Transcript Document

Imagining an Alternative Reality
You woke up one day, and the
Church is just as you have dreamed
it could be.
 What
looks different?
 How is your day different?
 What feels different?
 Please
write responses to these questions in
silence and without raising your pen from paper
until I ask you to stop.
Dialogue
 Please
share whatever highlights you like
with your table group.
 Please name one thing that is a part of
your alternative reality that it is in your
power to bring about when you get
home.
 Please write each thing on a small paper
and pass to middle of table.
Vatican II and Imagination
A
part of Vatican II was grappling with an
alternative reality
 It provides a template for us to do it in our
contexts
 We have always relied on our
imaginations– think of Moses and the
Israelites, as interpreted by Walter
Brueggeman
Communication
Some characteristics of substantive
dialogue
 Active
listening
 Good will
 Mutuality
 Willingness to hang in there
 Curiosity
Try it out
 Please
find one partner
 Identify one pastoral challenge
 Talk about how you might address that
challenge
Some Barriers to Dialogue
 Fear,
usually manifested as win/lose
mentality
 Cultural misunderstanding, particularly
when there is an assumption of one
normative world view
How we interpret
 Own
values
 Assumptions about other
Awareness
 Of
our own perspectives
 Honesty about blind spots
 Vulnerability, willingness to learn from a
new perspective
 Paying attention to communication styles
and power differentials where they exist
Vatican II
 Enduring
message
 And also model for way of being Church
 Self reflection and intense engagement
 Initiated at every level and in a variety of
contexts
And what grace does the same
Spirit have in store for you and
your parish?