58: Conscious Christian Leadership

Group Epignosis (City of Peace) in concert with Greene Memorial United Methodist Church and Roanoke's interfaith community is hosting a Release Screening of 58: The Film at 6 pm on Sunday, October 16th.  This special showing has been said to depict "an empowering vision of the Church rising up to its remarkable potential to end extreme poverty".  Reflecting on a broad range of related issues, this article subsequently invites community support, participation, and attendance in response to Isaiah's plea to 'God's people'.

Jesus Rejected in Nazare

To Judaic and Christian heritages in particular, the prophet Isaiah's writings as transcribed in the Book of Isaiah, bear a deep cultural, historical, and spiritual, relevance.  Though contextualized in a setting of Assyrian and Babylonian domination, including the imposed exile of a divided Israel, its content prophetically directs the course by which 'God's chosen' (Jeremiah 32:38) are to realize a future 'kingdom' in which justice (again) reigns supreme.  It's similarly significant in this respect that Jesus himself, in addressing Nazareth's citizenry (Luke 4:16-21) reads from Isaiah 61 in pronouncing the underlying purpose (and authority) of his own ministry.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."  Luke 4:18-19

In Luke's account, and as alluded to previously in "Leading in an 'Unthinkable' World - Towards Holistic Community", Jesus' proclamation to reinstate Jubilee; or the healing conferred by 'forgiving indebtedness' and 'releasing from bondage', met only with raucous opposition from local religious, civic, and business leaders (Luke 4:23-30).  Nevertheless, yet in this same spirit perhaps, a creative team of film makers including Directors Tony Neeves, and his son Tim, along with Associate Producer Scott Todd, have adopted Isaiah 58 as their project's guiding theme.

In so doing, they've boldly adopted Isaiah's precept to "loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke" and "let the oppressed go free" (58:6), as a call "to create, shape and join communities of passionate, like-minded Christians who will work together to end extreme poverty in our lifetime" (1).  Consequently, and joining with Accord, the 58: team has forged a partner network comprised of established ministries including Compassion International, Living Water, Hope International, and Plant with Purpose.

"Toward a Sustainable Future: Leadership in the New World Economy"

"The world's economic, technological, agricultural, and political systems are breaking down.  While the causes are debated, it's certain that the human assault on the natural world has wiped out vast numbers of species and polluted the land, the air, and the oceans.  After the past 100 years of history, with two world wars and low-grade but vicious warfare going on almost continuously somewhere in the world since World War II ended, it seems impossible for human beings to live together in a state of harmony either among ourselves or with the planet we call home." Richard C. Cook from "Global Crisis: The Time of Testing is Here" (2).

At the same time however, both the scope and complexity of the systemic breakdown to which Richard Cook alludes in the preceding quote, suggests that mankind has entered an unparalleled stage of evolutionary challenge (see - "A New Era Has Begun").  As the video, "Ecologize Growth" below attests however, where modernity's empirical approach over the last four hundred years has fashioned socioeconomic systems that appear sorely inadequate of "better supporting value(s) of human relatedness", an increasing number of socially conscious individuals including clerics, artists, academics and everyday citizens are stepping into roles of global advocacy (3).


Among these are Barrett C. Brown whose recently published findings in "Conscious Leadership for Sustainability", evince the orienting mindsets of highly developed 'leaders' and 'change agents' with established backgrounds in designing sustainability initiatives.  Although there are a number of factors which distinguish these figures from their cohorts, one of the things Brown notes is an underlying difference in referential worldviews between values associated with a dominant social paradigm (DSP) and those aligned with a new ecological paradigm (NEP).
 

Dominant Social Paradigm contrasted with New Ecological Paradigm - Table 7

Consequently, but where the (DSP) is "characterized by belief in the virtues of economic growth, free enterprise, technological progress, and human domination over nature", the (NEP) by contrast "is an ecocentric worldview based on a belief that economic growth is limited by natural resources, that technology will not necessarily overcome our environmental challenges, and that humans should live in harmony with nature" (4).

Innovation Resets Singularity - Fig. 4

As one might imagine however, the respective 'truth claims' associated with each of these two perspectives differ dramatically in their theoretical approach to 'sustainability'. There are those like Geoffrey West from the Santa Fe Institute for example, who in a recent TED talk entitled, "The surprising math of cities and corporations" presented findings concerning an "inexorable trend toward urbanization worldwide" where not only does 'the city' serve as a "predominant engine" for societal innovation and wealth, but also purveys "its main source of crime, pollution, and disease."

