Calling the Circle

[Esther Ewing]

John:

I love the Anne Dillard quote. She is quite right - there is no one but us.
Perhaps that is what the wise men said to themselves. Our minister last
Sunday commented that he was once asked by a child at the children's time at
the front of the church, Were the wise men wise before they went to
Bethlehem.

Maybe there was no one there but them to do what needed doing.

Esther


-----Original Message-----
From: John Dicus <jdicus at OURFUTURE.COM>
To: OSLIST at listserv.idbsu.edu <OSLIST at listserv.idbsu.edu>
Date: January 4, 1999 12:34 AM
Subject: Re: Calling the Circle


>Calling The Circle is, to me, a beautiful and graceful book.  It is nice to
>see it mentioned and quoted.  As for the concepts mentioned in the book
>working in large groups, I heard of an instance where 500 people met to
>speak about issues important to Native Americans.  A friend told me that
the
>space was literally "charged" as all 500 voices were heard and blended.
>
>One of my favorite quotes is in "Calling The Circle," by Annie Dillard...
>
>There is no one but us.
>
>There is no one to send,
>     nor a clean hand nor a pure heart
>     on the face of the earth,
>     nor in the earth,
>     but only us,
>
>A generation comforting ourselves with the notion
>     that we have come at an awkward time,
>     that our innocent fathers are all dead  -
>     as if innocence had ever been  -
>     and our children busy and troubled,
>
>And we ourselves unfit,
>     not yet ready,
>     having each of us chosen wrongly,
>     made a false start, failed,
>
>Yielded to impulse and the tangled comfort of pleasures,
>     and grown exhausted,
>     unable to seek the thread,
>     weak and involved.
>
>But there is no one but us.
>
>There never has been.
>
>
>Warm regards,
>
>John Dicus
>
>--
>
>John Dicus  |  CornerStone Consulting Associates
>-- Bringing Systems To Life --
>2761 Stiegler Road, Valley City, OH 44280
>800-773-8017  |  330-725-2728 (2729 fax)
>http://www.ourfuture.com  |  mailto:jdicus at ourfuture.com
>
>
>