I have just returned from synagogue. Today is Simchat Torah, a holiday that ends the "high holy days" season. One of the traditions of Judaism that I have come to value is that we read the 5 books of Moses as a complete cycle every year. I am always amazed at how reading "the same old story" in the context of the emerging story of personal and global life brings me new insights about both the old story and the emerging story. Anyway, Simchat Torah is the holiday that celebrates this cyclical tradition by finishing Deuteronomy and starting Genesis.
What this all has to do with OST is that at the end of Deuteronomy is where Moses sees the promised, passes leadership to Joshua and dies. After leading the Israelites out of Egypt, spending all those years in the desert and coming to the mountaintop Moses does not get to the Promised Land. It occurs to me that in some respects Moses "opened space" and could not be attached to the outcomes. We could spend lots of time analyzing other parts of the story (from Genesis to Deuteronomy) for examples of times when Moses learned lessons when his behavior was more or less consistent with what we might consider the core values of OST. Today my choice is to focus on how "opening space" for a community or nation or planet requires great endurance and courage, including the willingness to take risks and learn from mistakes. It also requires the willingness to let go of attachment to the outcomes chosen by the people in the community. Parenthetically, in Exodus 18.3 - 18.26 there is one of the lessons that Moses had to learn. The Israelites are out in the desert. They see Moses as their leader and he sees himself as their (at times reluctant) leader. Anyway, they have a nifty codependent system set up. Everyone brings his or her problems to Moses because he is wise and, when necessary, has access to the top guy. If they like his answers they praise him and if they don't like his answers they blame him. Of course he is complicit in sustaining this system.he feels so responsible that he accepts all requests and provides all answers. As a result of creating this great codependent system he finds himself in another classic leadership dilemma: an out of balance work and family life. Jethro, his father-in-law and a non-Jew, pays him a visit. Jethro tells him that if he expects to keep his wife and any kind of family life he better work this out. Jethro also advises Moses that there are lots of very smart Israelites that could probably deal with most of the problems without his help.if he would just open up the space for them to do so. As near as I can tell this may be one of the earliest references to participative leadership in history or literature (you pick which). Chris Kloth Senior Partner ChangeWorks of the Heartland 250 South Virginialee Road Columbus, OH 43209-2052 telephone - 614-239-1336 x 1 fax - 614-239-1337 e-mail - ch...@got2change.com www.got2change.com * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html