Confession & A Commitment

First, let me just say this: I AM A REPEAT OFFENDER!

Confession: I sometimes commit and then keep on trying to fulfill the commitment when all the cues point to SLOW DOWN or STOP. LISTEN, LEARN, CHANGE.

So, this has happened! My earlier commitment and announcement that a colleague and I would begin a study of Parker Palmer’s phenomenal 2nd Edition HEALING THE HEART OF DEMOCRACY is beyond our capacities right now.

Multiples of you have said you would like to enroll in the study. So, it pains me to share that all cues, important cues, point to not just yet, not just this way. I am disappointed and sad that we can’t do this just now. Listening to my/our “isness,” June is not the time to begin them. Perhaps the space will open, as I hope it will, later this year.

Commitment: What I can offer you is my intent to write a series of blogs, distinctly aimed at helping each of us activate our longings to make a meaningful difference as citizens. Let’s each continue to search our hearts, see and be where we are called to be in relationship to our whole society’s current polarization and bent toward violence as a strategy for conflict resolution. The questions we must answer, it seems to me, are these.

1. How do I show up, not just for myself or my family, but for my whole community?

2. When I consider my mission, how will I define my community?

3. To help me answer these two questions, will I consider each/all of these applications and implications?

1. Consistent with my deepest values, which I can clearly list.

2. Infused with wisdom beyond myself, ultimately with My Source of Being.

3. Beneficial to me, but beyond me to all impacted by my choices.

4. Dig into the work required of me to further my felt/inner known mission.

5. Advance my own life journey toward humility, courage, integrity/authenticity, love – not fear based decision-making.

To learn more about future programs, please email me at connect@drmargaretpinder.com. Too, advance notice of specifically scheduled courses will show up here on my website and on other media platforms in a timely manner.

Note: I highly recommend: Parker Palmer. (2024) HEALING THE HEART OF DEMOCRACY, The Courage to create a politics worthy of the human spirit. Updated Edition with Study Guide & Author Notes. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.