09.30.08
self, truth, God
“The God I know does not ask us to conform to some abstract norm for the ideal self. God asks us only to honor our created nature, which means our limits as well as potentials. When we fail to do so, reality happens — God happens — and way closes behind us.
“The God I was told about in church, and still hear about from time to time, runs about like an anxious schoolmaster measuring people’s behavior with a moral yardstick. But the God I know is the source of reality rather than morality: morality and its consequences are built into the God-given structure of reality itself. Moral norms are not something we have to search for, and moral consequences are not something we have to wait for: they are right here, right now, waiting for us to honor, or violate, the nature of self, other, world.
“The attempt to live by the reality of our own nature, which means our limits as well as our potentials, is a profoundly moral regimen. John Middleton Murry put this truth into words that challenge the conventional concept of goodness to its core: “For a good man to relaize that it is better to be whole than to be good is to enter on a straight and narrow path compared to which his previous rectitude was flowery license.â€
Parker Palmer, “Let Your Life Speak,†50-51
NextReformation » Borderland Churches IV said,
December 15, 2009 at 10:07 am
[...] The next section in this chapter examines “the personal tool-kit.” Gary opens this discussion with a call for balance in the internal life of the leader. In particular, he points to the need for personal differentiation. This term comes from systems theory and Jungian psychology. Differentiation describes the ability to maintain a non-anxious presence in an emotionally charged system. Gary writes that, “Healthy and effective leadership requires more than technique. it is a lifelong process of spiritual and emotional discipline that enables leaders to maintain balance.” This requires “the capacity to become oneself.” (72) Gary lists seven qualities that demonstrate differentiation in the life of a leader. [...]
Resonate » Blog Archive » Borderland Churches IV - A growing missional friendship of Canadians exploring the Gospel in Canadian culture. said,
December 20, 2009 at 5:36 am
[...] The next section in this chapter examines “the personal tool-kit.†Gary opens this discussion with a call for balance in the internal life of the leader. In particular, he points to the need for personal differentiation. This term comes from systems theory and Jungian psychology. Differentiation describes the ability to maintain a non-anxious presence in an emotionally charged system. Gary writes that, “Healthy and effective leadership requires more than technique. it is a lifelong process of spiritual and emotional discipline that enables leaders to maintain balance.†This requires “the capacity to become oneself.†(72) Gary lists seven qualities that demonstrate differentiation in the life of a leader. [...]