Finding Neverland

This morning (Friday, May 5th) Mike Green and I headed off to breakfast at the Keystone Deli with Monty Hulse. Monty is a friend of ours and he is also with the United Way program Bridges to Success. Bridges to Success is an initiative that attempts to strengthen partnerships between school, families, business, and government (or so it looks like to me). The breakfast and the conversation were both very good.

Then we went to meet with some of the staff from Bridges to Success for a couple of hours. It was a fascinating conversation. Mike (Green) is really terrific at this. The staff for the initiative seems to be doing good work, but it is clear that they feel that it is an uphill battle in many places. As Mike listened he asked them questions about what they were doing that was working and what principles were at play. He also asked them about what wasn't working. There was a lot of talk about parental involvement and both the struggles and successes of such efforts. They talked about a particular principal and school that were doing great.

One of the things Mike asked them (it seemed brilliant to me -- but then I'm easily amused) was if there was a way for them to spend more of their energy on getting the people together who were doing things well. He wanted to know if there was a way to reward them and bring them together in what he called "a learning community." He talked about how much positive energy such a gathering could generate and not only what it would (and could) generate, but also that it would be a forceful attraction. People who are close to the good work, but not quite there yet, would find themselves pulled into the orbit.

As the group talked people responded very positively. Mike was giving them permission to think about giving up at least some of the energy they had been giving to things that just weren't working with people who just weren't happy or interested or committed to the work with children, families, and schools. One of the people in the group said that she really hadn't been looking forward to this conversation - but that she was really glad she came. What he said made sense to her. And it made a lot of sense to me as well.

So often in the church (and in many other places) we spend all our energy and time spinning our wheels on things, efforts, etc... that aren't working. We do that for a variety of reasons. Sometimes we do it because we think it's a good thing to do. Sometimes we do it because it has a history of being done and we think it should continue. What Mike is so good at pointing out is that sometimes the things we think we should be doing are not at all the things we want to do. One of the things he often says is "Don't ever do something that nobody wants." It seems so simple.

I wondered what it would look like for the United Methodist Church here in Indianapolis to look at things this way? I thought of all the meetings I have been to of the clergy in our district that I just walk away from feeling more depressed and frustrated then encouraged and feeling as if I have actually learned something. This morning I realized why. If we worked to build up what is best, if we brought together folks doing good work and engaged one another in conversation good things would bubble up. Energy would multiply. Hmmm.

It also made me think of things at Broadway. How is it that we are continuing to build up and bring people together who are doing good work and asking them to reflect on that and see what comes next? We can probably do that more than we do. And we can at least be more intentional about it.

I really love this notion of building on the excellent work, the excellent practices, at work around us. It is so much better than battling with what isn't working -- and what's miserable. And I love the image of the rippling effect that comes from that.

I was thinking of a scene from the movie "Finding Neverland" this week. It is the story of J.M. Barrie and the show "Peter Pan." As I recall the movie JM Barrie's character is not doing too well with the first production of Peter Pan. The mostly adult crowd is not responding too well to the show. They don't seem to get it. So, he gets tickets for 25 orphans to the show. He scatters the children around the theater. As the show progresses the children love it and are laughing and carrying on throughout. It's nearly impossible to sit next to a child who is laughing and not have a few chuckles yourself!

I believe it's nearly impossible to be around good work being done, and being celebrated and talking with folks who are part of it -- and not be attracted to it, drawn to it, and changed by it. I'm going to look for more such opportunities.