When people ask me, “How much does it cost to have the Kaleidoscope Institute to come and do a workshop?” Here is my answer, “I usually ask our clients to offer a donation between zero and 3,000 dollars per 8-hour day.” The reaction to my answer was always a puzzled silence. Then I would continue to explain, “I ask our clients to offer close to the upper end of the range so that we can provide the same services to groups and organizations that has little or no financial resource.”
If I have to put a dollar-value on the services we provide, it would be $3000. But we would do it for free because money is not the issue. The important question is: Is this worth doing? Indeed, after I described my approach to cost, we always entered a fruitful conversation about why our services could be important to enhance the wellbeing of the client’s community. I call this GracEconomics.
Based on the old paradigm of scarcity, we would assume that every one of our clients will request that we provide our services free! But the Kaleidoscope Institute has been using GracEconomic pricing for our consulting and training services for over 3 years and not only have we been financially sustainable, we actually had a steady increase in our financial donations. How does GracEconomics work?
I am not the only one practicing GracEconomics these days. Last week, the rocker Jon Bon Jovi opened a restaurant called Soul Kitchen near the Red Bank train station in central New Jersey. "This is not a soup kitchen," he emphasized. "You can come here with the dignity of linens and silver, and you're served a healthy, nutritious meal. . . . There's no prices on our menu, so if you want to come and you want to make a difference, leave a $20 in the envelope on the table. If you can't afford to eat, you can bus tables, you can wait tables, you can work in the kitchen as a dishwasher or sous chef."
According to the information on its website, here is the Soul Kitchen’s manifesto:
All are welcome at our table.
At the JBJ Soul Kitchen, a place is ready for you if you are hungry, or if you hunger to make a difference in your community. For we believe that a healthy meal can feed the soul.
Happy are the hands that feed.
Those who volunteer are guided by Soul Kitchen staff through their tasks. Volunteering at Soul Kitchen can lead to qualifying for job training.
When there is love, there is plenty.
As you will see, our menu has no prices. You select what you like and make the minimum donation. If you can afford to donate more you are helping to feed your neighbor. If you are unable to donate, an hour of volunteering pays for your meal.
Good company whets the appetite.
At Soul Kitchen, neighbors from across the street or across town, new friends, families, those in need of help and those with help to offer, come together and share a good meal and the warmth of good company.
Friendship is our daily special.
Introduce yourself to the person seated beside you or across the table. Stay awhile and stay informed of all the ways Soul Kitchen is dedicated to eliminating hunger, building relationships, and celebrating community.
End the meal with a slice of happiness.
At Soul Kitchen the main ingredient is Love, with a large helping of you.
Those who practice GracEconomics play by a different set of rules. Judging from the Soul Kitchen’s manifesto, these rules are not about money. GracEconomics uses other currencies such as relationship, truth and wellness. The agreement to use these currencies is like a covenant we make with each other, stating that money is not the only currency we use to value what we need or what we offer. By shifting our focus from money to relationship, truth and wellness, we can achieve sustainability without the constraint of money. This covenant protects us from being washed away by the rapid and overwhelming current of money called the economic crisis.
To practice GracEconomics, all we need is to find a place and give it time to build a relationship network with people who understand the truth of what is needed to create wellness in our community, whether it is addressing the issue of hunger or providing leadership development.
GracEconomics exposes money as a temporary currency of exchange – no more. GracEconomics unclutches money’s hold on us and invites people to recapture the valuing process using other currencies that have been around before money was invented. GracEconomics helps us relearn the value of our relationships with each other as fellow human beings. It helps us reclaim the truth that if we share our resources, all would be well.
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<p>Gather members of your community for a time to explore the truth about money.</p>
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<li>Invite participants to pull from their wallets/pocketbooks a bill.</li>
<li>Invite participants to describe the bill physically as opposed to what it stands for. For example, it is a piece of paper, it is printed, etc.</li>
<li>Give each participant a stack of notecards. Invite each person to write down the goods and services that this bill can exchange into, one item per notecard.</li>
<li>Invite participants to put their bills away and start trading with each other with just the cards, which represent goods and services.</li>
<li>After a period of exchange, invite participate to share by completing the following sentences:</li>
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<li>I noticed . . .</li>
<li>I wonder . . .</li>
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<li>Invite participants, as a large group, to consider: </li>
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<li>What did you learn about the purpose of money through this activity?</li>
<li>What can we do to recover the original purpose of money to enhance human community?</li>
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<p>Reflection Questions for Proper 25 (Year A)</p>
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<p><em>Deuteronomy 34:1-12</em><br /><em> What did you learn from this passage about hope and promise?</em></p>
<p><em>Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17</em><br /><em> What does this psalm help you deal with suffering in life?</em></p>
<p><em>Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18</em><br /><em> What does it mean for you to be holy?</em></p>
<p><em>Psalm 1</em><br /><em> How do you meditate on God’s law day and night?</em></p>
<p><em>1 Thessalonians 2:1-8</em><br /><em> What is your motive for sharing your faith?</em></p>
<p><em>Matthew 22:34-46</em><br /><em> How does Jesus help you recapture the original calling of you life and community?</em></p>
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<p>Eric H. F. Law<br />Kaleidoscope Institute<br />For competent leadership in a diverse changing world<br /><a href="www.kscopeinstitute.org" target="_self">www.kscopeinstitute.org</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;">Come to Los Angeles in 2012 to study with The Sustainist, the first two opportunities:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>February 27–March 2, 2012</strong><br />Kaleidoscope Winter Institute<br /><strong><em>Holy Currencies</em></strong><br />Conversations on Money and Sustainable Ministry<br /><br /><strong>March 14–18, 2012</strong><br /><strong><em>Face to Face</em></strong><br />Seeing and Hearing Each Other . . . Knowing God<br />Creative liturgy & music for a diverse and changing world<br />An ecumenical gathering of church leaders to create worship experiences that are authentic, relational and missional</p>
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Reflection Questions for Proper 26 (Year A) Joshua 3:7-17 Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37 Micah 3:5-12 Psalm 43 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 Matthew 23:1-12 |
Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org
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Come to Los Angeles in 2012 to study with The Sustainist, the first two opportunities: February 27–March 2, 2012 |
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