Author: Tenneson Woolf

One of the organizations that I’m working with is a faith community in their strategic planning. We’ve deliberately called it “experimenting” to create a bit of freedom and to support some principles of self-organization.

One of the groups within that is focused on Care of Creation and Climate Change. Two lovely people are leading the way, helping to convene others and to notice the places where they can start. Is it a meeting to talk further? Is it more education and awareness? Is it a project that others can join in? Is it a project that they can invite other churches to join them in?

I’ve seen many groups get paralyzed by the enormity of what is in front of them. I’ve seen many groups respond to such enormity by entering a perpetual cycle of trying to wrap their arms around it. It’s super well intended. It just doesn’t create the essential freedom to “try stuff.”

In complexity, “trying stuff” means as much, if not more than “wrapping our arms around it.” I’m not saying that big picture doesn’t matter. Of course it does. So does seeing the system and as well as we can, the interrelated parts. But finding a place to start, and gifting ourselves with the kindness to try it, even to fail, is what moves us along. It’s less perfect understanding of every detail. It’s more moving with intuition to test boundaries and work with providence.

Here’s one of the videos that I sent to the Care of Creation team yesterday. It was made for a recent event in Utah, Parliament of the World’s Religions. One of the people on the video, Susan Soleil, is a friend and colleague. I love how she talks about solar panels on church roofs, “onesie, twosie.” It’s a kind of smart start.

 

Phil Cass is someone that I really enjoy. He’s a great colleague and a good friend.

Phil is CEO of four affiliated not-for-profit health corporations (the Columbus Medical Association, Columbus Medical Association Foundation, Physicians Care Connection and Central Ohio Trauma System). He gave me a tour of his building earlier this year. It’s an impressive center, very deliberate in its design to encourage collaboration and expanded ideas.

Our colleagueship goes back to 2005. I got to be part of an Art of Hosting team in Columbus where a wicked question was hatched — “What would it take to provide affordable and sustainable healthcare for everyone in Columbus?”

Phil is also the kind of friend that I feel I can call when I need some really good thinking, ideas, or witnessing. He’s honest. He’s kind. He’s done his work and has a lot of awareness as a human being.

I’m looking forward to working with Phil in the next couple of months. We are on a team together focused on Washington State Health Transformation. Some of Phil’s reflections on leadership are here.

I particularly relate to his focus on living systems and self-organization. It’s worth a peek! And, the fact that there are 500,000 receiving their care through patient centered medical homes, well that’s rather impressive, right.

One of the friends I appreciate is Quanita Roberson, who I’ve known now for a couple of years. Quanita is a good listener and an honest friend. She’s also a thoughtful and skilled colleague. One of the things I appreciate about Quanita is her practice of gratitude. Her Facebook posts often include a simple statement, “I am grateful for _____.” The blank could be filled in with the name of a person and an important memory. It could be filled in with the word, carrots. It is a kind of witnessing that she does and it feels real.

It is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Today will be a day for many to gather in various layers of family or friends. There will be a fair amount of turkey served as main course for celebratory meals. For many, there will be games played — cards and board games are common in my family. I’m aware that days like today also bring out sadness and grief. I know this part of myself and simply say it here to acknowledge that just because a cultural story is dominant, that doesn’t make it true for everyone.

With a tip of my hat to Quanita, and permission to myself to just be simple, here are a few for me.

I am grateful for:

• the roof over my head that gives me a place of ease for silence
• family that I’ve created memory with — those that I grew up with in Canada, and those that are coming in new
• being a dad — in particular to Zoe now approaching the transition of marriage, Isaac now in mission service, and Elijah who as a 10 year-old somehow is teaching me a lot about kindness
• other layers of family, newfound family in second marriage
• “milk line”, the term a close friend uses for people that are not bloodline, but feel like it — friends that I recognize as essential and natural life companions
• a spouse who continues to create her path and is gracious about how that is related yet sometimes different than my path
• freedom of choice — well, mostly
• safety —  spaciousness
• work that welcomes, requires me to be honest from my belly and that contributes to goodness in the world (or an organization, or a team)
• wise, kind elders
• a day on which one my belly can relax into simple gratitudes as the most obvious thing to do

Off to some cooking now. Preparing a few things to offer with those that I get to be with today. Sweet potatoes, caramelized like my Grandma used to do. Turkey, buttered and baked, that I hope will offer ample leftovers for my favorite, turkey sandwich with stuffing and dill pickles.

Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Tim Merry is a friend and colleague. He’s always provocative, I’d say. Which is code for well-thought. I’ve learned much from him over the years, primarily in our context of The Art of Hosting.

Tim’s video blog post today is about belonging, and in particular, as a strategy for welcoming immigrants to Nova Scotia, Canada. Canada is on track with it’s new liberal government to welcome 10,000 immigrants by the end of the calendar year, and an additional 15,000 by the end of February.

One of the things I like about Tim’s post is that he is challenging the thinking behind limits. “Well, maybe we could take a few families, one or two. That would be the appropriate and prudent thing to do.” Tim’s advocating some thinking to bringing many. In the many there is greater chance of belonging — these are my people — and there is navigation of the boundaries with existing community, which there will always be.

Have a look.