Purpose-Driven Community Survey

I know Joshua Gorman through his work with Generation Waking Up, a very vibrant project. He recently sent me (and others) the following email. I found his survey to be quite encouraging. You may as well.

–Wade

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I’m on a team that is working on a concept around “purpose-driven community.”

We would love your honest, unfiltered feedback on a short survey that will only take a few minutes to fill it out.

Here’s the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/purposedriven

Also, please feel free to send this out to others who may value contributing to this. The more feedback the better for the process.

Thanks & appreciation,

Joshua

A Dialog on Greatness

My therapist, Rebecca Crabb, normally adopts a neutral stance. But this week, as I left her office, she seemed to be moved emotionally by what I had shared about my struggles with wanting to be recognized as a “great man,” as my mother repeatedly assured me I would be. As I said goodbye, Rebecca commented, “Keep up the great work.” Her use of the word “great” may or may not have have been intentional. Regardless, it prompted me to reflect more on the word.

Those reflections prompted me to post the following as a “status update” on Facebook:

Can someone be a “great” person? If so, what does that mean? Is everyone created “equal” in the eyes of God? If so, how do you reconcile that notion with the belief in greatness? What percentage of the population can be great persons? If someone is a great person is that person “superior” to others? Does greatness depend on excelling in a particular skill? Does greatness depend on being recognized by others as great? Can ego and ambition fit with wanting to be great?

In response only one person “liked” the post, though one other did comment, “Good thinking, Wade.” That response leads me to believe that few people felt that my post posed important, thought-provoking questions that are difficult if not impossible to answer.

However, five Friends did offer answers. A Deadhead with a highly developed sense of humor said, “Some of us content to be just GRATE.” And the others commented:

Saw this quote a few minutes ago. For me, it answers the questions. "I am in competition with no one. I have no desire to play the game of being better than anyone. I am simply trying to be better than the person I was yesterday." 

"People created in the likeness of God" mean having equal access to Godly character traits, like love, honesty, humanity, truth, justice, kindness, etc --nothing to do with "greatness." Greatness cannot be aspired to, but occurs when one is recognized by peers as having made use and application of inherent character development well above normal in ways that advance humanity over personal fulfillment.

In my opinion just about everyone has something inside of them that makes them great. We all have something great about us, something that makes us uniquely who we are. One person's greatness doesn't have to negate another's. Rather I think that we should all strive to appreciate the greatness in ourselves and in each other.

In response, I posted:

I cannot see a clear, easy answer to those questions. I am "better" than others with regard to certain skills. but that does not necessarily make me a better person. I may generally be a more moral person because I am less selfish, but that does not diminish the inherent equal worth of others. I can justifiably aspire to be recognized for having maximized the compassionate use of my talents, limited as they are, but I do not need to be recognized in order to be a great person. Yes, we need to recognize the greatness in others, while also recognizing their weakness. Emerson, I believe, said that one is great if one is true to who they really are. All of us fall short in that regard, at least from time to time, but some more so than others, at times admittedly so. Ajahn Amaro once told me to accept praise as "icing on the cake." But sometimes it becomes the cake.

Then another Friend commented:

I think greatness happens when people are exceptional in some way - they share ideas that many people want to hear, they help usher in change that is sorely needed, or bring delight to many people. Or, a person can be great to just one or two people. Like someone may be a great dad or brother or friend. They were there for you and gave you what you needed to make your life better or they lead by example. That's how i think of greatness. We all have differing perceptions; but, there are some people who many people agree are or were great people. Like Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B Anthony, Noam Chomsky, etc.

Today, I still feel that those comments don’t get at the dilemma that bothers me. So I posted the following new status update, which approaches the paradox from another perspective.

The best way to love oneself is to love others. To give is to receive. Being willing to die for another is the ultimate expression of self-love. But that benefit to the lover is most rewarding if it is a by-product. If we give in order to receive, the benefit is diminished. And when we love others, it is easy to anticipate the ultimate self-benefit and become self-centered rather than other-centered. Self-awareness, which makes humans uniquely human, is a blessing and a curse. It is a rich source of creativity and growth, but it easily leads to chronic self-centeredness, which is deadly. Resolving this contradiction is a constant struggle.

