The Sustainist

Alternate Reality

I finally got a full week to focus on putting together my new book: Holy Currencies.  I love the writing process because when I have concentrated time to immerse myself in a subject, about which I am passionate, the focused attention takes me to a deeper place almost like an alternative reality in which everything is arranged differently, and yet makes perfect sense.  The job of a writer is often about finding ways to describe this reality.  This reality cannot be explained in a few lines of text.  It cannot be described in a few pictures.  It is multidimensional and requires a multi-faceted, multi-perspective approach in describing it.

I began my journey into this alternative reality a few years ago when I was trying to develop resources that could help churches address issues around sustainability.  Most churches, like most not-for-profit organizations, operate out of a linear charity model.  That is, they get money from their donors and the money is spent to support the stated mission of the organization.  When the membership of many churches continues to decline and money is not flowing equitably in our economy, this linear charity model becomes unsustainable. 

As I researched the not-for-profit organizations that are sustainable, I discovered that many of these organizations do not think linearly, but instead, have found a way of recycling the resources that come their way.  To those who have not entered this way of thinking, these organizations and their leaders were like miracle workers.   They can do more with less. They can create something out of nothing.  They can turn waste into resources. They see the unemployed and homeless as people who have the time and skills that can exchange into other kinds of currencies, such as relationship, leadership, and truth, etc.  They see the universe as one giant recycling process.   They see local community the same way.  They don’t hold on to resources; they let them go, let them flow, in order to re-circulate and rejuvenate the community.

Once I took the linear model and wrapped it around to create a recirculating model, I entered an alternate world of thinking about resources.  For about a year, I talked about this “cycle of blessings” and people either understood it quickly, becoming very excited, or they looked at me puzzled.  For the last couple of years, I have been trying to find ways to describe this cycle of blessings to those who are puzzled so that more church leaders can enter this alternative reality in which I and other sustainists live, hence, the attempt to write this book called Holy Currencies.

Jesus functioned in an alternative reality that is based on love.  Most people around him, including his closest friends, did not get it.  He would say things like “you must be born again” or “born of the spirit” and they would not understand or would even misinterpret them.  I think what he meant by being born of the spirit is to enter into this alternate way of thinking and perceiving the world.  For Jesus, to enter this alternate reality means to believe in the forgiveness and unconditional love of God and in our gratefulness for this love, we act in the same patterns toward others, like Jesus, to the point of giving up ourselves for others.  In doing so, the love and grace that flow from God is being re-circulated through our networks of relationships.  When we believe in this unconditional love and act from that place, we enter an alternate reality where the impossible becomes possible, where miracles can actually happen, where sustainability can be achieved in a seemingly unsustainable world.  

Invite members of your community to gather and explore their network of relationships: Invite participants to write down the name of 5 people they consider friends outside of their immediate group. Invite them to recall the last few connections they have made with these friends and write what was being exchanged: information, feelings, gifts, advice, money, idea, creativity, service, etc. Explain to participants the theory of 3 degrees of influence and then invite participants to ponder the implication of their last encounters with their 5 friends. Form small groups and invite participants to share their reflections with each other. As a large group, close the dialogue time by inviting participants to reflect and share: As result of this dialogue, what am I called to do?

Reflection Questions for Trinity Sunday (Year B): Acts Isaiah 6:1-8    What did you learn from this vision about your call to ministry? Psalm 29   How do you hear the voice of God? Romans 8:12-17   What does it mean for you to be led by the Spirit of God? John 3:1-17   What does “born of the spirit” mean?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

Upcoming Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist: July 16-20 Kaleidoscope Summer Institute:  Missional Ministry in the Grace Margin, Holy Currencies and Community Transformation St. Paul’s Cathedral Center, Los Angeles, CA August 13-17 Holy Currencies: Creating Sustainable Missional Ministries Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, North Bend (near Seattle), WA Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

Power Shift

About 2000 years ago during Pentecost, a Jewish festival celebrating 50 days after Passover, a small group of Jews who followed a teacher named Jesus experienced a shift in their perception of their power which precipitated the beginning of the Christian Church.  A few days before, Jesus had left this small group (the Ascension) leaving them leaderless and powerless. Certainly no one would expect them to be spokespersons for God. But on that Pentecost day, they prophesied and at the end of that event, over 3,000 people heard the message that "cut to their heart" and were baptized. (Acts 2:37-41)  To reach that many people without electrical amplification was a major accomplishment in those days.

