Re: [pf] A new list serve

by Nan Hildreth

30 December 2000 18:01 UTC

At 06:32 AM 12/29/00 -0800, Jill Taylor Bussiere wrote:
<snip>  my inner pessimist and inner optimist are fighting all the
>time -sometimes one gains the upper hand, and sometimes the other does.

Peace, Jill.   I have fought such internal battles for 3 years, but now am
finding amazing grace.  Whew!   

Like learning we have a deadly illness, the news of the trends shakes our
souls.  It burns away the dead wood, the idols we Americans have devoted
their lives to,  like Almighty Science or the Almighty Dollar.  

We, "like the mariners of old, ... have sailed beyond the familiar
horizon." (p. 43, Ray and Anderson, Cultural Creatives: How 50 million
People Are Changing the World, 2000).   When I read that chapter last week,
I sighed.   "Someone understands!"  They said feeling uncertain and
vulnerable to criticism is just how you feel while turning from the norm of
hypocrisy toward integrity.  Relax, mindquakes are just part of the
process.  Can we enjoy the ride?  

By struggling through it together, we transform ourselves and our society.
 Jim Wallis, the radical Christian visionary and organizer, says an
alternative to win-lose power politics is personal and social
transformation.  He says there are islands of us everywhere.   He tells us
how to recognize transformation in process in people and organizations in
Soul of Politics. 

Ray and Anderson graph how the islands to rise out of the sea and join (p.
211).  They believe America's movements are converging into mega-movements
with a common vision.  For example, in the Battle of Seattle, diverse folks
crawled out of the woodwork with a united voice.   

The glue holding the movements together, he said, is us uncertain ones, us
creatives (p. 212).  He has data to prove it.  I dabble with weaving here
in Houston.  Another example, Wallis unites religious folks who oppose the
Christian Coalition.  www.calltorenewal.com  He says it reminds him of
uniting street gangs in Los Angeles.  :-o

The Wallis listserve is much like our positive group.   www.sojo.net  Fine
folks: activists, a homeless activist, a couple of grown children of
missionaries, a preacher, a bureaucrat for the Catholics,  etc.  They are
disturbed about global trends to poverty and how environmental trends will
hurt make them worse. 

Similar to this group, right?  

Ray and Anderson say don't let the scary stuff freak you out so you lose
your wisdom and faith.  They even say it with graphs.  (p. 249-252)  



Nan Hildreth, Houston  713-864-7108  nan.hildreth@pdq.net

"we almost all practice idolatry in the modern world because the God we're
worshiping in church on Sunday morning is not the one we believe in our
hearts."  preacher and writer Matthew Fox quoted in Cultural Creatives: How
50 Million People Are Changing the World www.culturalcreatives.org