Joe's Journal
May 30, 2008
Last month I attended the Leadership in Ministry workshop I
go to every six months. It’s always a
great learning experience combining case studies and three lectures. One of our lectures, given by Rev. Margaret
Marcuson, dealt with the issue of willfulness in leadership and how this can
become a destructive force in relationships and organizations, not to mention,
it rarely works. Typically when we try
to will someone else to do something, we wind up worn out and frustrated by the
other person’s will to resist our willfulness.
(cont.) To illustrate her point, Margaret shared her experience with
the work of Moshe Feldenkris. Feldenkrais developed a method of therapy
involving self-awareness through movement and functional integration. His method centers in developing different
ways to do basic tasks like getting out of bed. He is quoted as saying, “What I’m after isn’t flexible bodies, but
flexible brains.” By doing basic
physical tasks differently, Feldenkris suggested the brain will open up to
function more effectively. At the heart
of his theory is the concept of using gravity to your advantage. Part of his method involves lying on the
floor for at least twenty minutes a day. He advocates getting out of bed by basically falling out of bed and
using large muscles to do the work, as opposed to sitting up in bed, then
turning your legs out. It is all about
efficiency of movement leading to expanded thought; doing less in order to see
more.
This Sunday the lectionary offers us Psalm 46. It’s one of my favorites. It speaks of mountains shaking, waters
roaring and foaming, earth trembling, nations in an uproar, and kingdoms
tottering. In the midst of all that
chaotic activity, God is our refuge and strength. At the close of the hymn, God utters these
words: “Be still, and know that I am God!”
These are some of the most comforting yet challenging words in
Scripture. I hear in these words an
injunction against willfulness. I hear
in these words Feldenkris’ theory to do less in order to be open to more. Of course, he was Jewish, so he knew these
words as well.
In the midst of trembling mountains, roaring seas, and
nations in an uproar, may we listen to God’s counsel, taking time to be still,
and know that God is God and we are not. God is working in ways beyond our best efforts or wildest
imaginations. I look forward to seeing
you Sunday as we explore this powerful hymn of faith.
In Christ,
Joe