resigns because of a lack of conversation that would ease the transition of a business deal that has so many back alleys it’s its own city, we need to start listening and hearing in different ways.  We can’t just rely on our ability to recover or be resilient. The fact that we can tank on our various community systems now and again and come back strong doesn’t argue the point that we can ignore the damage of the breaks.

Andrew Carnegie did a lot of good. But in the beginning he made his money by treating people atrociously with little regard for the life situations of others. JC Penney, in the beginning developed a whole system of making money by introducing the concept of workers as associates. Unions came about because of  management feeling like their willingness to assume the risk of the business outweighed the worth of their workers lives and quality of workplace.

Wars are happening because people can’t be in conversation. Change happens over and over again in Sacred Conversations.

So…while I, in some ways, wear as a badge of honor the condemnation of those who don’t, won’t , or can’t converse, I have not lost my passion to pass on the thrill of being real in a small group and the ripple effect for our community.

I’m starting a movement. Right here. Right now. Over the last fifteen years I have discovered that the only way to move past offenses and ill feelings on this Island is to have a cup of coffee with your opponent. But I want to move further. I want to back it up.

I’m starting a small group movement here on the Island.  If you are interested in being a part of a small group call me or write me.  It’s just a talking group and sharing group. No business, no agenda. Just getting to know people you wouldn’t run into or might share different interests and lifestyles. One two hour group a month.

When eight people have called me I will give them each others’ contact info and they can pick a time and place. Then the next eight and the next eight and so forth.

At the beginning of each month, I will provide an ice breaker ( what did you prefer as a kid, cupcakes or full on cake?-- for example) and then a sharing question ( what one change would you like to make in your life?—for another example).

Once a year we’ll get together for a potluck celebration.

The biggest damage done on this Island is the constant offense taking.  The prevention and the cure is talking with someone outside your circle of influence.

Call me….206.463.4630 ( yes…so simple it’s complicated…not a typo) or write dha@lgcmin.com.  I’ll hook you up.

Don’t knock it before you’ve tried it. 

Love
Deborah