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Guest Column - November 2021
November 1, 2021
Now I am not advocating that we roll on our back every time we come to a challenging situation. It would make a funny scene at the start of a Rotary meeting, though! But there is a secret power in vulnerability. For about 40 years I delivered a sermon to a group of people most Sundays. Sometimes I found myself confronting injustice or bad choices, and I climbed up on a horse of judgment. I climbed on the same horse at home at times also. Frequently that generated a lot of heat and little light.
Somewhere along the way I started looking at my own life and trying to identify the "weakness of the week" or my sermon theme, in my own life. I did not dare spend too much time identifying the problem in others before I put myself under the microscope. It has been a great practice for at least several reasons.
First, starting with our vulnerability builds trust and starts with a bridge of shared humanity. Second, when we reveal our weaknesses, people don't have to defend themselves and often feel safe to explore their weaknesses with us also. Third, vulnerability make it possible to be REAL.
Many of us in Rotary are fortunate to have leadership roles in various parts of life, and it would be easy to come together pretending we have the world by the tail. We could all prance around showing off how strong and smart and right we are – a sort or peacock show. But our Rotary is, to me so much more precious because we do share our strengths and talents and encourage one another. Many Happy Dollars are about that kind of affirmation. At the same time, courageous members among us also share vulnerable parts of our lives in trust with one another - around the table, or in talks. I was deeply moved by Dan's recent talk and Beth's biography some time ago. Their vulnerability makes me feel safe to be real especially about things challenging me. Thanks to you fellow Rotarians who shed a tear or a laugh as you share about your life, when you let us in to places where we can be real and make each other strong – TOGETHER.
Author: Marshall Hudson Knapp
Windmill
Guest Column - November 2021
November 1, 2021Now I am not advocating that we roll on our back every time we come to a challenging situation. It would make a funny scene at the start of a Rotary meeting, though! But there is a secret power in vulnerability. For about 40 years I delivered a sermon to a group of people most Sundays. Sometimes I found myself confronting injustice or bad choices, and I climbed up on a horse of judgment. I climbed on the same horse at home at times also. Frequently that generated a lot of heat and little light.
Somewhere along the way I started looking at my own life and trying to identify the "weakness of the week" or my sermon theme, in my own life. I did not dare spend too much time identifying the problem in others before I put myself under the microscope. It has been a great practice for at least several reasons.
First, starting with our vulnerability builds trust and starts with a bridge of shared humanity. Second, when we reveal our weaknesses, people don't have to defend themselves and often feel safe to explore their weaknesses with us also. Third, vulnerability make it possible to be REAL.
Many of us in Rotary are fortunate to have leadership roles in various parts of life, and it would be easy to come together pretending we have the world by the tail. We could all prance around showing off how strong and smart and right we are – a sort or peacock show. But our Rotary is, to me so much more precious because we do share our strengths and talents and encourage one another. Many Happy Dollars are about that kind of affirmation. At the same time, courageous members among us also share vulnerable parts of our lives in trust with one another - around the table, or in talks. I was deeply moved by Dan's recent talk and Beth's biography some time ago. Their vulnerability makes me feel safe to be real especially about things challenging me. Thanks to you fellow Rotarians who shed a tear or a laugh as you share about your life, when you let us in to places where we can be real and make each other strong – TOGETHER.
Author: Marshall Hudson Knapp
Windmill