>>... We've used the stick ... for as long as we have memory. It is
>>interesting to run into the ideas from our spiritual ways in the marketplace
>>with no acknowledgment of authority.
I, too, am concerned that we don't give credit to the masters when we
borrow their tools. We are such arrogant adolescents, thinking that we
can derive wisdom from an artifact. However, to use a talking stick
without being aware of its cultural background isn't necessarily a bad
thing. In the U.S., we tend to think that the opposite of talking is
waiting. If there is some object that helps us realize that the opposite
of talking is listening, then we've made progress. If that object further
helps us to listen deeply and reflect in the spirit of compassion and
acceptance, then we have some hope of further progress. Ray holds a
vision out to us like an oasis in the desert of modern society:
>>The stick to us is a prayer to the Creator for guidance and as long as the
>>person holds it they must speak their heart truthfully.... "Community" as
>>an ideal, demands that management be responsible for the well being of even
>>the least in the community.... The power of the stick is the power to hold
>>the group's attention until you are through.... the commitment to respect
>>the speaker no matter how difficult that may be. You pledge yourself to
>>that person's humanity and your understanding of it....
Some time ago this list witnessed a discussion of soul in the workplace,
and one of the threads in that stream had to do with the lack of awareness
that people are spiritual. For some reason, it's difficult for
organizations to allow people to be fully human. This is particularly
challenging in the public sector, where the merest mention of the word
"spiritual", or its cognates, is enough to raise the paranoid specter of
"church vs. state."
The practice of dialogue is a way to engage people in their hearts without
testing their willingness to speak openly of things spiritual. In the few
dialogue-type gatherings I've been in, some object (e.g., an easel marker,
a stuffed animal, a rock) is used to focus attention. When it works, it's
a wonderful relief from the usual chaos of meetings.
At one dialogue workshop, a scene from "Dances With Wolves" was shown,
where the tribe held what I'd guess was a council meeting. We talked
(some even listened) about what it means for all participants to be heard,
and how much easier it is to accept controversy when they are. But when
someone mentioned how deeply spiritual the scene was, the group fell
silent and eventually changed the subject.
So, Ray, please have compassion for those of us who are grasping for any
device that will help people first listen to each other, and then
perhaps take that listening inside. I'm sure you realize how difficult
this struggle is for us. If nothing else, perhaps there is some
satisfaction in seeing a native spiritual practice being used, however
primitively, by the culture that subjugated and killed off its original
practitioners.
Passing the stick to the center,
Dave
David E. Birren
Organizational Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Ph: 608-267-2442, Fax: 608-267-3579
<birred@mail01.dnr.state.wi.us>
"Teach thy tongue to say 'I do not know' and thou shalt progress."
- Maimonides
--Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>