Letter to a Friend

averbuch averbuch at post.tau.ac.il
Wed Dec 1 15:39:52 PST 2004


Harison, Funda and BJ

Thank you, Harrison,  for sharing the letter to your friend and sharing
yourself the way you do.

I would like to add three notes:
1. It is many times  very painful and mainly frustrating to hear a picture
from a perspective when you are in deep sh... (the one acing/going insane)
2. eventually it has always opened space for the pain and anger to run
through and dissipate when a perspective (though painful) was offered to me
3. Harrison, you wrote :<       So anyhow I intend to put my ass on the line
wherever I am able - and open the space for myself and others any time that
is possible. >
I am trying to learn to put my ass instead of my heart so I may last longer
and be more grounded :), yet I do agree with the perspective...
Tova


Tova Averbuch             טובה אורבוך
34 Rabinovitz St.   רחוב רבינוביץ 34
Holon            58672               חולון
Israel
               972-3-5523476
         averbuch at post.tau.ac.il


-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Harrison
Owen
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 3:26 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Letter to a Friend


I have a Muslim friend who periodically shares with me various articles and
news stories. To say that the USA is cast in negative terms would a gross
understatement. While I find myself in substantive agreement with much of
the material I must also confess to a high level of discomfort as I look at
myself and my country through another's eyes. Painful though it might be, it
is also profoundly useful, however in recent time it seemed to me that my
friend's outrage was verging on despair. So I sent him the following note.
My hope was not to cheer him up, although I would certainly like to do that.
Rather my intent was to provide a context which for me has been useful. Of
course it may also be vastly delusional, but I pass it on for whatever it is
worth.
****************************************************************************
**********************************

I have read the piece you sent, and while I might quibble with some of the
details and conclusions, I can certainly understand how the author might
come to the place he/she did. Having said that, I have the strong feeling
that the issues involved are infinitely broader and deeper. Shortly put, it
is my feeling that we (all 6.5 billion of us) are in the midst of a moment
of massive global transformation - and contrary to many of the "wu-wu" folks
here and in Europe, transformation is not some walk in the park towards
higher consciousness - although transformation (at the human level) is all
about the evolution and, presumptively, enhancement of consciousness. In the
moment, transformation is painful, destructive, crazy-making and ultimately
catastrophic, at least for the world views and life patterns of all
involved. Transformation is also on-going from the moment we all sat in
caves. There have been times in our history when the pace of transformation
was glacial and hardly perceptible. There have been other times (and now is
such a time) when Transformation moves at the speed of light. At warp speed,
the power of Transformation rips the cozy furniture from our intellectual,
religious and cultural homes and tosses everything into a massive chaotic
heap - even as the homes themselves have the walls flattened and the
foundations shattered.

Hardly a walk in the park, and the reactions are predictable. Shock, anger,
disorientation, panic -- to name a few. And along with all of these come the
natural tendency to grab on to anything that appears to have a modicum of
stability, even if illusory stability. There are a lot of names for this but
one is fundamentalism. Fundamentalism is not the private preserve of
conservative Muslims or Christians. Fundamentalism belongs to everybody even
if the perception of the "fundamentals" differ dramatically. Deep motes and
high walls are built to protect those fundamentals - and anybody or any
thing that threatens those perceived bed rocks of meaning is challenged,
engaged, and if possible destroyed.  The pain, inflicted and experienced at
this point is intense, made all the more so by the futility of the effort.
The waves of transformation will roll on, and absolutely nothing will
prevent them, unless the ocean of life itself were to dry up. At which point
the show would definitely be over.

It is very tempting at such a time to seek counsel with the Ruler of the
Universe and suggest that there really should be a better way. In fact, had
The Ruler of the Universe consulted with us from the beginning, we doubtless
could have come up with an acceptable plan. Unfortunately, we weren't around
at the time. Which I think is probably fortunate because the Way chosen
hasn't done all that badly, despite our discomfort of the moment.  For 14
billion years or so the cosmos has evolved, and we just happen to be the
latest iteration. We may be the last, or perhaps there is more to come - but
isn't it totally remarkable that considering all that has happened and all
we have been through - we are still here to complain about how bad things
are?

Small consolation? Perhaps, but I find a certain utility in attempting a
cosmic 14,000,000,000 year perspective if only to set some reasonable sense
of scale for my (our) vicissitudes - all the while doing my damnedest to
comfort those who suffer, confront injustice, and generally place my body on
the line where I think I can make a difference.

 I am reminded of the late 50's and 60's here in the US during the Civil
rights Struggle. At the time I was a graduate student in the South working
on my PhD in Ancient near Eastern Studies. My interest barely moved beyond
the 2nd century BCE. That changed dramatically with the Birmingham Bombing
in which two young Black girls were killed. I don't remember a conscious
choosing, but suddenly I found myself on the street in demonstrations, both
organizing and participating. This did not set well with my Southern friends
(white) who called me a "nigger lover" and worse. They also said that I was
trying to kill the Southern Way of Life (their life).  That was true.
Compared to the present time, it was pretty small potatoes, but people were
dying and fundamentalism was rampant. Walls were built, hate intensified,
bodies and spirits were broken - and people hung on for dear life
(literally) to what they perceived to be the bed rocks of their existence.
And not just white people - Blacks as well found that the little cocoons
that they had made for themselves in the segregationist environment were now
threatened. They were going to have to join the main stream and it was an
unpleasant shock for some. Things got real close and tight until there
seemed hardly any room to think, breathe or live. Space was claustrophobic.
Through it all there was a towering figure whose major contribution I
believe was to keep the space open. Martin Luther King walked the
demonstration lines with all of us. He took the shots verbal, and ultimately
lead. But still he kept the space open. He did it all the time in all sorts
of ways, but he did it most memorably on the Mall with one of the greatest
speeches I have ever heard. You could hear the hurt, pain and profound sense
of injustice - but most of all you could hear, feel, and touch the vision -
"I have a dream. . ." he said. And the space seemed just infinite. And in
that space came respect, trust, hope - not always, not everywhere, not
perfectly. But it was enough. We are still here to complain about how badly
things are going.

So anyhow I intend to put my ass on the line wherever I am able - and open
the space for myself and others any time that is possible. And of the two, I
think opening that space is the most critical.

Harrison




Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland   20845
Phone 301-365-2093

Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>

Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
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