The Sustainist

Drawing on Holy Currencies Week 22

Friends of Friends

This week, you are invited to explore your friendship network.  In Chapter 3 of Holy Currencies, I talked about the significant of three degrees of influence, which means that we have influence up to 3 relationships.  For example, if I am working on Drawing on Holy Currencies and I share it with my friends (first degree), they would consider doing the same thing, and if they decide to work on the book too, they would in turn influence their friends (second degree) to do the same.  This week’s activity involves talking to 5 friends (in person if possible.) Tell them that you are working through this book and you are examining and learning from your network of relationships. Ask them to share with you 3 of their friends whom you do not know and a bit of important information about them, such as their profession, their family situation, their interests, etc.  Pace yourself; do perhaps one interview a day.

When I did this exercise, I found that I actually got to know my 5 friends better because I discovered the part of their networks that I didn’t know before.   More importantly, I discovered how they were influenced by their friends and in turn, they influenced me!  For example, through my doing this exercise, I recovered the fact that I am only 3 degrees from President Obama, because one of my friends knew and worked with his sister in Hawaii. I wonder how I might have been influenced by President Obama, through my friend’s relationship!

Why is knowing your network of relationship important for you to be a good steward?  If you know your network of influence, you can mobilize it to share the good news of abundance.  Also, when you have a need, or a good idea that needs time, talent, and treasure for support, your network of relationships will come through, if you take care in nurturing and strengthening your relationships in the network. 

I want to apologize to the introverts ahead of time since this week and the following weeks will include some extroverted behaviors like calling people, making appointments, and engaging them in conversations. If you find these activities overwhelming, take some deep breaths, take a walk on your own, meditate, etc. to find your center again. You might want to talk to your AP about how to do these activities. Another option is to do these activities with a friend who is more extroverted.

Remember to share your experiences using #holycurrencies on social media.

 

Drawing on Holy Currencies Week 21

Developing your Currency of Relationship

With last week’s activity. we began exploring and developing our currency of relationship both within our church and out in the neighborhood community.  When I started teaching about building relationships, I assumed most church members knew how to build relationships.  To my surprise, many who told me that they are good at building relationships really meant they were doing something for others.  And when I asked them to tell me a story or interest of the person with whom they had built a relationship, they are often not able to say much other than where they are from and what they do. 

 

We begin with reading Luke 10:38-42 about Martha and Mary.  After you have read the text, start coloring the graphics. Write down your thoughts as you encounter the sentence completion:

I’m being a “Mary” when . . .

I’m being a “Martha” when . . . 

Obviously, we want to you to think about why Jesus valued Mary’s behavior. But we don’t want to put down anyone who is more like Martha. We just want to invite you to consider that relationship building such as sitting around and listening to each other is as important as “doing” things for others.

For more insight into the currency of relationship, read Chapter 3 of Holy Currencies.

Try the 4-step process of building a relationship:

1. Pay attention.
2. Be curious,
3. Ask clarifying questions, and
4. Give feedback.

This process really works. It doesn’t take long.  Try it for just 5 to 10 minutes with a friend or a stranger.  You will be surprised how much you get to know a person when you listen without judgment, and then ask clarifying questions and give feedback!

We invite you to fold the corner of this page because we want to use this relationship-building process again in the holy currency activities that follow.

Remember to use #holycurrencies on social media.

Drawing on Holy Currencies Week 20

Blessed to Know

We begin our conscious development of our currency of relationship on Week 20 of Drawing on Holy Currencies.  You are invited to find a creative way to say “thank you” to at least one person in your church and one person outside your church, whom you feel blessed to know. 

As I did this activity, I realized I don’t say “thank you” enough to my friends.  When snail mail - writing a card or note, putting it in an envelope, affixing a stamp and putting it in the mailbox – was fashionable, I used to practice the discipline of writing thank you cards/notes to friends especially after spending time together.  I have lost that discipline and can probably give many excuses but I won’t.

