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November 2008 Enewsletter
In this month’s Enote:
RAIN, By Michael Kroth Self-confident Leaders Transcend the Daily Ordeals, By Katie K Snapp
Rain, by Michael Kroth
Rain.
I look out my bay window and see rain. Precious rain sprinkling down upon the golds and reds and green splashes scattered across my lawn. My windows are open so I can smell the pattering upon each leaf and hear the freshness of the autumn lawn. My senses are intermingled as the setting transports me to other places and times, when body, heart, mind, and experience all intertwine into a mystical place inside myself, never recaptured but never forgotten.
Rain.
The bringer of life. Breaking down detritus, and nourishing reconstituted, healthy growth. (Now I see a squirrel climbing to the top of a nearly leafless tree.) (Now there’s another one, loping along my fence top.) Washing away the grit of the latest storm.
Rain.
I have not felt like writing this newsletter for the last few months. First my excuse was that I was busy, writing another book. Next it was that I couldn’t think of anything worthy to share with others interested in making their lives and work remarkable. My well had run dry. Finally it was, I think, a general sadness about the state of discourse in our country. I grew increasingly irritated and then saddened with the name calling, obvious half truths, and character assassinations coming from otherwise intelligent bloggers, commentators, and politicians from the left and the right. We laugh at cartoons with superimposed photos. We pounce on trivial mistakes and make them seem planet-threatening. We move away from wisdom seeking and toward toxic, polemic debate. That is the opposite of the kind of work and personal environment I think brings life to us individually and to our relationships.
The Charlie Roses of the world, who seem to encourage dialogue and seek understanding, are hard to find. Even the locker room at the gym, the neighborhood bar, and the coffee shop offer no escape. The person from the opposite side wasn’t just wrong – so the exerciser, beer drinker, or mocha lover laments - he or she was a bad person, perhaps even evil. Ministers, one would think, would find such name calling to be the opposite of any loving religion – unless they instigated such denouncements themselves. What sadness. This could be the time when great spiritual leaders could rise up, calling for love and forgiveness and understanding. Instead, we seem to move closer to the pit of pettiness, name calling, divisiveness, and blame. What values are we teaching our children and grandchildren?
Perhaps these months and months and years and years of finger pointing and blame that goes on between candidates and parties and special interest groups and media just sapped my energy.
But I don’t back down from honest exchange of ideas. I don’t shy away from thinking about possibilities. I don’t oppose satire, we need to laugh at ourselves and to skewer pompousness – even, especially, our own. I don’t deny the opportunities that lie in the problems I face, or others face, or the nation faces, or that the world must deal with if it is to survive. Those things energize me.
I am writing this before I know the outcome of the election. Regardless of who is elected at any level, I pray for rain. Affirming, health-giving, cleansing rain to fall upon our discourse and to heal our nation. Please stop the name calling. Let’s not tear down or mock or sneer at honorable people. Let’s place our hopes on the general goodness of people of all kinds, whether we are like them or not. In my experience, working with everyone from new employees to leaders in organizations for nearly 30 years, almost everyone – with very few exceptions – wants to do a good job. Everyone wants to contribute. Each person has special gifts and insights to share.
Let’s work toward passionate, healthy work environments where people treat each other with respect and honor. But more importantly, let’s work toward that kind of world.
Let the rain fall. Drink from the waters. Share with others. Embrace the day and those who walk alongside you every day. Be a giver of life, not a taker.
I am looking forward to sharing this newsletter with you over the coming months and years.
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Michael Kroth PO Box 9557 Boise, Idaho 83707 505-450-4248 michael@michaelkroth.com www.michaelkroth.com |
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©Copyright 2008, Michael Kroth, All Rights Reserved |
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Michael Kroth, Ph.D. |