If someone is a great friend to “just one or two people” and they are true to who they really are, then perhaps they are a great person -- in which case they are not great because they “bring delight to many people.” How we define “greatness” is critical. Yes, everyone has “greatness” within. But how many come close to fulfilling it?

The first definition of “great” in Webster’s includes the synonym “ample,” which is defined as “generous or more than adequate in size, scope, or capacity.” That sense of the word may be a good starting point.

Hunter Pence Reads Gandhi (plus more)

Recently, I've devoted lots of time to trying to help the Western Park Residents Council get organized. We've made some good progress. I now hope to return to writing more, as I continue to drive taxi full-time, hoping to largely retire from cab driving soon. But since my last post here, I have been able to make the following posts to Wade's Wire.

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Hunter Pence Reads Gandhi 

The spiritual leader of the San Francisco Giants baseball team, right fielder Hunter Pence, is known as “The Reverend.” His teammates gave him that nickname after his memorable 2012 clubhouse speech behind closed doors that helped inspire the team to overcome a two-game deficit and win three games on the road to move on toward their eventual World Series victory. That speech prompted the Giants to include his teammates recreating it in their video celebrating the World Series.

Then at the end of the 2014 season on the way to another World Series, Pence gave an incredible speech to a full house of Giants fans at their ballpark.

Now it turns out, as reported yesterday in “He Might Be Giant: A Day in the Life of Hunter Pence,” Pence gets his own inspiration by reading Mahatma Gandhi and The Five Levels of Attachment: Toltec Wisdom for the Modern World by Miguel Ruiz....

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My Community Organizing (Part One) 

As a child, I organized softball games. In high school, I formed a chess club. As an undergraduate, I served in most of the elected leadership positions at our 90-person student co-op at the University of California at Berkeley (where I got my Social Sciences degree). My last semester at Cal, I was nominated and elected to serve as Co-Coordinator of the experimental 150-student Residence College. Those experiences provided me with a valuable sense of community.

My first taste of deep community, however, was the civil rights movement....

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We-Facilitation

The opencollaboration blog  is a stimulating resource. Today’s post, New paradigms of leadership : from leader to facilitator to we-facilitator, is no exception. However, as reflected by my comment that follows their essay, which I posted on their blog, I have some disagreement....

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Being Present and Presence

An essay in today’s Times by Lawrence Berger fascinated me. Titled “Being There: Heidegger on Why Our Presence Matters,” it explores what it means to be “fully human” by comparing the approach of cognitive scientists with the phenomenology of Martin Heidegger....

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Our Purpose 

We take care of ourselves, our families, our communities, our nation, all humanity, and the planet in order to take care of Life itself. Each arena is equally important. To promote the common good of the Earth Community, we need to work in each simultaneously. We need to love ourselves, others, and Life at the same time.

If we neglect one arena, we become unbalanced, less than whole, with a hole in our soul. If we forget why we do what we do, we lose meaning.

It’s not a question of what comes first. We cannot change ourselves without changing the world, and we cannot change the world without changing ourselves. We need to do both at the same time, while avoiding both selfishness and self-sacrifice. Being selfless involves less self, not the denial of self.

Life seeks to survive and evolve. Our calling is to contribute to human evolution.

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ABC of Life

A sculpture by Stephen Schlanser. Text by Evelin Hyde.
Each line begins with a letter of the alphabet.

ACHIEVE HAPPINESS
BELIEVE IN HUMANITY
CELEBRATE LIFE
DISCOVER THE MOMENT
EMBRACE DIVERSITY
FIND LOVE
GIVE UNCONDITIONALLY
HAVE PATIENCE
INSPIRE OTHERS
JUDGE NO ONE
KEEP GOALS
LAUGH OFTEN
MANAGE ANGER
NOTICE MODESTY
OFFER UNDERSTANDING
PLAY FOR FUN
QUESTION EVERYTHING
REALIZE DREAMS
SPEAK TRUTH
TRUST YOURSELF
UNDERSTAND DIFFERENCES
VISUALIZE PEACE
WAKEN CURIOSITY
XXXOOO
YEARN FOR PROGRESS
ZEALOUSLY LIVE LIFE

Found in the office of Rebecca Crabb, Ph. D.