The "Window of Viability" - Figure 2

As a result, the group subsequently concluded that were it not for the generation of "major innovation cycles" at "a continually accelerating rate to sustain growth", those same 'systems' become subject to the vulnerability of "stagnation or collapse" (Bettencourt et al. 5).  In its own way then, their research mirrors the work of Bernard Lietaer's team with natural ecosystems, where efficiency isn't obtained by imposing economies of scale as an arbitrary function of design.  Instead, their study suggests that systems not utilizing man-made, ultra-efficient (e.g. monopolistic, constrained) streams to control and distribute money, energy, water, or whatever, aren't dependent on innovation for survival but rather, resilience.  Consequently, their conclusions render "a single metric as an emergent property of (the ecosystem's) structural diversity and interconnectivity" which, in turn, represents a sustainable balance between efficiency and resilience (6). 


"The effects of current economic and monetary policies are starting to approach the level of genocide against large segments of society, if not in their intention, at least in their effects.  Crime, health, and income statistics identify vast areas of both urban and rural environments as what have aptly been called 'death zones'" (Cook 7).

Tragically though, but as the "Planting Hope" video above illustrates and is further conferred by Robert Neuwirth's TED Talk on 'shadow cities', factors accompanying global debt and globalization are increasing urban slum populations at a rate of 25 million per year.  Similarly then, and as recent events like the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street seem to make plainly obvious, the world is poised at an epochal point of turmoil in witnessing a rare convergence of good and evil . . . one comparable to that envisaged by Aldous Huxley in Brave New World.

Nevertheless, yet for these same reasons, the Live 58: project affords a unique opportunity to connect with others as a holistic community of compassionate practitioners, heeding Isaiah's injunction to "divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house" (Isaiah 58:7).  We'd encourage you to join us.
 

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Works Cited

1. "The 58: Initiative." Live 58:. live58.org/thefilm. n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2011.

2. Cook, Richard. "Global Crisis: The Time of Testing is Here." (2010): Centre for Research on Globalization.  22 May 2010. Web. 23 Sept. 2011.

3. McConnell, Brian. "Toward a Sustainable Future: Integral Leadership in the 'New World Economy'." (2011): Integral Leadership Review. June 2011, Vol. 11, no. 3. Web. 29 Sept. 2011.

4. Brown, Barrett. "Conscious Leadership for Sustainability: How Leaders with a Late-Stage Action Logic Design and Engage in Sustainability Initiatives." (2011): Fielding Graduate University. 2011. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.

5. Bettencourt, Luis, Jose Lobo, Dirk Helbing, Christian Kuhnert, and Geoffrey West. "Growth, innovation, scaling, and the pace of life in cities." (2007): Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). 24 April 2007, Vol. 104, no. 17. Web. 27 Sept. 2011. 

6. Lietaer, Bernard, Robert Ulanowicz, Sally Goerner, and Nadia McLaren. "Is Our Monetary Structure a Systemic Cause for Financial Instability?: Evidence and Remedies from Nature." (2010): Journal of Futures Studies. April 2010, Vol. 14, no.3. Web 27 Sept. 2011.

7. Cook, Richard. "Poverty in America: Progressive Schemes to Reduce Poverty will Fail Without Monetary Reform." Chapter 7 of We Hold These Truths: The Hope of Monetary Reform. (2009): Tendril Press., 2009. Centre for Research on Globalization. Web 29 Sept. 2011.

Leading in an 'Unthinkable' World - the Transformation to Holistic Community

"Particularly in the wake of the global economic crisis, we need to rethink our values, redesign our systems, and rebuild our institutions to make them more proactive and strategic, more inclusive, more reflective of the new geo-political and geo-economic circumstances, and more reflective of inter-generational accountability and responsibility." (from the Preface to "Everybody's Business" a 'Report of the Global Redesign Initiative')

Because occasionally assessing one's experience can prove helpful in navigating destiny's footpath, I've been pondering the sequence of events and developments lately, that have transpired since our initial City of Peace conference back in November.  This assembly featuring Dr. Doug Bailey, served as a gathering for Roanoke civic leaders, local clergy, and community members, and culminated in an invitation by Carol Tuning, Human Services Coordinator for Roanoke's Homeless Assistance Team (HAT) and Chair of the Blue Ridge Continuum of Care, to co-host a service along with Congregations in Action (CIA) in commemoration of National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day.  The cooperative planning of this event in turn, resulted in a ceremonial observance on December 18th at Greene Memorial Methodist Church.

