I first heard the term “graceful engagement” from the founding director of Intersections International, Rev. Robert Chase.1 He was describing to me the peace-building approach that Intersections uses across its programs, and once I heard it, I started seeing other examples everywhere. This week, I came across a resource from the Institute for Welcoming Resources, […]
If a boundary falls in the forest…
Developing sound boundaries and expectations is a basic part of building relationships, whether personal or professional. The process doesn’t work well unless there’s open communication. Confusion and frustration easily result when one party is operating by one set of rules and their peer is using another. Even ways of dissolving relationships like ghosting (disappearing without […]
Admitting our limitations
Few things are more difficult than to see outside the bounds of your own perspective—to be able to identify assumptions that you take as universal truths but which, instead, have been crafted by your own unique identity and experiences in the world. We live much of our lives in our own heads, in a reconfirming […]
Mutuality meets self-interest
Obviously no single church can deal with the vast social problems that exist in the world… Even with the help of governments, this an impossible task. Adventists must move away from the idea that they should do good only if it helps to convert. They must also move away from helping only where it serves […]
Listening
The wise are not learned; the learned are not wise.” “A well-frog cannot imagine the ocean, nor can a summer insect conceive of ice. How then can a scholar understand the Tao? he is restricted by his own learning.” “‘Lots of people talk to animals,’ Pooh said. ‘Maybe, but…’ ‘Not very many listen, though,’ he said. […]
Video: What empathy looks like
Everyone has a story. And that story runs through their entire life like a tapestry thread. This video from Cleveland Clinic asks: If you could stand in someone else’s shoes . . . hear what they hear. See what they see. Feel what they feel. Would you treat them differently?” The only audio on this […]