Today is Not Adequate: A Sermon by Dr. Dorsey Blake

Following is the text of the sermon presented by Dr. Dorsey Blake at the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples on February 15. 2015. To hear audio of other, more recent Fellowship Church services, click here.

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Today is not adequate if we are to create a future.  Today with all of its affirmation of who we are, its stability and familiarity, its grounding, is not sufficient for what must become, the future that must be.  There must be in today a sense of beyondness, a sense of seeing beyond the present circumstances.  It is the impulse in the Black Lives Matter movement and other movements that moves beyond staying in today's outrage and thereby consuming the self to incorporating an element of hope that what ought to be can be (The definition of faith by Harry Emerson Fosdick).  Without this element we will not create and embrace the fortitude needed for a new heaven and new earth, to use the language of John exiled on the isle of Patmos.

Freedom always entails a sense of beyondness.  No, we have not overcome; but, we shall overcome someday.  It is this dimension of the soul that allows one to deal with the vicissitudes, the pain, the  problems, the heartbreaks, the violence, the shootings, the corruption with Dr. Thurman's understanding that the oppressions, the disappointments, the betrayals, the fear, hypocrisy, and hatred that enshroud one's life are neither final nor ultimate.  For example, we hear these words in Charles Tindley’s wonderful song:

Beams of heaven as I go,
through the wilderness below,
guide my feet in peaceful ways,
turn my midnights into days.
When in the darkness I would grope,
faith always sees a star of hope,
and soon from all life's grief and danger
I shall be free someday.
I do not know how long 'twill be,
nor what the future holds for me,
but this I know: if Jesus leads me,
I shall get home someday.

Listen to the words, I shall be free someday. I shall get home someday. Many people considered this and other songs like as other worldly.  And, felt that they guided people into accepting their struggles without struggling to overcome them.  But, when you realize that this was one of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s favorite songs, you know that isn't true.  It was not otherworldly for him. There is a presence beyond the earthly, beyond today, that infuses the spirit with an unshakeable confidence in the sojourn ahead. It says that the empire's timetable is not God's timetable.  There is a dimension of human existence that is beyond the manipulations of those in power who seek to continue oppressing the people of God, all people.  It is this dimension that is embedded in the nonviolent struggle, that the victory may not come today, or even in one's lifetime, but it shall come, if the people of God trust God enough with their lives, their God-given talents to press on to a higher calling, to higher Ground.

Remember in Dr. King's last speech, he assured us that we would get to the Promised Land even though he may not get there with us.  And, he did not get there with us.  And we have not gotten there yet. For a nation threatened by his vision and commitment to the beloved community, to eradicating poverty, to studying war no more, understood his anti-imperialist incarnation and caused the blood to cease to run in his veins as it poured upon the concrete at the Lorraine Motel, April 4, 1968.  But, he will get there with us when we get to that Promised Land; for his blood will never lose its power to help us overcome our fear, and will gird our loins, minds, hearts, spirits as we continue the march up to freedom land.

He knew and embodied the understanding that as Audre Lourde said so beautifully that the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house.

This past week many of the most progressive Black religious leaders in the nation gathered in Norfolk, VA, for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference.  Young people and older people, men and women addressed the conference addressing the theme:  Reclaiming Our Moral Authority:  Faith and Justice in the Age of Reinvented Empire.

That is not the master's tool, moral authority. False claims to moral authority yes, those are tools of the Empire, but not moral authority.  You may recall that I have shared from this pulpit that in my junior year of college, Dr. King, spoke in Sayles Hall at Brown University.  Afterword, he was asked in a press conference about the idea that was going around about his running as Vice-President on a Presidential ticket with Robert Kennedy.  He responded by saying that he would never do such because he saw himself not as a politician but as the moral voice of the nation.

Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor was a friend and mentor of Dr. King who wrote a book entitled:  My Moral Odyssey.  I was so pleased that the conference honoring his life honored the centrality of morality in its conference.  I'm not talking about the phony morality that some, including religious, leaders use to talk about private morality such as drinking, smoking, dancing, premarital sex.  No, the folks at the conference talked about our moral responsibility to address the empire on behalf of the discarded ones, dispossessed, the locked out members of our society.  It did say that we have to be careful that our lives reflect the kind of society we want to see. There is an extensive internal examination that we have to make sure that we are living up to the values, the morality, that we project upon society.

It reaffirmed nonviolence as the moral way to create a moral society.  Violence was the master's tool.   Nonviolence was a higher order.  It supports the idea that what is moral is that which elevates human personality and dignity.  And, what is immoral is that which degrades human personality and dignity. King stated that the ultimate goal of nonviolence was to understand that the destiny of all, white,  Black, whatever, is tied together, that is, to reclaim our walk together as one people.  He said that now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of what we called brotherhood.

The beyond dimension was there because it was clear that violence only perpetuated violence, creating an unending cycle of violence.  It, violence, could perhaps win some skirmishes but not win the heart of the people and the nation.  And winning the hearts, possessing the souls of people was absolutely necessary for the creation of that beloved community, the modern expression of the reign of Kingdom of God ideal.

One idea paramount at the conference was that we buy into the protocols and practices of the empire daily.  And, we need to examine ourselves and our duplicity and complicity with the empire and imperial practices if we are to be leaders of the people, leading them into this space of beyondness essential to the creation of the New Heaven and Earth.  which is our purpose for living. These are my words and concepts with which some at the conference may disagree. The empire understands violence. It will squash violence. But nonviolence is a new concept. They don’t know what’s going on. They cannot understand people going to jail. And that is what nonviolence does. It gives people time to do something before the empire catches on to what they are doing, allowing time for victories.

John exiled on the isle of Patmos envisions a way forward, a future beyond space, time, circumstance freed from present notions.  That is what beyond entails.  It is not a place but a consciousness, understanding, a vision that lifts us from our fallenness, not an original fallenness, but one in which we have been victimized by empire, victimized so thoroughly, so completely that we feel impotent to be the people we are called to be and create the future that needs to be.

"Behold, I saw a new heaven and a new earth" the writer of the Biblical book of Revelation wrote. And of John Dr.Thurman said: Very daring words they are and it is important for us to recognize that these words came out of a background of struggle and pain and tragedy and persecution.  They testify to the fact that there is something about the human spirit that is able to project itself out of any dilemma which may be facing it, and to act as if the dilemma has been resolved.

Let us remember the necessity of this beyond dimension as we move forward, asserting in no uncertain terms that Black lives do matter, that all lives do matter, that life itself matters.

When the writer of Revelation dreams, he says that he sees a new heaven and a new earth.  If heaven is where God dwells, and there is a new heaven, what does that mean?  Is the seer saying that God moves out more and more in creative exploration, that before there can be a new earth, a new Ferguson, a new New York, a new Santa Rosa, there must be a new heaven, a new way of thinking, of being, a new consciousness?

A new earth -- we talk about it! One world (United Nations) we talk about it! We try to get sufficient dynamic, sufficient conception, sufficient insight, from an old heaven, an old dogma, old theological discipline, to provide power, insight, guidance, strength, substance for a new world.  And, we can't do it.

Victor Hugo comments in Les Miserables “We often deny by our way of attaining the goal the meaning of the goal.  We strive for an ideal tomorrow by borrowing as the process of attaining it from the falsehood of yesterday.   We do not put our faith in the irresistible and incorruptible strength of our principles until after we have made ourselves secure on the world’s past falsehoods.”

But a new heaven! The dream of a new heaven, with all that that implies, works over the stubborn and often unyielding stuff of the old earth until at last out of the very heart throb of the new heaven is born the new earth.

There can be no greater hope, no greater stirring of the mind and the spirit, as we face going forth into the future with all of its withering disillusions and its grounded despair than that we are visited by the glory of a new heaven.

Wherever we are, however we are functioning, whatever responsibilities are ours -- if we capture the mood, the spirit, the intensity of a new heaven to steady us and to strengthen us, we shall walk though the "crud" of the earth in preparation for a new earth -- a new earth which will be the heritage of little babies and little puppies and little kittens yet to come.  What a wonderful thing to make that kind of demand upon today and tomorrow!

