What I would see and praise

What I would see
mid all the stress and tension of these days
what I would see beyond my pain and, seeing, praise
is how life works its way upon
our thick, opaque obduracy
presses down and pulls us out
to tissue-thin transparency:
yes, praise.
I would not choose to stretch this way.
Unwillingly I find myself drawn membrane-thin
so others can see through and in.
I would prefer to hold my dark
to guard my secrets safe behind
a studied public face -
but stretched reveal a larger life
admit a light beyond my own
and letting through these stronger, brighter rays
I praise.

Einstein

"Creating a new theory is not like destroying an old barn and erecting a skyscraper in its place. It is rather like climbing a mountain, gaining new and wider views, discovering unexpected connections between our starting point and its rich environment. But the point from which we started out still exists and can be seen, although it appears smaller and forms a tiny part of our broad view gained by the mastery of the obstacles on our adventurous way up."

Albert Einstein

Failures and mistakes

Leadership is "going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm." (Winston Churchill)

Founder of Polaroid, Edwin Land, had a small plaque on his office wall which read: "A mistake is an event the full benefit of which you have not yet turned to your advantage."

Victims of violence

We will listen, however painful the hearing,

For still there are women the world over

            being raped

            being whipped

            being sold into slavery

being shamed

being silenced

being beaten

being broken

treated as worthless

treated as refuse.

            Until there is not one last woman remaining

            Who is a victim of violence…

            Listen, then, in sorrow.

Listen in anger.

Listen to the texts of terror.

And let us commit ourselves to working for a world

in which such deeds may never happen again.

Slee, Nicola. Praying like a woman.p36-37. London, SPCK. 2004.

Mentoring

The power of our mentors is not necessarily in the models of good teaching they gave us ... Their power is in their capacity to awaken a truth within us, a truth we can reclaim years later by recalling their impact on our lives.

In workshops I often ask people to introduce themselves by talking about a teacher who made a difference in their lives. ...

Then I ask the question that opens to the deeper purpose of this exercise: not “what made your mentor great?” but “What is it about you that allowed great mentoring to happen?”

Mentoring is a mutuality that requires more than meeting the right student. In this encounter, not only are the qualities of the mentor revealed, but the qualities of the student are drawn out in a way that is equally revealing.

Parker Palmer (1998) The Courage to Teach. p21.

Lines of thought

"I really don’t see the point of reading in straight lines. We don’t think like that and we don’t live like that. Our mental processes are closer to a maze than a motorway, every turning yields another turning, not symmetrical, not obvious. Not chaos either."

Jeanette Winterton Oranges are not the only fruit Vintage (2001)- quote picked up from Friday Mailing

from Max Warren

When we approach the man of another faith than our own it will be in a spirit of expectancy to find how God has been speaking to him and what new understandings of the grace and love of God we may ourselves discover in this encounter. Our first task in approaching another people, another culture, another religion, is to take off our shoes, for the place we are approaching is holy. Else we may find ourselves treading on men’s dreams. More serious still, we may forget that God was here before our arrival.
Picked up from Simon Marsh's blog.