12/14/22 Blog: Listening Post Experience

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to sit in on the first Listening Post, held for the Self-Study group. It was a safe and supportive environment for answering questions that Karen has put together to ask us all. In this case, I was a scribe. I wrote down all that was said but not who said it; I wrote down the general feelings in the room, which varied from laughter to tears. On some occasions, Karen shared with us her wisdom of church dynamics and how we sometimes hurt one another unintentionally. But hurt may remain with us for a long while, regardless of intent.

I think that was my biggest takeaway—for some of us, hurt remains. I know there are some folks who think we should just move on. At this meeting it was clear to me that “just moving on” will not solve anything, but could delay healing to another day after yet another unhappy episode. Let’s all join together to learn from our recent past and to create a more loving, kind, and joyful future.

I have signed up for a later Listening Post because I want to share my own thoughts and experiences. And I will pray that each and every one of you will sign up for a Listening Post. Our December meetings are all filled, but there are lots of spaces in January and February. The easiest way is to  SIGN-UP ON-LINE. But, if you wish to email or phone call, go to last week’s Blog with the instructions for signing up:

https://ashlandpeacechurch.org/12-7-22-listening-posts/

This is our chance to tell our stories and to hear others’ stories—to hear and be heard!