Behold there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, because the new heaven is already born in the heart and the spirit and the life of anyone anywhere who has made the great and central surrender to God, replacing "hands up I can't breathe"  with:

1.      Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do.
2.      Breathe on me, Breath of God,  until my heart is pure, until with thee I will one will, to do and to endure.
3.      Breathe on me, Breath of God,  till I am wholly thine, till all this earthly part of me glows with thy fire divine.
4.      Breathe on me, Breath of God, so shall I never die, but live with thee the perfect life of thine eternity.

 

 

Cultivating My Home

Organizing the Western Park Residents’ Association has been rewarding and time-consuming. It’s interfered with writing, but since I expect to live here the rest of my life, I might as well make the best of it.

My 200 elderly neighbors are a rich and diverse collection of talented characters. Many are rather quirky, but never having been normal myself, I fit in.

Recently rehabilitated, our affordable housing complex is like new. With one 12-story tower and three multi-unit “cottages,” we have a small library, activities room, laundry room, roof-top garden, well-equipped exercise room, meeting room, computer room, and a large multi-purpose room with a ping-pong table, flat screen TV, and public address system.

From my one-bedroom apartment (see photos), my view stretches from Mt. Tam to Twin Peaks.

Situated on the edge of the historic Fillmore District, two blocks from Japantown, and six blocks from Robert Redford’s Kabuki Sundance Cinema (with reserved seating!), the location is convenient. The bus at the corner goes directly to BART, which travels to the East Bay.

I knew I wanted to live here when twenty years ago I visited a resident, Bob Forsberg, a fellow member of the Campaign to Abolish Poverty. As I approached sixty, I dropped by once a year to try to get on the waiting list, but it was always closed. Then one day the staff took my number and within a year, almost four years ago, I moved in.

Since the building is owned by a church-related non-profit, my partially subsidized rent is only $971 per month (which is low for San Francisco!). When I get to the top of the Section 8 waiting list in several years, my rent will be even less, one-third of my income.

At that point, I’ll probably stop driving taxi. Though I may then have to become even more frugal, it seems I’ll still be able to live comfortably and maybe even spend $2-3,000 a year to travel, including trips abroad. To have more time for my community work, until now I haven’t worked for money enough to save for my retirement. So I feel fortunate I will be able to sell my taxi medallion, have landed in a great home, and have a good retirement plan.

When I moved in, the Residents Council was small and relatively inactive. Then the Council became completely inactive. As the rehab was nearing completion, however, some residents called a meeting to kickstart the Council. About fifteen people, including me, participated.

When I proposed a deliberate, fully informed process for recruiting candidates and conducting an election of officers with a secret ballot, my proposal was accepted and I was recruited to serve as Chair of the Election Committee. Later, when no one else would agree to run as President, I told the committee I would be willing to do so. They responded with spontaneous applause.

Though old-timers predicted a small turnout for our first meeting, more than 40 residents came. Later, more than 60% of the residents voted for the slate of candidates. Those responses were encouraging. We were off and running.

But the owner was bringing on a new executive director, our building only had an interim manager, everyone was recovering from the year-long rehab ordeal, and the new Residents’ Council was finding its feet. These transitions led to ambiguity about how the Council and management would relate to each other. So the Council decided to hold off on meeting during the holidays.

The New Year brought a new, permanent manager with whom the Council has collaborated productively. She has engaged in dialog with residents at our monthly Council meetings and participated in a vibrant Saturday night potluck with 50 residents. We’re solidifying our committees, including a Conflict Resolution committee that will address resident complaints about other residents and management.

The Council recently circulated a 10-question survey to all residents. The 58 responses were interesting and informative. In response to “I would like to participate in a gathering at least once every two months to get to know people on my floor more fully,” the replies were 24 Yes, 12 No, and 22 Not sure. When asked which committee they would like to work with, five respondents said they were interested in the Floor Gatherings committee. (Five also expressed interest in the Welcoming committee).

