My Aunt Regina, otherwise known as Sister Esther, turns 100 today.  Longevity runs on her side of the family.  Aunt Re is an amazing woman who has influenced many through her teachings (she was a high school French teacher), her family interactions and her focused, orderly living.  Too often we are celebrating people we love at the time of their death.  I am grateful that we get to celebrate Aunt Re on her 100th birthday.  Aunt Re has been a mentor, a teacher, a novice director, a friend, a family member and an inspiration to many many many people.

She told me once to remember that the Old Testament are stories told around the campfire.  They are full of truth - but maybe not of facts.  I learned that truthful "full of truth"  doesn't mean the same thing as factual.  And I would choose truth any day.  How often do we see folks bending the "truth" using different facts in hopes that we will see things the way they want us to see them.  Having studied statistics this was brought home even more so.  

Aunt Re taught me about the rule of St. Benedict, about an orderly way of living.  She has inspired me with the knowledge that "always we begin again".  Every day, every moment is an opportunity.  We get to choose to keep going, keep learning, keep moving - or not.  We can choose to stop - to opt out - and we will miss out.  At 95 my Aunt was working with a Microsoft Access data base and managing it better than many 40 year olds.  I believe this is due to the fact that she never let an opportunity to learn, grow and use new ideas pass her by.  All within the framework of a strong community.

After Vatican II, Aunt Re was part of a group of women who started a new community in Maryland focused on living out the tenants of the council.  Twenty three women joined together and started to bring about this new community in July of 1971.  Aunt Re, at the age of 60, participated in this new creation, a new beginning.  So many of us think of our 60's as retirement.  For Aunt Re it was a time of new beginning.  "Always we begin again".

I was extremely blessed by this move of my Aunt's.  I can't remember a time when she wasn't a part of my  world.  We moved to Illinois in 1972.  Aunt Re would come every summer and Christmas to visit my grandmother (her eldest sister) who lived with us.  Oh, how I would throw a fit when Aunt Re had to go back to her community.  I loved hanging out with her and playing games.  I loved her stories.  She was my advocate when I wanted to explore other denominations.  She was my rock when I struggled.  When I decided to go to seminary in 2004 she was supportive and a sounding block, providing recommendations on reading material and many thoughts.  She continues to be a strong influence in my life and I am looking forward to seeing her this weekend.

The second youngest of 9 children, Aunt Re was born on September 15th, 1911.  The world was different a century ago.  Automobiles and motion pictures were relatively new inventions. Women couldn't vote.  The Wright brothers had only just flown their first flight.  Disney didn't exist (Mickey Mouse's first cartoon was in the 1920's) Sliced bread didn't even exist.  World War 1 (1914-1918) was the backdrop for her early childhood.  She lived her teenage years in the Roaring 20's.  The first talking movie was 1927.  The Great Depression hit just as she became a novice in the Benedictine order.  World War 2 saw her brothers and her students fighting in Europe.  Israel wasn't a nation until 1947 - Aunt Re would have been 36.  When she was my age, she was living in New Jersey and wearing a habit.  Hillary and Norgay climbed Mt. Everest.  Segregation was still the norm.  We hadn't yet entered the Vietnam conflict.  How many things that we take for granted has she seen come about?

9.11 thought

I met a man for whom 9/11 was much more personal than it is to me.  He lost a good friend that day, was close enough that he watched through binoculars the second plane hit.  He lived through the confusion only to see the aftermath - Not just of physical destruction - but of emotional destruction.  People who were trusting - became less so.  People who wanted to hate - had more reason to do so.  Fear of anything and everything different grew.  He saw those who had lived by his side look at him with concern and step back a little.  His home is in India.  Yet in many ways he is much more connected to this event than I am.  

9/11 for me was waking up to a news story that was awful.  I knew no one in New York.  I watched the events over and over again on t.v.  It was slightly unreal.  The tsunami in Japan this past year was similar for me.   Huge destruction - far away  - lives lost, how could this have happened - What is going to happen next - What clean up is necessary?  How do we keep moving forward?  What i s the fallout?

Political speeches -  the world changes - For good?  For bad?  Both it seems - changes.  

9/11 was a rallying cry for Americans to become patriotic.  I think it should have been a rallying cry for Americans to be more connected to the world as a whole.  My friend, this man I met, is one of many international folks who lived through that day and for whom it was much more personal.  The world cried with us that day.  

The world is a very large place - and yet oh so interconnected.  

Mgmt 101 - WOW style

The following "Captain Obvious" thoughts about leading a group came about one evening when, in the middle of an event, my group had a blow out. One of the guild leaders and the raid leader had it out and left the rest of us standing there staring at each other. These are key things to remember when you are leading a group or when you are a leader who is participating as an individual contributor.

1. Set expectations at the beginning. Setting/Managing them after people have already created their own is a lot more difficult
2. Set expectations on how differences should be resolved
3. Don't push people to make decisions - give them time to process the information you just gave them
4. If you aren't the leader - Even if you know more than they do - let the leader lead. Make suggestions - not demands.
5. When leading - listen - acknowledge - and then make your own decsion - and be clear about it.
6. Be willing to change your plan when new information comes in
7. Don't make ultimatums - people may take you up on them
8. Try not to have important serious conversations when you are angry or otherwise impaired
9. If you caused a ruckus - own up to it and apologize - admit your mistakes and indicate what you have learned
10. People will follow a real leader - even if it's out the door
11. Don't go on power trips - you might not come back
12. People will help others of lesser skill learn if they also get time to improve their skill set.

