Author: Tenneson Woolf

A poem that my friend Carla Kelley just reminded me of. The call to awake is one that I relate to.

A SLEEP OF PRISONERS

Dark and cold we may be, but this

Is no winter now. The frozen misery

Of centuries breaks, cracks, begins to move;

The thunder is the thunder of the floes,

The thaw, the flood, the upstart Spring.

Thank God our time is now when wrong

Comes up to face us everywhere,

Never to leave us till we take

The longest stride of soul we ever took.

Affairs are now soul size.

The enterprise

Is exploration into God.

Where are you making for? It takes

So many thousand years to wake,

But will you wake for pity’s sake!

-Christopher Fry

A bit from my friend Matt Meyer in Calgary, Alberta on the national election process. From an email exchange among him, myself and many other colleagues in Calgary.

Your response sparks a few thoughts. The ability to create an
energetic hearth really is at the centre of where we play with
leadership. And embedded in this is the capacity to be a host; the
capacity to speak to and engage the head, heart and hands of a group.
I have so much energy these days for practicing this by working with
hosts, befriending hosts and playing as a host. It is as real blessing
to be provided with these great opportunities. It has me thinking that
we really have a great deal to offer in the political process,
particularly in campaigning. I have a deep respect for what the
Alberta Party is doing with their “Big Listen.” Building on this, I
often wonder how things we be different if instead of a “Leaders
Debate” we had a “Leaders Dialogue”? What if we had a politician be a
participant of a public converstion, not the centre of it? Perhaps
this would resolve apathy, and former “feel-good” votes become the
voices of the future? There are so many systemic force fields
“protecting” the political process but our knowledge can make inroads
to finding new solutions by tapping a new level of consciousness. We
just need more conversational leaders!

This morning I woke with a dream. It was a dream about my 13 year-old boy, training with a very sharp kind of martial arts sword. He was joyful. I was with him. We were both aware of the skill needed to use such a sword. In the dream, my son was helped by a former karate teacher, a man that was utterly skillful and committed to practice. A man who taught a lot more than karate.

I have been told that I have a tender heart. By some who adore me. By some who welcome the realness of tender, perhaps with awareness of the many ways that many of us have been taught to hold that in. At times I haven’t known what to do with that, or that I should do anything. I’ve shed tears. I’ve recognized the part of me that feels embarrassed to be tender. I’ve recognized the part of me that wants to be more tough, and more accepted in that.

This morning, thanks to this dream and a bit of attention to it, and thanks to my relationship with my beautiful son, I was able to feel these words about the importance of tenderheartedness. What a gift to see it in my boy, so as to see it a bit in myself too.

Tool of Tender Heart

What if the beautiful tender heart
were the most important tool
we could skillfully use?

What would it mean then
to cultivate that heart?

And what if exuberance
were the natural state?
What if welcoming it, that exuberance,
were a discipline?

We have many people to train with;
ourselves, family, old friends, strangers.

We have many that we can meet
in relationships of graciousness
to learn practices.

Practices for the much needed
beautiful tender heart
to help
ourselves
and to be of service
in these times.

• Last day here before returning to Utah. Will reach 99 degrees F today. http://yfrog.com/h835619440j
• #WOWO Frieze / Wheatley: “We can walk out alone, but we can only walk on in friendship.”
• #WOWO: Our industrial age is one of imperfect and unequal relationships that privilege production and profit over learning and friendship.
• Inspiring read from my Berkana family, Deborah Frieze and Margaret Wheatley. Great cause. Act today. http://bitly.com/h1i4s2
• http://yfrog.com/h0q5xsjj My son Elijah, six as of two days ago, hamming it up a bit at Laguna Beach.
• RT @dfrieze: Two more days until the Walk Out Walk On bestseller campaign. Mark your calendars for April 13th: http://bitly.com/i4wAvB
• Driving through Riverside, California on the way to Newport Beach. With parents and my kids for four days. Relishing all the grapefruit!
• “I will not tame you. I will not be tamed.” Sarah Whiteley learning at Axlatditsa: http://bit.ly/f3xzrg