With the advancements in computer technologies, specifically the digitizing of images, sounds and information, and the lowering costs of electronic wireless devices, we are experiencing a kind of '"pentecost" today.  The powerless and voiceless are, for the first time, able to broadcast their images and voices to millions of people through these devices without permission from the traditional powerful establishments.  The Arab Spring movement is an example of this revolutionary redistribution of power.  More recently, the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case gained national attention through the use of social media by millions of people forcing the system to reopen the case.

Whenever there is a shift in power, the existing power system reacts.  One of these reactions is the constant reporting of the super PAC spending millions of dollars buying TV advertisement for the presidential candidates of their choice.  Of course the information is reported by the traditional broadcast media which held the power for many years.  The last few times I watched TV with my friends, we sped through all the commercials, and paid no attention to them at all.  The TV shows were either recorded by the different devices that we owned, or we just got them through different websites through our computers.  The fact is, there is a very large population who are watching TV very differently.  Gone are the days when we were subjected to TV advisements without control.  We not only have control in what we see and when we see them, we also have the power to create and share our images and voices.

We are at the crossroads of this power shift.  It will be very interesting to observe how the power struggles between the traditional power holders and the empowered grass-root movements work themselves out in the upcoming presidential election.  Human communities in history, often evolved into systems that centralized power and resources favoring a powerful minority, even with a system that proclaimed the equality of everyone.  So, everyone once in a while, needs pentecost to help reclaim our calling to be a society that truly values equality and freedom for all.   

Gather your community and watch the Youtube video: When I Pour Out My Spirit Invite them to reflect on the question:  Who are the powerless ones in your family, your community, your neighborhood, your town/city, your nation, and the world? Invite them to share their reflection and record them on chart paper. Invite them to further reflect on the question:  In what ways can we follow the Spirit of Pentecost and listen to the powerless for their visions, dreams, and prophecies?

Reflection Questions for Day of Pentecost (Year B): Acts 2:1-21    Was this more a miracle of the tongue or miracle of the ear?  What has been your own experience in communication? Psalm 104:25-35   What will happen if we let God send forth the spirit to renew our community? Roman 8:22-27   How does the Spirit help you in your weakness? John 15:25026, 16:4b-15   What is the role of the Spirit in your life and ministry?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

Upcoming Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist: July 13-20 Homecoming for Friends of Kaleidsocope Institute St. Paul’s Cathedral Center, Los Angeles, CA July 16-20 Kaleidoscope Summer Institute:  Missional Ministry in the Grace Margin, Holy Currencies and Community Transformation St. Paul’s Cathedral Center, Los Angeles, CA August 13-17 Holy Currencies: Creating Sustainable Missional Ministries Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, North Bend (near Seattle), WA Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

Angel at the Crossing

There have been very few people in my life who truly opened my mind to understand Scriptures.  Walter Wink, who died May 10, 2012, was one of the best teachers who did just that.   When I was 21, I went to my first 5-day intensive retreat with Walter as the teacher/facilitator at Kirkridge – a beautiful setting on top of a mountain in Pennsylvania. I entered the room where the group was meeting and discovered that the majority of the participants were over 40 and most of them were priests, pastors and professional church workers from different denominations. I was intimated and felt inadequate.

Walter immediately made me feel at ease.  The gracious environment he created let me know that I was respected for who I was and what I could offer in the Bible-study sharing time.  Having grown up as the youngest child in a Chinese family coupled with my immigrant experience, this experience of acceptance was new to me. I knew that in that room I could say whatever was on my mind and I would not be judged as inexperienced, too young, too naïve, too Chinese or stupid. By the third day, I felt such a high that there were springs in my feet as I skipped down the hill to breakfast praising God all the way. In my new-found blessedness, I made a commitment that I would dedicate my life to the ministry of inclusion. From now on, I would accept everyone, love everyone, and welcome everyone. Like most 21-year-olds, I was very idealistic.

That morning, Walter invited us to read the story of Jacob wrestling with a stranger (popularly known as an angel) until daybreak as he anticipated meeting his older brother Esau for the first time after he had stolen Esau’s birthright years ago. (Genesis 32:22-32) As a way of getting more in touch with the story, he invited us to find a partner. In our pair, one of us would role-play the “angel” and the other would play Jacob. The one who played Jacob was to ask the angel for a blessing by saying “Bless me!”, and the one who played the angel would resist giving the blessing for as long as possible. The one who played Jacob would persist in this request, and could use physical force if so desired.

