OST translated into Maori

[Fr Brian S Bainbridge]

Dear Chris
Viv McWaters and I opened space for a considerable and important group
of New Zealand Facilitators some years back.
It was, as always, a very interesting event.  It confirmed for me that
working with facilitators is one of the more delicate dimensions to work
in.  As expected, there was much patch-defending, much
applying-my-model-to-everything, and a fair bit of serious hesitance
about trusting the Open Space process.
BUT, there was a wonderful response from a number of Maori participants.
  They very quietly talked with Viv about the Open Space process and -
as you have found - identified with it as something that "belongs in our
world utterly", saying that we (Viv and I) had given back to them what
was really theirs anyway.
They were also at pains to have us promise "not to tell any of the
pakeha that they thought this" because they feared (rightly or wrongly)
they would not then be tolerated if "they" knew such opinions were being
aired.  That, in itself, was a huge message to us who opened the space
and worked with with two other NZ facilitators on the program.
It is a message that has stayed with me ever since - the need to really
be open and, as HHO says, live open.  In all our trainings here that I
have anything to do with, that message - "living open space" - is what I
  have tried to share as much as possible.  It makes sense to me and I'm
glad to see that a number of Open Space-ers here are following that
along, too.
We'll talk about that more when you come to our land, of course.
Cheers and blessings,   BRIAN


--
Fr Brian S. Bainbridge
0412 111 525

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