There are so many . . . → Read More: Delicate and powerful are not opposites.]]>
As I sat down to pray about what I wanted to say to you today after such a long hiatus from this blog ministry, those two words came to mind as a pretty apt description for the state of my heart, not only at this moment, but for a while.

There are so many things happening in my life, the Church, the world  that beg for some thoughtful reflection, analysis, deep prayer these days — AND — I will continue to ponder and then invite you to reflect with me on some of these things. And of course, as always, the invitation to contribute to “nunsuch” as a guest blogger is open. For the less adventurous who would like to see me address a topic or issue, but who do not wish to start off our conversation here, just send me a private message by clicking here, and I will respond. This blog is meant to be safe, sacred space for us to have conversations with each other about things that matter.

Some of you have been with me long enough to know that I find paradox fascinating, and love to play around with how something can be two things at the same time, when we can sometimes think of the two things as stark binary quantities. So of course, delicate and powerful live together quite amicably in the inner landscape of my soul, and as I continue to tend to the mystery of God’s action in my life and in the world, my outsides tend to match my insides more closely, which is quite a consolation for someone who values integrity so highly.

My relationship with God has been characterized by an abiding sense of consolation, even in the midst of a series of quite extreme ups and downs on almost every level of my life — physical, mental, emotional, professional, vocational. So while much of the state of my life is quite fragile, there’s an inner strength from that rock-solid, visceral sense of knowing I am God’s beloved.

This strong connection seems to persist no matter what comes along, and does not seem dependent on my faithfulness to a daily prayer regimen — it is sheer grace. And that is probably the message that has taken me so long to learn — that God is the initiator and sustainer of this blessed period in my life, and just as I can take no credit for this gift, so there is no need to beat up on myself when I fall short of my ideals or something unpleasant happens in my life. I just know that God is loving and faithful, and that while I go through the ups and downs on many levels, the only thing that matters is that fundamental truth.

Not a bad grace for this Easter season, eh?

So how goes it with you? How is God making a difference in YOUR life?

Familiar images flooded media sources yesterday as the news of Muammar Gaddafi’s death spread. My initial response: “I don’t have time for this. Between work deadlines pressing on me and my body’s seeming insistence on rest as I recover from the flu, there simply isn’t time to consider these events and then deal with . . . → Read More: Mixed blessings – a time for sober optimism?]]>

Familiar images flooded media sources yesterday as the news of Muammar Gaddafi’s death spread. My initial response: “I don’t have time for this. Between work deadlines pressing on me and my body’s seeming insistence on rest as I recover from the flu, there simply isn’t time to consider these events and then deal with the emotions they evoke in me, let alone to reflect and then post a thoughtful reflection on this blog.”

So you can see that I chose not to go with that initial response. And my reaction to the news, as you might guess, is full of conflicted feelings. I’m not a mental health expert, but it was pretty clear that something was “off” with the colonel, and for so much power to be concentrated in one person, even a perfectly sane person, is a recipe for trouble. I have been praying for an end to the terror and violence inflicted by this man and his followers on their own people for many years, and I regret that it took violence to accomplish his removal from power. Still, I must say, I am glad that this man will no longer be able to terrorize others.

It appeared to me that in the skirmish that led to Gaddafi’s death that he was injured in the first wave of the attack, and that the close range gunshot wounds to the head suggest that he may have been summarily executed after capture. It’s not for me to say what exactly happened, as it often takes time for the facts to emerge, but if he was indeed executed instead of being tried in a court of justice, it makes me wonder with some concern about what the people of Libya will be facing in its next leaders. And with the seeming easy access to high-powered combat weapons (again, my uninformed perception), I feel a need to pray that Libya will be able to make the transition to a peaceful, just society, and not fall into a state of anarchy that will provide the opportunity for a new oppressor to step in.

Yes, I understand the relief in knowing that the Gaddafi regime is finished, and that it is understandable to celebrate the freedom from this regime. Still, lots of guns plus lots of intense emotions make for a risky situation. I pray for the safety and solidarity of Libya’s people in this important and historic time the history of all of humankind.

