[Dialogue] Fw: Facilitation--From Lee Early

[Lee Early]

The I - - we thing is a great point.  Your last question, however, is  
THE question for the ICA.  Who are "we"?  What to "we" do?  Vision and  
mission is the chief question for us  - me - and the new Executive  
Director.  (I mean "Acting".)  Thank goodness he already seems to act  
like one.

Lee



On Oct 24, 2009, at 2:59 AM, PSchrijnen at aol.com wrote:

> Excellent stuff, Larry, Lee. You say everything I want to say, and  
> in such a clear fashion. thanks.
>
> And by the way, good to hear from you Brother Lee. It has been a  
> while. I trust you are well.
>
> 1. the training I am engaged in is a practice and a method, and when  
> I loose awareness it just becomes teaching a box of tricks
>
> 2. When people are given the chance to grab hold of the future, a  
> new possibility is born. Often people connect that moment to their  
> most deeply held values and beliefs, and traditions. Gratitude and  
> commitment collide in great emotion. At happens, not always, and I  
> am certainly not in control of it when I do leadership training or  
> facilitate learning that gets people to take a brand new look at who  
> they are and can be.
>
> 3. There are outstanding top facilitators and outstanding  
> professional facilitators standing in many different religious and  
> social traditions. I have had the pleasure to work with many  
> different kinds. And some are kindred spirits and some are not.
>
> 4. some RS1 I was involved in, some town meetings I was involved  
> propelled people into a new future. Some didn't, just like some of  
> the countless workshops I have done since 1988. The word has been  
> said in history in many ways by many different people. We don't own  
> that.
>
> 5. What a fine phrase: We were after the responsible few in every  
> society to stand up and grab hold of the future. I find that in some  
> organisations and some workshops I can get into an angle on that  
> question, and in others I cannot. When I don't it leaves me  
> deflated, like I never ever should do another workshop again. It is  
> tough stuff, and it doesn't always work. Or, in some environments  
> people's hearts are sequestered. Locked in fear.
>
> We keep on puzzling,
>
> Paul
>
>
> In a message dated 24/10/2009 00:22:59 GMT Daylight Time, larry at icatw.com 
>  writes:
> The type of facilitation and the training in facilitation simply as  
> a method and not a spiritual practice is neither my intention nor  
> experience of what I am trying to do with my life.
>
> However I will reflect deeply if there is something I have lost that  
> I need to recover or something that we are leaving out or adding in  
> that is blocking the access of a group or individuals to the  
> experience of grace in their lives.
>
> The word and practice of facilitation is not owned by the ICA or the  
> spirit community connected to the OE/ICA heritage.
>
> I was with a group last week that through a process of appreciative  
> inquiry opened a door to a new perspective of the journey they were  
> on, acceptance of the authenticity of their experience and a new  
> decision both for individuals and groups to live a dedicated  
> mission. Technically I was the facilitator but my belief is that it  
> was a combination of my spirit and theirs and a specific moment in  
> history.
>
> LENS is and was a great process and if the facilitator allows the  
> spirit to flow through it can be a transformational event.  RSI is  
> the same.  However those words and those methods can are not in  
> themselves a guarantee.
>
> With respect, Larry
>
> PS I use "I" not to claim credit or to limit your experience which  
> may be the same it is because in Dialogue work it is found to be  
> more helpful to say "I" then if it is true for another they can say  
> so but if I say "We" you must contradict or deny me in order to  
> clarify your perspective.  In ICA "we" was a powerful image, yet  
> "we" have been on diverse paths for at least the past 20+ years and  
> memories tend to be selective, the parts still intertwine but it  
> takes time to discover who "we" are or have been. LEP
>