Also, in assisting a collaborative effort between the Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Advisory Council (RVARAC) and the Council of Community Services with con-ducting the Winter Shelter Survey Report (2010), an opportunity was extended in February to meet with members of Roanoke's Economic Development Department who'd also assumed responsibility for heading Richard Florida's Creative Connectors.  In part, but arising primarily from this author's interest in sustainability and social entrepreneurship, the session's dialogue was summarized in an email entitled, 'Bridging Community Connection' and relayed back to those who'd attended.

In an effort to further extend its outreach within the immediate community, 'city of peace' next joined with "S.T.A.R. (Spirit of Tolerance and Art in the Region) in concert with local civic and interfaith groups" to host a BridgeWalk on March 28th as a "means of nurturing 'tolerance, diversity, and understanding in (our) ever-evolving community'."  This site subsequently supported the affair's theme by initiating an 'event page' at Facebook and publishing an accompanying piece entitled, Bridging Community Gaps . . . 'Body and Soul'.

Sneak Peek

Around this same time however, the year-long relationship between Florida's 'creative communities leadership pro-gram' and Roanoke was coming to an unceremonious end.  Much to his credit though, Kirk Avenue Music Hall founder Ed Walker, who with the city had "split the bill for Florida's $50,000" two-day fee, determined instead, now was a superb time to celebrate its "second annual gathering of the tribes". The mini block-party, featuring an appearance by Senator Mark Warner along with My Radio, whose "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" had been showcased in a newly released trailer for The Joneses', bestowed a certain credibility to Roanoke's aspirations of being recognized as 'Virginia's Music City'.

In the wake of all this activity, the article's author also had the privilege of meeting a group of innovators who reflect the very essence of community in Roanoke's Grandin Village, and contribute to their efforts in coordinating events for Earth Day 2010.  It should be noted, these individuals constitute the front line of putting ideas related to sustainable culture into practical application and are thus, well deserving of our respect and admiration for so doing.

An 'Unthinkable' World

"National and local governments are consumed by social and political challenges at home as they contend with crisis-related economic slowdowns and fiscal deficits.  The financial industry has just experienced one of its worst governance failures in history resulting in an enormous privatization of gains and socialization of losses with which societies will be coping for years to come." (from "Everybody's Business: Strengthening International Cooperation in a More Interdependent World")

For a sundry of different reasons, I've developed an astute awareness over the last four years of the existence of disturbing parallels between 1930's Fascist Europe and the postmodern world of today.  Consequently, but from my perspective, a United States' citizenry appears to be adopting a comparable pedagogic subservience to impoverished political ideologies as did the Axis powers prior to World War II.  Therefore, and whether we're especially cognizant of it or not, navigating the didactic of individual choice in our day-to-day socioeconomic relations is assuming almost Biblical significance and likely to prove nearly as vital in shaping our evolutionary future(s).

"Civilization – not the institutional order – is in a critical condition, one brought on by the failure of our intellectual and spiritual immune systems to resist the virus of institutionalism. This crisis is not to be found in Washington, or Detroit, or on Wall Street, but in our thinking about who we are as individuals and as members of society. As long as we revere the interests of organizations more highly than we do our own; as long as we continue to invest the lives of our children and grandchildren as resources for institutional consumption, this crisis will continue unto the disintegration of civilization itself." (Butler Shaffer from, "The Establishment in Crisis")

Consequently, when faced with such pressing realities, it's absolutely crucial we begin to acknowledge that evolutionary

development isn't strictly a given, linear, function.  In fact, and at virtually any point, it's subject to diversions which can transfigure otherwise purposeful objectives into heinous acts of deprivation which subsequently represent an increased likelihood for apocalypse.

Along these same lines, but in practical terms, perhaps no one was any more central in negotiating and hence affecting, the underlying structure of the contemporary (global) economic/monetary system to which I've already alluded, than John Maynard Keynes. As "a delegate of the British Treasury" to the Versailles Conference which set the terms for the payment of reparations following World War I and author of The Economic Consequences of the Peace, Keynes' input was especially instrumental in forming the International Monetary Fund as an elemental component of the Bretton Woods System at the end of World War II.