So I’m back from Denver and in the midst of a flurry of many interesting work and personal projects – if I had an administrative assistant and a housekeeper, life would be more manageable. One of the take-aways for me from the HERS Institute in Denver is a deep confirmation of my discernment . . . → Read More: Leading from within]]>

So I’m back from Denver and in the midst of a flurry of many interesting work and personal projects – if I had an administrative assistant and a housekeeper, life would be more manageable. One of the take-aways for me from the HERS Institute in Denver is a deep confirmation of my discernment about the question of shifting my work focus to academic leadership in an administrative position. (In fact, one of my HERS colleagues asked me if I might at some point consider a presidency! I laughed, but told her honestly that it had never occurred to me and I would keep it in mind as a possible future discernment.)

Everything I am reading and learning – about leadership, the issues facing higher education, and myself – seem to resonate at a deep level with me. For example, I have experienced my value and practice of collaborative leadership being used against me in an opportunity at work (could have been a little gender bias going on as well), so it is very affirming to have tons of research literature backing up my conviction that such a style really is effective.

I could go on and on, but the key point is this – for me, strong, effective leadership comes from an unwavering commitment to my core values. Because my deepest values include integrity, mutuality/collaboration, diversity/inclusion, lifelong learning, non-violence, etc., those values need to show up in the way I lead. I also learned to be more aware that I can “ramp” up my energy to negotiate effectively with others who have a more aggressive, competitive style without violating my core values. And even though it seems that working in an environment permeated by distrust and aggressiveness is something on which some people seem to thrive, I’ve seen the long-term effect on health, morale, and motivation. Part of my role as a leader is to set a tone of mutuality, trust, and respect, so that my team can be effective and work together to make decisions in which everyone is a winner.

So much more I could say, but I’ll end with a reading suggestion. I’m currently reading a book by Jim Collins, “Good to Great – Why some companies make the leap… and others don’t.” I may write more about it later… but it is good to know that it is not the famous, ego-centric, charismatic types that came out as the most effective leaders, but low-key, humble persons who are committed to getting the right people on board, reflecting on how to move forward in ways that are true to the organization’s core values, seeing opportunities for greatness, and being real with people in the organization about opportunities and threats facing the organization. It really is not about motivating people…if you have the right people on the bus, they will already be self-motivated…all you have to do is make sure you don’t get in the way and make decisions or rules that are de-motivating. (Of course, getting the wrong people off the bus is easier said than done…) It’s an easy read, and an eye-opener.

Today, one . . . → Read More: My negotiation style…”soul-full” leadership?]]> I’m enjoying some incredibly full and fruitful days with more than 70 dynamic and wonderful women leaders in higher education. Besides retreat, which I will have to get back to soon, this is another experience that is sure to yield many blog posts if I can just take the time to write them.

Today, one of our speakers was Elizabeth Suarez, an incredibly talented trainer in mediation and negotiation, who helped us to interpret our scores on a negotiation style inventory developed by her advisor, Richard G. Shell (Bargaining for Advantage, New York: Penguin Books, 2006.)

Shell’s model describes five fundamental styles: competing, collaborating, compromising, accommodating, and avoiding, all of which can be useful in different situations. I learned that my preferred style (the one I would likely use by default) is the collaborating style. I also learned that I have a very low preference for (dare I say an aversion to?) a competitive mode of negotiation. Elizabeth’s opinion was that deans, provosts, and other leaders in higher education need to have a comfort level with the competing style. And I realize that my preferred style can be perceived by others as a weak style, especially when in conflict with someone who prefers a competing style. Having said that, I’m not sure I agree with Elizabeth that developing a more competitive style would be preferable to making my dominant style work for me…something to chew on a bit.

And perhaps I’m more balanced than Shell’s instrument seemed to show. Guided by my commitment to practicing (as much as I’m able) nonviolence, using a collaborative style seems to me to be quite congruent with the values of mutuality and collaboration that I hold so deeply. And since I value integrity even more deeply, it is important to me that my ways of relating to others be consistent with my deepest values. Still, I know that it is important for me to identify and represent my own needs (and/or the needs of those whom I represent), and when it is my role to do so, make difficult decisions when consensus is not reached. So perhaps that IS a bit more of the competitive style than the survey gave me credit for. I am very clear that for me, collaboration does not imply capitulation. Others have and may in the future see this differently, which I would find sad, because such an assumption that taking strong positions is more effective than working to achieve win-win solutions based on the needs of all could result in lost opportunities for potential employers to have my unique gifts in service of their mission. Sometimes the cost of being true to self can be high, but as I’ve written elsewhere in this blog, the cost of violating my own most deeply cherished values is even more costly.