As an experiment with enriched social interaction, I invited 10 residents (the four-person Executive Committee and seven other active Council members) to a Saturday morning brunch in my apartment. After eating, we went around the circle and everyone told their story, including their current interests, using a timer to limit the responses to five minutes. All of the participants seemed to really enjoy it.

Also interesting is that when asked if the Council may let other residents know “if and when I am hospitalized,” the responses were about equally divided between Yes, No, and Not Sure.

Where all this goes in the future remains to be seen. But the prospects are promising and I’m enjoying the challenge.

Personal Growth, Making Mistakes, and Activism

By Wade Hudson

Self-development helps activists increase their effectiveness. Learning better how to listen, be less judgmental, offer constructive criticism, speak from the heart, inspire others, handle anger, acknowledge mistakes and weaknesses, avoid burnout, and spread happiness are some of the valuable qualities that we can cultivate with intentional effort.

Nurturing humility is particularly important. In her "On Being Wrong" TED Talk, Kathryn Schulz stated:

Most of us do everything we can to avoid thinking about being wrong, or at least to avoid thinking about the possibility that we ourselves are wrong.... Getting something wrong means there's something wrong with us.... We all kind of wind up traveling through life trapped in this little bubble of feeling very right about everything.... To step outside of that feeling...is the single greatest moral, intellectual and creative leap you can make.... You need to step outside of that tiny, terrified space of rightness and look around at each other and look out at the vastness and complexity and mystery of the universe and be able to say, "Wow, I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong."

Verbalizing thoughts and feelings concerning personal issues enhances understanding. Being heard, understood, and accepted by others is comforting and encourages us to persist with the difficult task of internal examination.

Given the hectic nature of the modern world, regularly setting aside special time to pause, reflect, and evaluate our personal efforts can be beneficial. Such gatherings, perhaps with a small group of trusted allies, can serve as accountability sessions.

Written commitments are also useful. They focus our attention. That’s why partners embrace marriage vows and religious communities verbalize key beliefs in unison during worship.

Yet I know of no political organization with written goals that commit members to engage in self-evaluation, acknowledge mistakes, and support one another in their open-ended self-improvement, with individuals defining their own goals.

I neither expect nor want every political organization to implement such policies. But it seems it would be good if at least a few did. Those groups could attract members who seek a caring, supportive community.

That's why I was excited by the contributions of James and Phil Lawson last weekend, as I reported in “Vincent Harding Teach-In Explodes.” James first articulated a passionate call for a commitment to nonviolence as a way of life, not merely as a tactic (which I refer to as “deep nonviolence.”)  Then Phil suggested that we develop a “recovery program” to help activists deal with the “addictions” that society has inculcated in us. That frame implies a willingness to acknowledge mistakes and weaknesses, which is key to self-development.

The response to the Lawson brothers at the Teach-In and other signs indicate that a full commitment to integrating the personal, the social, and the political may soon crystallize. When I ask people, “In what way do you want to be a better person?” most people respond quickly, which indicates they give the matter considerable thought. The two “compassionate politics” workshops and the “Gandhi-King Holistic Three-Fold Path” workshop that associates and I convened elicited vital participation. The Movement Strategy Center  is doing great work with activists promoting personal and collective transformation.

And as Dr. Dorsey Blake reported in his February 15 sermon at the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, earlier this month the 2015 Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference on “Reclaiming Our Moral Authority: Faith and Justice in the Age of Reinvented Empire" addressed personal issues in a very powerful manner. My notes from Blake’s sermon include:

We cannot dismantle the master’s house with the master’s tools…. We need internal examination in order to love consistently…. We are all trapped in Empire, with complicity and duplicity…. Nonviolence is needed to win the hearts of others…. Empire understands violence. It can crush violence. But it does not know how to respond to nonviolence when demonstrators are willing to go to jail….. 

Most of the responses to my "Vincent Harding Teach-In Explodes" post, mostly from women, were supportive. One reported on a recent decision to drop out of an activist organization due to troublesome interpersonal dynamics and commented, “Thank you for all of this. I'm sorry I wasn't there and should have been. I could have used this."

Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb said my essay consisted of “important reflections” and commented that both of the Lawson brothers are her beloved mentors. She also encouraged others to support the Black Lives Matter movement and urge the Berkeley City Council to change policies related to police violence.

Roma Guy replied, “Amen...thanks. ” And Joan Greenfield said, “Great write-up. ...Admitting mistakes and resolving to avoid them in the future...is half the equation to me. The other half is seeing, or being aware when one repeats them, and that's easier said than done.”

However, one respondent commented:

I was slightly disappointed to read your account of the conference and its "new directions" without mentioning that these new directions are exactly what the Network of Spiritual Progressives has been preaching and teaching for the past ten years. I would have hoped you'd have told people that there really is an organization trying to do exactly what you talk about in this article…. 

The Network of Spiritual Progressives has made important contributions. In particular, it has helped many spiritually inclined activists to come “out of the closet.” However, their statement of purpose presents an external focus that fails to address internal growth and includes no affirmation of self-evaluation. The same applies to the Network’s recent call for a strategy conference, which even declared: "Nor are we writing you to suggest personal repentance." That shocking formulation contradicts the call for acknowledging mistakes that is implied by Phil Lawson’s proposal for a “recovery program.” So, despite its extensive good work, the Network does not seem to be “exactly...preaching and teaching” what I articulated in my report on the Harding Teach-In.

Another correspondent replied to my post by saying, “You seem to be asking for a ‘catechism’ and a church model to hold practitioners responsible for something that is much more about personal practice to which one holds oneself to in a moment by moment way.”

I find that statement too individualistic. Personal practice is important, but it is not “much more” important than mutual support. The individual and the community are of equal importance. We need an equal emphasis on each, a balance. Peers learn from and encourage one another. Peer pressure can be positive. We are social creatures. Community can be valuable. Intentional community can be even more powerful.

I see no need for a catechism, complex instruction manual, or elaborate creed. However, brief statements of shared principles and simple, user-friendly tools can productively structure self-regulating support groups. Rather than tell others how they need to change specifically, we can encourage a dedication to personal growth in general -- by asking questions like "what mistakes have you made lately?"

For many of us, our personal growth could be enhanced by participating in an activist organization whose members admit mistakes, resolve to avoid repeating them, and otherwise consciously support one another in their self-improvement.

We may soon witness the emergence of such caring communities (or their proliferation if some already exist). If so, society would benefit.

Vincent Harding Teach-In Explodes

Photo: Vincent Harding

 

Last Saturday, a day-long intergenerational teach-in honoring Vincent Harding erupted with inspiration in the early afternoon with a powerful statement from Rev. James Lawson. Lawson was a mentor to the 1960 Nashville sit-ins and a close associate of both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Harding, a scholar and activist who wrote King’s anti-Vietnam War speech.

Toward the end of the February 7 teach-in, in which more than one hundred individuals participated, Rev. Phil Lawson, James’ younger brother and a long-term Bay Area activist, proposed monthly gatherings to continue the conversation, which was organized by the National Council of Elders. Whether that happens remains to be seen.

 

Following the lunch break, James Lawson addressed two points about which, he said, “I haven’t heard anything today.” First, he declared, “All of us have the task to be as fully human, loving, and alive as possible.” Second, he urged activists to promote personal nonviolent struggle in order to become more fully nonviolent as individuals and more effective as activists.

 

He urged the audience to work on “how we treat each other and ourselves and how we work together” so that we better “learn how to respect each other.” In a challenge to traditional methods of organizing, he argued, “You can’t overcome this society with the old order. You can’t overcome darkness with darkness. You can’t fight evil with evil. We need a new model.”

 

Later, his brother, Phil, echoed that theme when he asked, “Who is the enemy?” and answered that it is “a spiritual power that has captured everyone” and fosters a wide variety of destructive “addictions.” To counter that force, he said we need a new spiritual power of our own: a profound commitment to nonviolence as a way of life, not as a tactic. “Everyone is an addict and we need to be in some program of recovery from the addictions of our society. We need a long-term, disciplined project.”

 

Those words were music to my ears. For me, the Lawson brothers’ comments exploded the event with a sudden burst of spirit, hope, and inspiration.

