“grow together”
we’ve all seen the headlines.
racist jurisprudence and law enforcement in city after town reminds us that everything is not all right when it comes to everyone getting the same fair shake in our communities. the passage of state-level religious-freedom-to-discriminate-against-queer-persons laws (RFRA) around the country assures us that all is not well when it comes to lgbtq equality in our communities. repeated attempts in the halls of congress in washington to construct political caveats to gender equality tells us that opportunities are still not guaranteed for women in our communities. notwithstanding the persistence and complexity of such challenges, they are all relational problems with relational solutions. if we want better, we have to change the way we choose to relate with one another.
when people of goodwill and communities of goodwill connect across their differences in graciousness and generosity toward each other, then they can write a new story that focuses on big problems confronting all of us. when people and communities of goodwill collaborate across lines of difference to share ownership of the opportunity to create good, then they can act out a new script that insists everyone be represented in the power structure in critical mass, no longer settling for token diversity. when people and communities of goodwill conspire across lines of difference to leverage their privilege on behalf of others, then the narrative changes from “us-versus-them” to “us-with-them” and suddenly everyone has a stake.
in your companies, schools, organizations, neighborhoods and places of spiritual practice—the spaces where you live, work, learn and play—you can begin to tell more beautiful stories and to act out of more just scripts.
growing people together is intrinsic to everything we do. isn’t growth a change worth cultivating?