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SEPTEMBER 2006
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THIS & THAT
(from here and there every now and then) |
Ben Silva-Netto
District Superintendent |
Meaningful conversations can provide occasions for significant conversions. Beyond exchange of words, conversations involve communications (and there are many levels and ways we communicate), relationships (i.e., connecting with the other from the superficial to the most intimate and spiritual), and systems of meaning. Conversion has to do with change and transformation. Meaningful conversations necessitate openness, authenticity, humility, hospitality and reverence. When there is a breakdown in meaningful conversation, people tend to resort to violence, physical and emotional. Breakdown happens quite frequently when the conversation becomes a "power struggle." I had a meaningful conversation the other day with Bob Biehler, Pastor of Paradise UMC. Our time together flowed into discussing many topics, some theological and political, some about practical issues in the practice of ministry, some about frustration regarding what's happening in church and society. We didn't solve all the problems of the world, nor did we make even a slight dent on the problems faced by our church, but I left feeling a genuine sense of "conversion," perhaps not in the traditional way we use that word. For example, we asked the question, what is my attitude towards the ceaseless bombardment of bad news from the media, from the unrelenting crime waves in our communities, to the tragedies of natural disasters, to the seemingly unsolvable conflicts in the Middle East, to war on terror. I began to appreciate the God-given capacity to capture minute moments of meaning and grace that empowers me to stand on tiptoe on the edge of wonderment in spite of everything that happens around me. I sensed this serenity, for example, when I visited Dave Leeper-Moss, Pastor of Trinity UMC in Chico, as he sat in silence in front of the office of the Congressman, fasting for several day as a silent protest against the war between the Israeli and the Hezbolah. We can, indeed, search and find serenity in sun and in shadow and we can bend with the wind of adversity and never break! — Ben |
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