new space

by

THOUGHT LEADER

Thought Leaders

are especially

important

during times of

Disruptive Innovation,

a concept

used in

this time

when things

aren’t working

and ways of thinking and doing

must be changed.

Since Pope Francis was chosen,

he has become a

powerful

THOUGHT LEADER.

From his first moments

Pope Francis

showed his

humility

asking for us

to pray for him.

He chose

simple garments,

comfortable black shoes,

paid his own hotel bill,

moved into a

simple apartment.

During Holy Week,

he washed the feet of the poor,

not all Catholics.

He told priests

to be merciful and compassionate

 towards those who are divorced

women who have had

abortions.

When asked about homosexuals,

he replied,

“Who am I to judge?”

Smiling,

he loves everyone

and in return,

he is loved.

The rules have not necessarily changed,

but the

TONE

has completely.

This change in tone is

Francis’

greatest achievement,

and it is HUGE!

In this

political season,

candidates

could learn

because Pope Francis

is an astute politician

in the best sense of the word.

As a South American

he sees the entrenched Vatican

as needing to be cleaned up,

finances and favoritism,

swept out.

Reflecting

compassion.

the tone,

the message

is that God is a God

of LOVE,

not JUDGMENT.

The Church’s role

is to make God

accessible.

Coming to the United States,

his first trip to North America,

he will speak

at the United Nations,

address Congress,

say Mass in Madison Square Garden.

Popular entertainers will

engage people,

using their words and music

to

open up people’s senses

to the music of their hearts.

Disruptive Innovation.

Bring it on!

by

Listening- A Great Gift

Just the title

Someone To Tell It To

invites an opportunity to be heard,

to be listened to.

With the speed and brevity

of the internet,

social media,

and popular forms of communication,

there is

no substitute

for truly

listening ears

and an open,

non-judging heart.

The process of offering safety

to a person,

whatever they need

to say and share,

is the greatest gift

and can help a person

to heal,

no matter

how deep

the woundedness

he or she feels.

Ordained ministers

Michael Gingerich and Tom Kaden,

came together

to use their experience and skills

and offer what

so many crave,

sometimes

without even knowing,

what is making

life challenging,

even unbearable.

We live in a society

with too much information,

24 hour news cycle,

accessibility to

communicate

in letters

that don’t even fully

spell the word.

How can someone

be truly

heard and understood?

Michael and Tom share in their book

how they meet

someone

wherever they are

in their life’s journey.

Actually meeting with someone

in a non-threatening place,

not for counseling in an office,

but wherever the person

feels comfortable,

can help

open the person to the

possibility of saying

what they need to share,

finding that being heard

in a non-judgmental way,

their burdens are lifted,

a perspective formed

and body and soul

easing into breathing

in their life force

on the way to healing,

whatever it is.

by

Ritual

Ritual

Tradition

Out of the darkness of winter

Primal celebration

Holy Week

Passover

Easter

Some continue to come together

Honor

those who have gone before.

Some are too busy

or don’t believe rituals and traditions

are important anymore,

at least to them.

Have we lost a gift of community

leaving rituals and traditions

in the past?

Can we find a way to be grateful for the gifts

of life, light, new growth?

Seeing beauty

All around

Can bring dissonance

into harmony.

Seeing beauty, being grateful

for a bird’s song,

green shoots poking through layers,

for the smile of another.

Love is the ritual we can

all share.

by

Pruning

Clear away what

you don’t need

and what

you don’t really want

but have gotten used to.

I have been in a clearing-out mode for the last few weeks-books, clothes, out-of date files of paper, flowerpots tucked away after the plants died.  We used to move a lot and it was easier to de-accession possessions we no longer used or saved thinking  would be used in the future.

Rather than taking on a whole room at once, I tackle one side of a room or one shelf or one part of a shelf. I throw away what no one will use and I try to find a home or a person who really could use the give-away.

My husband and I cleared a room of doubled up bookshelves  and donated more than a hundred books to a trailer at the town dump. The supervisor asked my husband what he thought of the empty shelves. He answered, “She loves them.”