Management 101 WOW style - intro

I warned you this was coming....

I play World of Warcraft- yup it's true. And I have found that there are many many things one can learn about management and group dynamics from this multi member online role playing game.
"Guilds" are loosely held together groups of people trying to assist each other in improving their own "toons". These guilds can get big - the one I'm in right now has around 300 people in it.
Many of the activities in the game require you to work with others in order to complete a task of some sort. In some cases this is just one other person - in others it can be up to 40.

So imagine, if you will, "managing" a group of 300 people to ensure that the right levels are working together and connecting the right set of skills to accomplish various activities. "Managing" these people to ensure that your guild keeps moving forward and taking on bigger and more difficult challenges.
Now imagine bringing up to 40 people together at the same time, with different skill sets and different levels of competency to accomplish those challenges. Add in that these activities may actually occur over multiple days.

You can begin to see that various management styles can be observed - various lessons can be learned and some great group dynamic observations can be made.

In fact - the management techniques you can learn from playing these kinds of games may help you with real life management situations and your career. In an April 2006 article in WIRED - http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/learn.html - we hear about a man who ran a guild in WOW - and how it helped him.
The article talks about "Accidental learning" and that is exactly what is going on within the game. Having to deal with people with different expectations, different attention spans; people who are of all age groups (8 to 80 last time I checked) from all over the world (over 11 million people play) - teaches you electronic age social skills. And managing them through strange and stressful situations can prepare you to manage others.

Recently, Business week did an article on World of Warcraft players and accidental learning related to lessons for executives.
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jan2009/id20090114_362962.htm

So - here comes little old me - with some pretty simple management and group dynamics observations I have made from my time in World of Warcraft. Stay tuned! I told you this was coming.

Boxes

Recently I came across a paper I wrote in high school entitled "Boxes" - the first line was a quote from Pete Seager:

"Up on the hill there are some boxes. All these boxes are made the same. There are some green ones and blue ones, yellow ones and red ones, but they are all built just the same."

I had to laugh as I realized that I've been contemplating the boxes we put each other in for a long time. Boxes, categories, labels. We want so often to have people fit the boxes we have - to all be the same. We have found happiness in a particular way - ours is a good box. And we wish that for those we love.

But I am a rebel in many ways - constantly challenging a particular box or category.

If I said I was Christian - what image of me would you have?

A Republican? - What if I said Rockefeller Republican?

What if I used the term liberal? or Oregonian?

What if I introduced myself as a lesbian? What would you conjure up in your mind?

What definitions have you created for these categories, boxes - labels?

We all do it - we take a term and we identify with it and then assume that our definition is what everyone who associates with that term means. We define the boxes we are for - and the boxes we are against - we create the us and them by having expectations based on labels.

I do it - more than I want to admit.

The thing is - we are all so much more than labels that we use to define ourselves or that others use to define us. We are creations way more complex that any simple box can hold. We are not all the same. Our boxes contain gifts and surprises that can only truly be understood by experiencing. And we can only experience these if we are willing to put aside our preconceived ideas and reach out.

So the next time you find out that someone is one of those kind of people - stop and think why and how you came up with that box - that label. Then after you think about that - take a chance and find out what's really inside their box.

Anti- language

w00t! 

Dude

That's so rad - so bad - so cool...  

LOL! 

With every generation (does it even take that long?) words can change meaning can change purpose.  In our desire to be "in" while still being different from those people we come up with our own ways of expressing ourselves.  Those who are "in the know" know what we are talking about.  And those who don't - well they aren't worth our worries.  

Youth are the biggest users on language that can have multiple meanings.  yet adults do it all the time as well.  The different meanings run across cultures.  A rubber in england is not the same thing as a rubber in the states.  

So why/ how can we assume that the biblical texts have one specific meaning that we completely understand.  Those that make this claim are really claiming that they are the ones "in the know" and that they have the right translation / interpretation.  But is that fair?  

I don't think so...   

I do believe that God was / is very involved in what the scriptures have to tell us.  The fact that the canon and the stories have traveled through the centuries is amazing.  But I also believe that God leads us through the bible and helps us to understand what we need to hear today.  Each day - every day - something a little different.  

Everyone picks and chooses what they see in the bible - otherwise we would have children burned at the stake for talking back to their parents.  What I believe is that God works through these stories - this language to try and share how to have a faith journey.  

Semantics - word play - it's there - There are jokes in the biblical texts that we don't get - just like there are jokes in Shakespeare that we don't get.  It's situational and we aren't in that situation.  That doesn't mean there isn't good truth and depth there.  It does mean that we have to accept that we won't ever entirely get it.  "Now we see in part".   

Still don't throw the baby out with the bath water - 

It may not be our culture - we may not completely understand - but God will give us insights and help us see things differently if we are willing to dig in.  

Well - at least that's the way I interpret it.        

A New Year's Resolution

Ah!  the beginning of a new year.  A chance to review the past and to plan for the next.  And what did the past year hold?  Well the world saw politics, financial strife, olympic glory and continuation of conflict.  

Personally I learned about new ways of connecting with people, the fact that job security doesn't necessarily mean job satisfaction, and it is way too easy to become physically inactive. 

So we look to the new year and watch how many people create resolutions -including maybe starting a blog.  A blog... 

Perhaps I will finally put some of those sermons I have privately pondered out into the universe - or perhaps you will see my own personal take on management skills you can learn from world of warcraft.  Expect to see analogies - I love analogies!  Whatever direction this goes at least I will have tried something completely different.