Mike, Chris and I are in a grubby motel just outside of Knoxville. I have just finished being on the teleconference course called Making a Lasting Impact on Discourses. We’ve been eating southern BBQ and enjoying it immensely. The needle under the bed, the blood on the box frame and the punch hole in the door are perhaps not so intriguing!
Today we had lunch with Peter Block. I realize that it has been a good six years since I met him. I consider him a good friend and patron. And today I also realized that it was time for me to buy lunch! I also gave him a pack of Laser Eagle cards as a Valentine’s Day gift.
Peter Block is very much part of my “bigger conversations” friends. We quickly were talking about empires and the economy and making the invisible visible and seeing the abundance that is right in front of us, and connecting all of that to the Bible and world news and… etc. I’m pretty sure that Chris and Mike were pretty deep into the conversation as well. We recorded it on Mike’s iPhone and I intend to put excerpts of it into this blog now and then.
It was a gruelling task yesterday to obtain a cell phone that had a headset (Bluetooth!) that Mike and I can use throughout the trip as it has a Savannah number. Neither one of us can afford the horrendous cost of roaming charges on our regular cell numbers. I’m glad that we persevered through the annoyance because the wifi in the motel failed me and I wasn’t able to get onto my teleconference through Skype. I’m so glad that I had the phone as a back up! By the way our number is 912-713-5739.
The topic of tonight’s teleconference was “resignation”, which in Landmark terms means the hopeless feeling. The upshot was to have us look at that resignation comes from feeling like you are one small person against a big world. In this model of oneself it is impossible to believe that you (I) have the power to impact a worldwide culture – in my case the cultures of exclusion and war.
We were encouraged to play with other models of ourselves. I came up with that I am a mouthpiece of a conversation that is pressing to be heard – the conversation of Inclusion and peace. Please, if I forget as I’m sure I will, and start feeling small and alone, remind me that this is a way of looking at myself that I inherited when I was little.
We are less than a day away from Savannah. If it wasn’t for my teleconference and for needing to drop Chris in Atlanta tomorrow, we probably would have pressed on and made Savannah by tonight. Actually I prefer it this way as it’s easy to get lost in Savannah at night and it will be a great pleasure to have Mike see it’s elegance for the first time in broad daylight.
Peter Block made a clear point that I should thank the people of Savannah for making me aware of how slavery and disability are two parts of the same economic conversation – turning people into commodities instead of persons with rights and gifts. I appreciate that he put it this way – in terms of gratitude and appreciation. This will help me greatly when I am speaking to people. I’m expecting to give four presentations while I am here.
Beyond that, the pelicans and the painting, not to mention the church suppers and other opportunities for good southern food are very much on my mind. And then there are the many, many people that I’m eager to reconnect with. The first of those will be Lara, the beautiful young woman who is going to be Mike’s sidekick for this leg of the trip.
I am so happy to be on an adventure again. Yes, I am tired and my back hurts sometimes. Just the same, it is like I am being recharged. Now and then “the mouthpiece” must find new words and new perspectives. Being on the road has always given me opportunities for just that kind of reframing and waking up. I love where I live and at the same time I so very much need to be moving about in the world. This is who I am!
