Sometimes I think we all take so much for granted. Our busy lives keep us from recognizing one another in any real meaningful way -- and from taking time to learn from one another's wisdom. Sages and thought-leaders, past and present, give us clues that all of life across time is connected -- there is a different bent to our pressing problems in different eras of time, but there is also a sameness about our struggles and also our potential. Wisdom comes from unique perspectives and many dimensions of difference. It challenges us to see our important call to contribute to our organizations, community, and our world for the good of all.
I was again reminded of this today. Among my father's treasures after he died, I found a book of sermons from Peter Marshall, former Chaplain to the U.S. Senate back in the 1940s. Peter Marshall's wisdom reads with an amazing familiarity to where we are today:
"...The time for drifting or sleeping or wishful thinking or daydreaming is over. The state of our world today makes this pastime. This generation of young people and all of you who are sensitive to what is going on around you, are called to a supreme adventure.
There is a great stirring in society. The upheavals of life and the revolutions of multitudes across the world in desperate motion are indications that our world can never be the same again. So don't ever underestimate what you can do. You have the courage to cast off your acrophobia [fear of open space] and to dream big and to aim high..."
How do we tap into the wisdom that connects us across time and distance?
How do we begin a meaningful conversation and allow it to move us into action?
Dr. Alex Pattakos, author of Prisoners of Our Thoughts, shared this perspective in a recent writing on his blog: "...authentic dialogue enables individuals to acknowledge that they each are part of a greater whole, that they naturally resonate with others within this whole, and that the whole is, indeed, greater than the sum of its various parts. ...One must be open and willing to entertain a diversity of thought and discover a common ground by going to a higher ground. And, to be sure, this is extremely difficult, if not seemingly impossible, for most of us to do, especially when the “stakes” are high."
What messages do you hear across time and difference calling us from your perspective in the world?
Best...
Debbe
Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center
author, Putting Our Differences to Work
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