"The National Government will regard it as its first and foremost duty to revive in the nation the spirit of unity and co-operation. It will preserve and defend those basic principles on which our nation has been built. It regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life." ("Adolf Hitler's religious views" from, My New Order - 1941)

Towards Holistic Community

What has become increasingly obvious with the passage of time however, is that the sheer magnitude of change occurring around us is nothing less than epochal.  From an integral perspective however, that is, one viewing evolutionary development as a process weaving its way through premodern, modern, and postmodern unfolding (see, "Economic Timeline from an Integral Perspective"); all within the context of four interrelated dimensions of reality (see AQAL), 'the future holds phenomenal potential for human realization'.  Yet, and at the same time, perhaps a caveat should be issued; 'if we don't first annihilate each other in getting there'.

As a result, the technological advances undergirding our current realities have brought about a clash, or perhaps more accurately, a convergence of cultures along with their respective worldviews, on a scale that's rarely, if ever, occurred be-fore.  Similarly, the 'truth claims' associated with these cultures, as translated by science, theology, or philosophy, are evincing new borders of contact and communication for interaction and relationship between previously disjoined agents, members, and players.

Yet, interestingly enough, it's at this point of encounter, not only is the role of government its most captivating, but the prospect of a 'risen Christ' likewise, most consummate.  Considering the matter of governance, Butler Shaffer has written a fascinating, if not exhaustive, exposition entitled, Boundaries of Order wherein he boldly proposes the ownership of private property as a social system.  If nothing else, Shaffer's treatise is an astutely articulated, yet scathing condemnation of the State's incapacity "as a pyramidal model" to serve "any socially useful end", owing primarily to a necessitated reliance on violence in fulfilling its decidedly collectivist agenda (see "Private Property as a Social System").

Yet somewhat oddly, the extent to which this viewpoint resounds a comparable theme to that of 20th Century French cleric André Trocmé (1901-1971), is intriguing to say the least.  Having experienced the needlessness of World War I firsthand, this same background "cemented his orientation as a pacifist" early on.  Consequently, on the first Sunday following France's surrender "to the Nazis" in June 1942 and its subsequent agreement "to arrest and deport" on demand, exiles fleeing the Third Reich; Trocmé and fellow pastor Edouard Theis "preached about resistance:

Jewish Children Sheltered in Le Chamon-sur-Lignon

Tremendous pressure will be put on us to submit passively to a totalitarian ideology. If they do not succeed in subjugating our souls, at least they will want to subjugate our bodies. The duty of Christians is to use the weapons of the Spirit to oppose the violence that they will try to put on our consciences. We appeal to all our brothers in Christ to refuse to cooperate with this violence…"

Thus, having established the L’École Nouvelle Cévenole with Theis in 1938, Trocmé became a key figure in the region's forming of "a massive, organized network to protect and even educate Jewish children who had been taken out of internment camps".  Operating in covert resistance to Hitler's Final Solution to the Jewish question, community members "opened their homes to the refugees, sometimes to stay, sometimes to wait until accommodations could be arranged elsewhere or until they could be smuggled across the Swiss border."  Ultimately, this unified effort is said to have "provided a haven or safe passage" for between 2,500 to 3,500 refugees (see, Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution).

"All of us, Christian and non-Christian alike, are responsible for the hunger, injustice, egoism, exploitation, and wars that devastate our time. Christians bear special responsibility: knowing that God can change both people and their situations, the disciple of Jesus can help bring into being God’s future for humanity." (André Trocmé from the Preface to Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution)

Amazingly enough however, and as a heroic testament to his community's power to stand down oppression, Trocmé seems to direct credit for that feat towards far loftier aspirations in, Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution (1961).  So, while his underlying premise on one hand is exquisitely simple, at the same time it's radically powerful in positing his conclusion that -- Jesus Christ's mission on earth, proclaimed the arrival of God's Kingdom based on Jubilee principles of the Old Testament.  In a very cogent exegesis then, Trocmé outlines the scriptural foundation of a social order reflecting the immutable plan of God's intended will for world justice and humanity's liberation from the imposed tyranny of debt, slavery, and oppression.