For the creative way of delivering my thank you this week to Kathryn, who is the Office Coordinator of the Kaleidoscope Institute, I opted for an in-person gesture.  I was in Maui a couple weekends ago and was given a hand-made crocheted lei. I decided to give the lei to Kathryn when I saw her at the KI board meeting and verbally thanked her for the wonderful support she has given me since she started working at the office 8 months ago.  

For my external friend, I decided to give Ro and April a call. We have been friends for over 15 years.   I distinctively remember years ago when I was in New York City dealing with a medical emergency with my mother who was very ill.  It was very late and I called Ro, who is a M.D., to get advice about what to do.  He very calmly listened to my alarming concerns and then calmly told me what to do.  I never forget that and yet, I don’t remember thanking him for his patience and kindness. The phone call of thanks also includes an invitation to get together soon!

 

I am thankful for doing this activity because it reminds me to give thanks for my many wonderful relationships which sustain me in my home life and at work.  And I have decided to make this a weekly discipline to connect with one or more friends and thank them for the giving and receiving that we share that sustain one another. 

Please continue to share your drawings using #holycurrencies

Week 19 Drawing on Holy Currencies

Pledge Card for Time

Welcome to the second pledge card of Drawing on Holy Currencies.  Many churches talk about sharing time, talent and treasure for their stewardship campaign but often end up emphasizing money anyway.  Here is the opportunity to truly pledge your time for ministries.  Answer the questions on the first page and you will have a better idea of how to complete the pledge card.

• Name an existing or new ministry in your church that you are really excited about.
  • How much time per week are you willing to offer to support this ministry?
• Name an existing or new ministry out in the community that you are really excited about.
  • How much time per week are you willing to offer to support this ministry?
• Name an existing or new ministry that lends itself to the support of non-church members.
  • Using your network of relationships, how can you help get outside volunteers to offer their time for this ministry?

Color the pledge card and you will find the completion date that you need to fill in. 

You may find that your time pledge is similar or the same as your leadership pledge (from week 16) except in this pledge card, you are specifying how much time you will set aside to offer your leadership ability for a particular ministry.

A unique thing about this pledge card is that you are also invited to consider getting your friends who are outside the church to offer their time to support a particular ministry.  For example, a church member who has a close relationship with the local Boy Scout organization may ask the Boy Scouts to volunteer their time to fix up a playground so that the pre-school children can have a safe and beautiful place to play.  Another church member who is a staff or a faculty member of a local college may invite college students to spend their community service requirement time to serve as tutors in an after school program at your church. 

Make the pledge card unique and beautiful. Take a photo and send it to the person who oversees stewardship ministry in your community. If this person doesn’t know what it is, you will have the opportunity to explain what you (and your group) are doing.

A note to small groups: Gather your group and work on the pledge cards together. Remember to affirm the use of the Respectful Communication Guidelines and use Mutual Invitation.

Don’t forget to use #holycurrencies when posting on social media.

 

Drawing on Holy Currencies Week 18

TimeBank

I came across the concept of TimeBank when I was designing a Building Bridges Now dialogue session on Disaster Preparedness.  I found a video about how Christ Church, New Zealand, recovered from a disaster with resiliency and effectiveness.  People moved immediately to take care of those in need, knowing exactly where, who, and what resources to connect them with.  The key to this community’s ability to recover was TimeBank, which they had implemented effectively for a number of years. 

TimeBank is a model for sharing our currency of time and leadership(talent).  There is no money exchange at all.  Instead of telling you about it, I invite you to go to the following links to learn more.  Better yet, gather a group of friends and watch some of the videos and discuss how you can enable your community to be awesome stewards and start a timebank to share gifts and talents. This is all about building relationships as we share our time and talent.

• You find a good description of TimeBanking at https://timebanks.org/
• A good video for TimeBanking: https://timebanks.org/get-started/join/
• I like the video on how Christ Church, New Zealand, recovered from a disaster effectively because of the Timebank they started a few years before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQxryNvZnbI

Don't forget to share your colored drawings using #holycurrencies