[Community Rights Network] What this group is now

[Sandra Marshall]

Thank you Charles, nice analogy.

Now,

May the light shine on our young group.

Best to you,
Sandy


On Tue, Apr 8, 2014 at 8:56 AM, Charles Cresson Wood
<ccwood at ix.netcom.com>wrote:

> Hello community rights and anti-fracking friends,
>
> I have been saddened by a number of disputes recently that imply that
> something is seriously wrong, the group or a specific individual is acting
> dictatorially, that the group is unfair, or that the group is in some way
> is falling short of expectations about where it should be. For all of us,
> there can be  a rush to condemnation and judgment without a full
> investigation of the facts, without taking the time to find out what really
> is going on. Such a response can come easily because we are under a lot of
> time pressure, we are required to do a lot of work, and at least so far,
> there is no structure with which to hold our work. But such responses can
> also indicate where a change is in order. But the type of change may not be
> the one that we initially expected.
>
> I suggest that this group is just a budding shoot of an organization. It
> has just lifted it's green shoot above the ground (note: I'm not making
> reference to Obama's mythical economic "green shoots" -- I'm talking about
> a newly planted spring plant that just popped up above the ground). Are we
> going to condemn this fragile and young plant because it has not yet lived
> up to our expectations? What's the matter with it - it has not yet bloomed!
> But I think the bloom should be purple, and it's not! Something serious
> must be wrong here... Worse yet, are we going to pull this plant up by the
> roots, and in the process kill it, by expectations that have run away with
> us?
>
> Or are we going to nurture this very young organization? Are we going to
> give it our best knowing that it cannot yet give back? Are we going to
> embrace the reality that it cannot give us all of what we want, at least
> not yet? The organization hasn't even been truly created yet. We have no
> formal organizational structure, we have no policies or procedures, and we
> have no approved conflict resolution process. About all we do have is a
> some designated team point persons, some teams, and a draft referendum.
>
> This plant of an organization is still very young. It needs our nurturing
> to become strong, big, and significant in the world. Can we give to this
> effort for a while, without demanding that we receive back, and without
> demanding that we receive in the way we think we should receive? There will
> be a period of simply giving... we have to go through that period before
> significant results can be achieved. I invite you to, for a while, simply
> work with me without the demand to receive anything back. Join me as we
> tend the plant (our fledgling organization), help us to water it, fertilize
> it, clear away the weeds, and do what we need to do in order that it can
> flourish.
>
> /s/ Charles
>
>
>
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