Post-Election Day Thoughts

As I watched the returns on the evening of November 4, I had one overwhelming feeling...pride. But I don't want anyone to think it was over the victory of one party over another (though anyone who knows me knows that I definitely lean in one direction). All parties and politicians make promises and appeal to motivational strategies in order to win elections. I am not naive enough to think that I or anyone else is above being manipulated.

What most impressed me was that our great nation was able to elect a person to the highest office in the land who just fifty years ago would not be able to eat at certain restaurant counters, or sit in certain seats on public transportation, or drink from certain water fountains, or use certain lavatories. Even if we had only elected Senator Obama with 50.000001% of the vote, it would be a testament to ourselves as a country that really does, by a majority, believe in equality, inclusiveness, opportunity.

It's a testament to ourselves to know that we are moving into a new era in the political experiment we call the United States. I cannot wait to see what else our great nation has in store for ourselves and the world.

Indaba Da Vida, Honey

This year, at the 2008 Lambeth Conference, Archbishop of Canterbury, +++Rowan Cantuar, employed a method of encouraging discussions that he identified as "indaba groups." Wikipedia gives us this definition:

An indaba is an important conference held by the izin Duna (principal men) of the Zulu and Xhosa peoples of South Africa. Such indabas may include only the izinDuna of a particular community or may be held with representatives of other communities. The term comes from a Zulu language word, meaning "business" or "matter"...

The term has found widespread use throughout Southern Africa and often simply means gathering or meeting. It is also used in the Scouting movement. The World Scouth Indaba was a gathering of Scout leaders. The Archbishop of Canterbury...announced, in in April 2008, a move away from plenary meetings voting on formal resolutions for bishops attending the 2008 Lambeth Conference. He introduced middle sized groups for discussion of larger issues, saying:

"We have given these the African name of indaba groups, groups where in traditional African culture, people get together to sort out the problems that affect them all, where everyone has a voice and where there is an attempt to find a common mind or a common story that everyone is able to tell when they go away from it. This is how we approached it. This is what we heard. This is where we arrived as we prayed and thought and talked together."

So, how did it work? Well, for some it was a careful way of avoiding hurtling accusations at one another and walking away without having to negotiate a response. For others, it prevented them from truly expressing themselves as they had been attacked for their positions in the past by those on the opposite side of the issue. For many, however, it was enabling, freeing, encouraging, acting as a kind of weir that allowed for emotion to pour over the embankment without causing hurt or damage either to themselves or others.

We can all learn from the experience - whether we employ +++Rowan's encouragement of voice and listening - or even just get to the same table with those who differ from us. The end is the same - contact, communication, and building of relationship, rather than dissolving those tendrils that connect us as human persons, co-sojourners on a difficult path.

Who do you need to indaba with today?

Something Old, Something New...

With the advent of a new academic year, the ending of a long church year, the end of summer/beginning of fall, and the feeling of renewed energy and hope for the season to come, I've decided to revamp my old cathedral book club blog, and instead, create a place for reflection and comment on many different issues and experiences. I hope that it'll be a safe place for me to spell out my thoughts and feelings on many issues, as well as a safe place for others to confront, converse, and contradict some of my points of view. I look forward, not only to my own un-coveries, but also on how others may find ways to help me and them understand the world in which we find ourselves.

Here's to journeying into a new season of learning!