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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>It is interesting (funny, odd, strange) how
words, once casually spoken, take on a life of their own, and somehow or
another possess a depth of meaning that was totally invisible in the moment of
speaking. The phrase, “Whatever happens is the only thing that could have,”
was just a throwaway, but it seemed to fit. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>I suppose it would be nice if I could tell
you that each of the Principles, along with the Law of Two Feet, were the
direct result of profound and careful thought. Maybe it would be more “socially
(academically) acceptable if their origin were rooted in an extensive
consideration of life in all of its aspects, with due deference given to the
age old polarities of freedom and determinism, self and world, being and
non-being, just to name a few. Then I could announce that after many years of
deep meditation on the mountain top I have come to pronounce the core
understandings – the essential principles and the one law. Nice, but
total fabrication! The genesis, in fact was quite different. It just seemed to be
the right thing in the moment.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Life, of course, is filled with throwaways.
Some stick around and others depart. What is the difference? I think the
difference is the way in which a phrase (or even one word) assumes a life of
its own in a community. There never was an “authorized text” –
and for sure The Community (whatever that was/is) never sat down in formal
process to determine the correct words. Rather like pebbles in a brook worn by the
passage of waters, some words are polished and smoothed to reveal a deeper glow,
and some are shattered to become sand and mud – all taking place as the currents
of community usage pass on by.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>I think it is probably important to note
that the Principles and The law were never prescriptive – as in telling
people what they should do. They are in fact descriptive – simply noting
what will take place anyhow. Even if we have been taught, trained, coerced,
believe the opposite – the principles and the law seems to be true. And
for that reason alone they are always troubling. They seem wrong, counter
intuitive, and definitely not according to our plans – but that is the
way it is. Or so it has seemed for 20 years. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>I can remember times when there was intense
discussion about the 1<sup>st</sup> Principle (Whoever comes is the right
people). People would say – Does that mean that those who don’t
come are the wrong people? Are they somehow bad, evil, and monstrous? Not at
all! But the fact of the matter is that they didn’t care to come. No
judgment made concerning their moral status – just a simple statement of
fact. They didn’t care to come. And what makes the people present the “right
people?” Another statement of fact – They did care to come.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>So where does that leave us? I guess the
conversation continues, and the waters in the brook continue to do their work.
Actually I really like, “Whatever happens is the only thing that did.”
Makes me smile too! And maybe I will give it a try and see how it passes
over my lips. But then again, I rather like the old one. Perhaps I am getting
older and set in my ways (all true) – but somehow the “could have”
has a useful jarring quality. Upon first hearing it surely sounds like pure
determinism – we are all locked in a prefigured universe which is just
rolling over us. But there is also a smile there too. And beneath the smile is a
recognition that given the constraints and forces of the instant what happened
was the only possible result. Given different forces and constraints the
results would be totally different – but all that is just hypothetical. We
could just sit here and say ain’t it awful, our freedom is denied, the
dice have been thrown. OR – we could pay very close attention to the
present moment and discover that even though it isn’t what we expected,
planned on, or hoped for – there are in fact some incredible, rich
opportunities present which have never existed previously. So rather than
constraining our freedom, it is expanded in ways and directions we had never
even dreamed about. I like that one.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Harrison</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:
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<div>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Harrison Owen</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>7808 River Falls Drive</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Potomac</span></font><font
size=2 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:red'>, </span></font><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Maryland</span></font><font
size=2 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:red'> </span></font><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>20854</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Phone </span></font><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:red'>301-365-2093</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Skype hhowen</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Open Space Training</span></font><font
color=red><span style='color:red'> <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/"><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>www.openspaceworld.com</span></font></a>
</span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Open Space Institute</span></font><font
color=red><span style='color:red'> <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/"><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>www.openspaceworld.org</span></font></a></span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>Personal website</span></font><font
color=red><span style='color:red'> <a href="http://www.ho-image.com/"><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>www.ho-image.com</span></font></a> </span></font></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3 color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:red'>OSLIST</span></font><font
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>-----Original Message-----<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b> OSLIST
[mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>On
Behalf Of </span></b>John Engle<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> </span></font><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>Monday, April
23, 2007</span></font><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma'> </span></font><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>9:22 PM</span></font><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'><br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> whatever happens...</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Hi fellow listers.<br>
<br>
I know that some have been through this hundreds of times but I'm wanting to
get the most recent reflections on the principle:<br>
<br>
Whatever happens is the only thing that could've.<br>
<br>
My colleagues in </span></font>Haiti and I continue to have smart people from a
variety of cultures let us know that this principle doesn't sit well with them.
<br>
<br>
It communicates fatalism to some instead of encouraging responsibility. While
i'm totally comfortable with the principle, if enough people tell me that it
communicates something to them that is different than what i'm trying to
communicate, there's a problem. <br>
<br>
For me, what's worse is that often times people remember it as: "What
happens is that which is supposed to happen" or "There's a reason for
everything that happens." This can have us sounding like Christian
fundamentalist.<br>
<br>
We've been experimenting in Haitian Creole and in English with this:<br>
<br>
What Happens is what happens - learn and move forward.<br>
<br>
Here's an example of a text that would explain this principle:<br>
<br>
This principle helps us to not lament over should’ves, to not wallow in
regrets. We’re all responsible for how we use our time and space together
during this meeting. Let’s assume that responsibility and be prepared to
accept what happens and to continually strive to learn and to keep moving
forward.<br>
<br>
i covet your thoughts.<br>
<br>
John<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<a href="http://johnengle.net">www.johnengle.net</a> Open space facilitation<br>
<a href="http://circlesofchange.com">www.circlesofchange.com</a> Participatory
learning and leadership<br>
<a href="http://harvesttime.cc">www.harvesttime.cc</a> Harvesting for justice
that all may have enough<br>
<br>
telephone Haiti: 509-461-3067<br>
<br>
email: john@johnengle.net <br>
telephone: 202-236-6532 <br>
fax: 202-449-8343 <br>
<br>
John Engle <br>
P.O. Box 337 <br>
Hershey, PA 17033 * *
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