Good Morning Readers!
I hope everyone (at least those reading in the US) had a great Thanksgiving Holiday. Holidays often bring additional conversation into our lives. We talk to people we haven’t seen for awhile and we talk about things outside of our normal conversations. I am often asked what exactly it is that I do in this ministry adventure I’ve taken. Even more frequently I ask myself the same question. And although there are many answers to those questions, one that has been surfacing a lot lately is that the ministry “Encourages Conversation”. Our mission is to “Serve Those Who Protect by Promoting Spiritual Fitness” but the question of how we do that, is a question that I hope we never stop asking.
This morning I was reading my latest issue of the National Geographic, an article about King David and the biblical and archeological perspectives / controversies of his history. Although the article is very interesting, I was drawn to a statement made about one of the participants in the controversy whose actions were described as “She knew what she was doing. She waded into the fray wanting to make a statement.” This reminds me of another statement I read recently describing a political activist’s intentions in speaking “We wanted to put a different kind of thinking on the table”.
The statements these two people made “Encouraged Conversation”. Some positive and supportive, and some negative and confrontational. But all of it engaging. As we talk about things related to faith in the workplace, especially in the government and public safety workplace, it is critical that we encourage conversation. And as Bergie once taught me, conversation where we can respectfully disagree. It is in these conversations where we can learn and grow in our personal spiritual fitness and the spiritual fitness of our organizations.
So that’s my answer of what I do, at least this week anyway, I try and encourage conversation, respectful conversation. But conversation with substance.
Take Care!