It was no surprise that the morning session failed to address those issues. That vacuum commonly permeates similar gatherings, including those convened by faith-based and faith-rooted organizers.

 

For years, I’ve been preaching a similar message concerning “deep nonviolence.” That work must include, it seems to me, a willingness and an ability to examine oneself honestly, admit mistakes (at least to a small circle of trusted allies), and resolve to avoid them in the future. As I see it, an organization rooted in deep nonviolence of the sort advocated by the Lawson brothers needs to be clearly, explicitly committed to mutual support and self-improvement, and its members need to set aside special time regularly for that purpose. That work needs to be intentional and disciplined. But I’ve been unable to find an organization with that kind of commitment, and my efforts to initiate one have not been successful, though I’ve connected with many people who have expressed interest.

 

Toward the end of teach-in, the participants formed small breakout groups and discussed the day’s events for fifteen minutes. I expressed my support for the Lawsons’ comments, and others in my group seemed supportive. And when all of the groups reported back, a few others referred to “addictions” and/or “support groups,” which was encouraging.

 

Another issue that I raised in my small group was the fact that the day’s proceedings did not consider the need to focus on winnable demands, a key principle embraced by both Gandhi and King. I argued that shutting down BART briefly or otherwise disrupting “business as usual” as the local #BlackLivesMatter groups have done may be “healing” for the demonstrators, as a number of speakers at the teach-in reported. But to build support with the general public, there needs to be a focus on achievable objectives. The same applies to acts of “moral witness.” Those actions may reach a few onlookers and the demonstrators may feel better afterward. But we need more than that.

 

Phil Lawson presented one such potentially realistic demand when he said that if the Alameda County District Attorney “overcharges” the demonstrators arrested at a recent BART action (by, for example, charging them with felonies), others should protest that decision by shutting down BART themselves. That stance seems to hold more potential than demanding that no charges whatsoever be filed, as some are proposing.

 

Along the same line, another word that I did not hear at the teach-in was “reconciliation,” a key principle affirmed by Gandhi and King. Their aim was not to defeat “enemies” by imposing their will, but rather to find common ground through negotiation.

 

After the teach-in adjourned, I thanked Phil for his “addictions” frame and commented that, as with the Harm Reduction Model in drug treatment, we may not need to tell fellow individual activists how they need to change specifically. Rather, perhaps we can leave it to individuals to define their own goals.

 

And I expressed my appreciation to James for speaking to those issues that had been missing from the morning session, as I too had noticed. One panelist did briefly talk about the need to learn how to deal with “ego.” And Wilson Riles offered some insightful comments about how “we swim in what oppresses us but don’t recognize it,” such as the English language with its anti-Black connotations and individualistic formats for how we relate to each other. But there was no proactive, corrective solutions offered. The Lawsons filled that void.

 

When I told James that some of us locally have been considering the development of one or more user-friendly, easily replicated tools that activists could use in self-regulating small groups to support one another with their self-improvement, he said “try it and see how it goes,” and commented that nonviolence is not so much a matter of “training” as it is “living it.”

 

James Baldwin, the renowned African-American author, once said:

A day will come when you will trust you more than you do now and you will trust me more than you do now. We will trust each other. I do believe, I really do believe that we can all become better than we are. I know we can.

I remain inspired by the hope that Baldwin and the Lawson brothers have articulated so well and will continue to try to foster its realization. Toward that end, inspired by the process that William Swing used to craft the United Religions initiative, I may seek an organization to facilitate a similar collaborative writing project to compose a position paper on how to build broad, multi-issue unity though deep nonviolence. If I can find such an organization, I might use  a recent inheritance to make a sizable donation to it myself, and also seek other funds to back it.

 

My optimism is tempered, however. Baldwin also said, “But the price is enormous and people are not yet ready to pay.” Most activists are convinced they already have the answers and only need to figure out how to better mobilize others to do what they, the activists, want them to do. Honest self-examination is painful, and collaboration rooted in mutual respect is not easy. Those tasks require more humility and vulnerability than is common among activists.

 

Nurturing a balance between conviction and flexibility is an urgent need. It is the best path to the beloved community. Continuing the February 7 conversation could help.