I was sitting next to a man named Paul (I have changed the name to protect his identity unless he wants to be identified). He was in his 40s and had had polio at birth. I had seen him navigate the slopes and hills around the retreat center on crutches. I realized that morning that I had not had a real conversation with this man. In retrospect, I might have been unconsciously avoiding any real contact with him because of my being uncomfortable with his disability. I felt awkward and a little ashamed as Walter gave the instructions for this intriguing exercise. I did not know what to do with the dissonance between my new commitment to be inclusive and my uneasiness with him as a disabled person.

After Walter finished the instructions, Paul looked up at me and said, “I guess I’m your partner.” I smiled uneasily. “How on earth am I going to wrestle this guy?” I screamed silently.

“Why don’t you be the angel first?” he said, as he stood up with the help of his crutches and faced me.

“Okay,” I replied, without the slightest idea of what I was going to do. Now I was to bless this guy!

He looked at me in the eyes and threw his crutches away. With his arms outstretched in front, he started to fall toward me. “Bless me,” he said.

My hands instinctively moved up to catch his hands as I felt his weight pushing me. I pushed back saying, “No.”

“Bless me!” he said again with more force. I could not support his weight anymore, and we both fell on the carpeted floor. “NO!” I shouted as I fell.

I felt his calloused hands squeezing my fingers. His strong arms and shoulders worked together pushing me as he shouted, “Bless me!”

“NO!” I screamed without thinking what this exercise was about. I just needed to say “no.” I could not accept him with his disability. I was uncomfortable with being around him. I could not bless him.

We tussled on the floor for quite some time with him yelling “Bless me” and my replying “No!” many times. And finally, in exhaustion, I stopped pushing and he did the same and our bodies, like magnets, came together – I held him tight and he, me. I didn’t remember saying “I bless you” to him but I believed he got my message in our embrace. I did remember feeling blessed by him however. In our wrestling with each other, our roles reversed. I, who was playing the role of the one to give the blessing, ended up being the one who needed his blessing the most.

When we became aware of our surroundings again, the rest of the retreat participants were standing over us. They had finished their exercise a long time ago and were watching how we would resolve our wrestling on the floor. When we finally got up from the floor with their help, they applauded.  (I first wrote down this experience in my book, The Word at the Crossings: Living the Good News in a Multi-contextual Community.)

In the crossing, when we think we are the one who is giving the blessing, or offering the healing or being helpful, we might discover that we are instead the one who is in need of healing, blessing, and help. At the beginning of the retreat, I felt like a powerless person. But through the acceptance of Walter and the other retreat-goers, I experienced the joy of empowerment and blessings. In my blessed state, I felt free and empowered, with the feeling that “I can do anything I want.” In my blessedness, I was shocked to discover that I was not living up to what I thought I should be – to be able to love and accept everyone. In my confusion at the crossing, I was not only wrestling physically with my disabled partner; I was wrestling with my own angel. It was as if there were two parts of myself — the part that knew I was good and blessed, and the other part that realized that I was fallen and in need of redemption.  (Walter Wink in his later writings wrote about this idea of our angel who are blessed, fallen and in need of redemption at the same time.)  As the two parts of myself wrestled — the fallen-me struggled to gain acceptance, while the blessed-me resisted blessing the fallen-me — my internal struggles were physically expressed through my wrestling with Paul. In spite of my imperfection, I was still accepted and loved.  In that way I received a blessing through him.  I recognized that this struggle between the blessed-me and the fallen-me would be a lifelong struggle. Like Jacob who went away limping because of a dislocated hip during the wrestling, I walked away from my wrestling with an acknowledged disability within myself – my inability to fully and faithfully follow God. This imperfection served as a daily reminder that to be faithful to God, I would need to wrestle with my own internal angel and the angels of our communities and institutions around me.

Thank you Walter for providing a place for me to wrestle, for creating processes that give me the hope of redemption in my struggle between what I am called to be and how I have fallen short to accomplish that, for opening the faithful way for me to be in the world but not belong to the world. 

(In memory of Walter Wink 1935-2012, my friend and mentor.)

