Dear LO Community,
Please.
I want to hear your voices.
We may be as many as 1800 people, all over the world, woven together
through this medium that Rick tirelessly nurtures.
Some write often. Some never. Some have grown tired. Some write when
moved. And that's okay.
Yet now, the only way I can see your faces is to hear your voices.
Paula Underwood, an author, teacher, and friend who passed away last year,
once told me a story I'll never forget. It's a story about hearing the
voices. She was present with about five-hundred Native Americans,
assembled in a gymnasium to discuss a topic of great important to the
preservation of their heritage.
Before they began, they wanted to hear the voice of each person in the
huge circle. Paula said she wondered how long it would take as,
one-by-one, they began to speak. But almost immediately she became
totally entranced by what unfolded. Some spoke a few paragraphs. Some
offered a single word. Some expressed hopes. Others their fears.
Everyone spoke. Paula told me that it seemed as though time stood
absolutely still. The gymnasium, she said, felt like it grew in dimension
till it seemed as large as an open meadow. She could still recall most of
what was said, as though it was delicately etched on her heart.
It still makes me tingle when I think how she described the gymnasium as
the last member of their community finished speaking -- when ALL of the
voices were together in the circle. She said the room was ringing in
silence. Literally ringing and reverberating.
Please write in. From wherever you are. In the midst of whatever you are
doing. Say a paragraph. Say one word. Just say you are here. Say how
you are. Say what you need. Share something. Share you hurt. Offer
hope. Be afraid. Just let me hear your voice in the circle. I want to
hear the ringing of 1800 voices.
With hope for a better tomorrow and love for you who will help make it so.
John
-- John Dicus | CornerStone Consulting Associates - Leadership - Systems Thinking - Teamwork - Open Space - Electric Maze - 2761 Stiegler Road, Valley City, OH 44280 800-773-8017 | 330-725-2728 (2729 fax) mailto:jdicus@ourfuture.com | http://www.ourfuture.comLearning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <Richard@Karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>
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