Meditation
Yesterday, I left off with this conversation snippet...
ME: I admire Colin Kaepernick for his stance and starting the whole kneeling thing.
PERSON: I just don't want to see it.
I've actually had this conversation twice. One of them started this way and the other ended this way. The first time I had this conversation that led to it ending this way, I thought it was a victory to get to this point and away from the bitter vitriol that was directed towards Colin Kaepernick.
The second time it happened, I preached a Bystander Intervention sermon using the Good Samaritan as my example of good intervention and bad intervention :). I also wove some history of why intervention of the isms is necessary, including what we are seeing right now in the NFL with Colin Kaepernick. I incl...
Meditation
There is a saying with Peacemaking Circles, "You don't get to a good place in a bad way." In other words, the ends do not justify the means. The process or the journey matters.
I feel like we're living in a time where this has been forgotten. But this is not because we are bad people, but because we care about the end result so much that we become blind to the conditions of the conversations.
I've taken to calling this conversational hygiene. Hygiene is keeping things clean so that things are healthy.
One thing that will help us master conversational hygiene is what I discussed yesterday, creating safe or brave zones for conversation and not devolving into violent conversation or silence. Also, having a dual process happening, being in the conversation and an observer ...
Meditation
I'm reading an excellent book, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, by Kerry Patterson. I like it because it taps into some of the things that Peacemaking Circles do even though it isn't at all about Peacemaking. And, let's face it, not everyone is going to want to sit down and have a Peacemaking Circle with me.
It's important because it taps into an experience I recently had. Without giving too much away, it went like this:
Person A, Bill, does something that is in conflict with organizational goals and with other people. Bill does not contact anyone so ill will festers. There are feasible reasons for the non-contact like extensive travel. Finally, a conference call is had. Bill keeps talking about the decision in the third person. Such as "they
