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Hi List,<BR>
<BR>
I'm enjoying the thread about boundaries. Lately I am engaged in a community conversation in my workplace about <I>tools for responsive teaching...</I>or about<I> holding space for childrens' creativity.</I> As my colleagues and I have delved deeply into the question of what creativity is and what supports it, I have found myself thinking, without knowing why, about the idea of <I>spiritual obedience. </I>In fact I am rather relishing the notion of obedience, and I think it has something to do with the secret power of boundaries. Honoring structure, holding structure, and why, and which.<BR>
<BR>
Anyhoo, I wrote a poem.<BR>
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<BR>
Talking to Noah<BR>
<BR>
I found him late in life<BR>
carving a piece of wood<BR>
by a dry stream bed.<BR>
<BR>
<I>You know, Grandfather,</I> I began,<BR>
<I>I want to be as obedient as you.<BR>
Will you tell me about it?<BR>
</I><BR>
He had the kind of face<BR>
that didnıt need to smile.<BR>
His face was a smile.<BR>
<BR>
<I>Obedience,</I> he said, as if<BR>
hearing the word<BR>
for the first time.<BR>
<BR>
He looked up at me.<BR>
<I>Yes,</I> he said.<BR>
<I>Iıll tell you about it.<BR>
</I><BR>
<I>When I was a boy, I was shy<BR>
and besieged by a doubt<BR>
that no one could understand.<BR>
<BR>
For a time it was like living<BR>
alone in an oven, looking out at people,<BR>
them in the cool air, me burning.<BR>
<BR>
Then one day, a woman looked in at me.<BR>
She was old, and beautiful,<BR>
a shepherdess with dusty feet.<BR>
<BR>
She recognized me, and held<BR>
out her hands. I took them,<BR>
and she pulled me out of there,<BR>
<BR>
so smoothly, so naturally,<BR>
that I didnıt even have time<BR>
to be surprised.<BR>
<BR>
Thatıs what itıs like<BR>
when your shackles get broken.<BR>
Sparks donıt fly. Itıs like melting<BR>
<BR>
ice, like opening your eyes<BR>
after sleep. We sat on a rock<BR>
and she held my hands in hers,<BR>
<BR>
turning them slowly, looking at them.<BR>
She was quiet for a long time,<BR>
and finally she said,<BR>
</I><BR>
You pay attention, Noah.<BR>
Youıre going to build something.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
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