Dear John and everybody,
I live in a city where one can see extreme cases ( richness and poorness,
joy and powerty so on...)
in a short distance from each other.
One sees so big problems, and so strong struggle for life
that sometime the word "open space" looks funny, silly and luxury.
I still believe that "opening space", inviting people to
exist, to talk, to express their needs and struggle is
"something", a very small step maybe, but still helpful.
But it's not enough, the ultimate aim is to understand their straggle
and help them to get what they need...we don't need to be poor with the
poor;
sick with the sick ( as Judi beautifully mentions)...the least we can do
is to open space to respect them.... but this is only the minimum.
And i am very worried and sad to see that in many cases all i could
do would be to open space. I am not strong or rich enough to end
struggle.
I guess we need more trembling hearts, more resources and better
cooperation for that.
Funda
----- Original Message -----
From: "john engle" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 10:17 PM
Subject: powerful poem! help me understand it.
hi brendan, kairi and others.
i've never opened space in a prison but i have participated in a
touchstones discussion (http://touchstones.org) with about 25 men serving
life sentences. the discussion centered around "power" and not
surprisingly, i learned a great deal.
great that you are doing this! i look forward to following developments as
you work toward opening space in prisons.
on another subject, kairi, thank you for sharing that poem in your
message. i love it! and, i loved being at OSonOS! Judi, you and your team
did a great job at receiving us and making us feel at home.
while i love the spirit of the poem, i just don't know what to do with
"banish the word struggle from your vocabulary." how do others see this?
removing the word struggle from MY vocabulary seems like it could have
some positive outcomes. at the same time, it's hard for me to think of a
better word that describes daily life for so many people. and, not
acknowledging this seems like i might be missing something as i work with
folks in circumstances so much different from my own.
i'm in haiti as i write and catching up with friends and colleagues. there
are at least hundreds of thousands of people here--some estimate in the
millions--that don't consume a meal each day. and when they do, they don't
know when they'll eat next. i can't begin to imagine what living with so
much uncertainty and discomfort must be like. and i've also learned that
far too often we who live in financially prosperous countries romance
poverty, saying that poor people are happier.
it serves us (people who live in financially prosperous countries) well to
see things this way and it pains me when i have US American visitors with
me in Haiti and conclude after a week here that the people are "so happy."
in many cultures, those in the southern countries included, it is
appropriate to put one's best face forward especially when meeting
visitors. those same Haitians who looked so happy to the visitor might be
totally stressed out because they're worrying about how they're going to
pay school fees for their kids and get a meal together, etc. when they
speak in their own language to me, "struggle" projects from their facial
expressions, body movement and words.
i would not feel comfortable asking folks who live such realities to
remove "struggle" from their vocabulary.
thanks for your patience as i vent and live emotions connected to being
with friends in extremely difficult situations.
john
http://JohnEngle.net
email: [email protected]
P.O. Box 337
Hershey, Pennsylvania 17033
tel. 202-236-6532
From: Brendan McKeague <[email protected]>
Reply-To: OSLIST <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: There is a river flowing now very fast
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 08:26:54 +0800
"Banish the word 'struggle' from your attitude and your vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
aahhh....thank you so much Kairi
What a moment to receive this gift - the start of a brand new
day...beautiful and inspiring...today I will let go a wee bit more...
I am about to depart for a day's 'space-making' in a maximum security
prison with long-term offenders..
I will be present and holding space with individual men - my dream is that
one day there may be more collective open space within such confinement...
.
Anyone ever opened space in a prison?
peace to all
Brendan
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