>Re: 'spiritual safety' vs. 'bodily safety', Cliff Briggie and Leon write:
>
>"spiritual growth, in my experience, is often an experience of
>'groundlessness', 'spaciousness', etc., where the rug is continually being
>pulled out from under one's feet."
>
>Yes - I would agree with you here - an essential part of spiritual growth
>is that feeling of having to face an inner abyss and let oneself fall into
>one's own dark depths, and it is often only through allowing that process
>to occur that we emerge 'into the light'.
My experience of spiritual growth is a letting go of oftentimes, a
tightness within, and an accepting and celebrating of that tightness! It
is all me and accustomed ways of operating which have supported me up
until now. I only experience an abyss when I reject what is me -- you
have heard the saying -- what you resist persists?
>Where spiritual growth is concerned, in my experience, there is always a
>'safety net' - albeit invisible, intangible but there nonetheless. A net
>that is not there where mere risk-taking is concerned.
>
>What holds the net up? How can we seek to build the cornerstones from
>which that net can be hung in our organisations?
I have been thinking over the weekend about how different we all are. How
we all need different things to feel safe. My father-in-law is visiting
for a week and we are very different. In my mind he thinks very narrowly
and makes generalizations about other cultures and people which I know are
untrue. But then this issue of safety pops into my mind and I think it is
how he makes the world safe for himself.
What is fear really? Sometimes I think fear has so many faces but isn't
it fear of the abyss? Fear that we won't be able to make needed changes
or adapt? Fear of finding out that maybe we are not really worthy? Fear
of being alone? Unconnected? We are all so seperate from each other that
many times we haven't got the slightest clue about how to really find each
other.
What pops into my mind -- and has been stuck there for years -- is the
concept that you teach more by the way you live your life than what you
say. You know the old -- actions speak louder than words...
I don't know if you can structure spiritual safety into organizations.
What I do know is that you can impact many around you by the way you live.
All the "rules" that have been mentioned about judgementalism and
listening are what do it. But perhaps the first place for us to start is
within -- stop judging self, love self, listen to self -- mind, heart and
soul. If we can get the inner connections stronger then it impacts our
outer connections.
I just hope and pray that we will reach critical mass before it is too
late. I believe in the impact of our thoughts and energy (and entropy At)
on everyday physical life. When a critical mass also believes that --
then perhaps spiritual safety will be thought of as an internal strategic
need of organizations. But at the moment -- it seems to me to be an
individual job...
Sherri
sherri@maloufinc.com Tel:603-672-0355
LMA, Inc Fax:603-673-7120
--Sherri Malouf <sherri@maloufinc.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>