Invite members of your community to gather and explore their blessedness: Invite participants to write down 3 to 5 things that they know they should do in order to create a sustainable community. Invite them to reflect on how they have or have not accomplished these things. Form small groups and invite participants to share their reflections with each other. Invite participants to move around the room and say “bless me” to each person they encounter.   The other would reply, “I bless you” in return using an appropriate gesture of his/her choice. As a large group, close the dialogue time by inviting participants to reflect and share:  How does knowing you are blessed help you accomplish the things you should do in the future?

Reflection Questions for 7th Sunday of Easter (Year B) Acts 1:15-17, 21-26    What did you learn from this story about sustainable leadership? Psalm 1   How can your leadership be like a leaf that does not wither? 1 John 5:9-13   What testimony let you know that you have eternal life? John 17:6-19   How can we be in the world but not belong to the world?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

Upcoming Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist: July 13-20 Homecoming for Friends of Kaleidsocope Institute St. Paul’s Cathedral Center, Los Angeles, CA July 16-20 Kaleidoscope Summer Institute:  Missional Ministry in the Grace Margin, Holy Currencies and Community Transformation St. Paul’s Cathedral Center, Los Angeles, CA August 13-17 Holy Currencies: Creating Sustainable Missional Ministries Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, North Bend (near Seattle), WA Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org

Three Degrees of Influence

Most of us have heard of “six degrees of separation” which refers to the idea that everyone is, on average, approximately six relationships away from any other person on earth.  This means I can make a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements that connects me with any person in this world in six steps or fewer. This theory was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy and popularized by a play written by John Guare.

Not so well-known is the theory of “three degrees of influence” by Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD and James H. Fowler, PhD. (See their book, Connected.) According to this theory, "Everything we do or say tends to ripple through our network, having an impact on our friends (one degree), our friends’ friends (two degrees), and even our friends’ friends’ friends (three degrees). Our influence gradually dissipates and ceases to have a noticeable effect on people beyond the social frontier that lies at three degrees of separation".  This means, if I am happy, my friends are more likely to be happy and my friends’ friends are more likely to be happy and my friends’ friends’ friends are also more likely to be happy.  If I am suicidal, my friends’ friends’ friends are more likely to be suicidal.  Whether we know it or not, our network of friendships can spread goodness and blessing, or destructiveness and curse. 

An inspiring sermon and worship at a church with 100 participants can have the potential of reaching (if each people in the network has at least 5 friends) 500 people in the first degree of influence, 2,500 people in the second degrees and 12,500 people in the third degrees.  In a small town of under 10,000 people, this means what happens in worship for a small church can have the potential to influence almost everybody in the community.

We have a great responsibility then, for the networks of which we are a part.  We have a choice to use our networks to control or empower, to spread fear or build trust, to propagate hate or share love, to break down community or build it up.

For Christians, Jesus called his followers friends and invited them to abide in him and his love so that they might bear fruit.  The responsibility of Christians, one of the largest faith networks in the world, is to stay connected with Jesus, who in turn, stays connected with God’s unconditional love for all.  Christians are called to spread this love through our networks, which is what it means to bear fruit that will last.

Invite members of your community to gather and explore their network of relationships: Invite participants to write down the name of 5 people they consider friends. Invite them to recall the last few connections they have made with these friends and write what was being exchanged—information, feelings, gifts, advice, money, idea, creativity, service, etc. Explain to participants the theory of 3 degrees of influence and then invite participants to ponder the implications of their last encounters with their 5 friends. Form small groups and invite participants to share their reflections with each other. As a large group, close the dialogue time by inviting participants to reflect and share:  As result of this dialogue, what am I called to do?

Reflection Questions for 6th Sunday of Easter (Year B) Acts 10:44-48    What did you learn from this passage about expanding your network? Psalm 98   What is your reason to shout with joy to God? 1 John 5:1-6   What does it mean to be born of God? John 15:9-17   How does it mean to abide in Jesus’ love?

Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org

Upcoming Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist: July 13-20 Homecoming for Friends of Kaleidsocope Institute St. Paul’s Cathedral Center, Los Angeles, CA July 16-20 Kaleidoscope Summer Institute:  Missional Ministry in the Grace Margin, Holy Currencies and Community Transformation St. Paul’s Cathedral Center, Los Angeles, CA August 13-17 Holy Currencies: Creating Sustainable Missional Ministries Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, North Bend (near Seattle), WA Register at:  www.kscopeinstitute.org