At any rate, it gives me something to think and learn about as I go forward. What occurs to you as you reflect on your own experience of negotiation and/or resolving/settling conflict?

For Immediate Release July 13, 2011

Sisters of Saint Joseph Support Theologian Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ

(St. Louis, MO): Close to 900 Sisters and Associates of U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph gathered at the . . . → Read More: Always our sister]]> Here’s a press release about a statement of support for Beth Johnson that we affirmed at our Federation Event.

For Immediate Release
July 13, 2011

Sisters of Saint Joseph Support Theologian Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ

(St. Louis, MO): Close to 900 Sisters and Associates of U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph gathered at the Millennium Hotel in St. Louis, MO, July 9-13, 2011. They came together in prayer, celebration, and conversation to renew and deepen their “zeal for healing the neighborhood of God’s sacred universe.”

During the Event, the Federation Leadership Council shared a statement of support for their sister, Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, Ph.D., author of “Quest for Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God.” In presenting the statement that was written before the event, Mary Dacey, SSJ, Co-chair of the Leadership Council, explained, “The Federation Event, which draws such a large number of our members and associates, seems to be an appropriate forum to widely express our affirmation of one of our members on both a personal and public level.” All present affirmed the following statement with a rousing standing ovation:

Statement in Support of Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ
U.S. Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph Leadership Council

As we gather on this 175th anniversary of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in the United States, celebrating the theme of “Zeal for healing the neighborhood of God’s sacred universe,” we stand with and for Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ…theologian, leader, scholar, researcher, teacher, author, speaker, colleague—and most importantly, our sister.

• We commend her integrity and dedication to the ecclesial vocation of theologian.
• We commend her spirit of collaboration, cooperation and mentoring.
• We commend her unselfish and untiring efforts to share her theological reflection and insights with the dear neighbor everywhere.
• We regret the failure of the U.S. Bishops’ Doctrine Committee to engage her in conversation about her work, even as we support her efforts to enter into that conversation now. She exemplifies the very mission of the Sisters of Saint Joseph throughout history, “that all may be one.”

Together we pray for the recognition of lawful diversity called for in the conclusion of “The Pastoral Constitution on Church in the Modern World.” “Let there be unity in what necessary, freedom in what is unsettled, and charity in any case.” (#92)

As a Sister of St. Joseph, my zeal for healing . . . → Read More: Ubuntu – not just another OS]]> Until today, I have seen the word “ubuntu” only in the context of Linux distributions. What learned today from a talk by Meg Wheatley, is that it is also an ethical conept in Africa,  ”I am what I am because of who we all are.”

As a Sister of St. Joseph, my zeal for healing the neighborhood of the universe is to come from a great love, God’s profound love for all of creation. Without getting too heavy into the quantum physics, Meg shared that is SCIENTISTS who claim that the building blocks of life are relationships. No, not even social scientists, but physical scientists.

So much of what Meg spoke resonated in me as true to my experience, and while I found myself challenged by some of her word, my much deeper sense was one of gratitude that I have already done a lot of the work towards becoming what she calls a “spiritual warrior.” What I have learned through the 12 steps and my coming out as a lesbian in the context of a heterosexist culture is to value my own unique perspectives without depending on the validation of others, and to expand my capacity for compassion through my own suffering.

This goes out to all of my younger friends and colleagues who frequent my reflections here. I recently sent the following message to Nicole Sotelo, who is the Call to Action staff liaison to CTA’s 20/30 group (excerpt):

I’m a CTA member, and I’m also a Sister of St. Joseph. (Baden, PA . . . → Read More: What are you seeking?]]>

This goes out to all of my younger friends and colleagues who frequent my reflections here. I recently sent the following message to Nicole Sotelo, who is the Call to Action staff liaison to CTA’s 20/30 group (excerpt):

I’m a CTA member, and I’m also a Sister of St. Joseph. (Baden, PA congregation) (You might recognize me as the sax player from the last two CTA Conferences.) For many years I’ve been watching the steady and inexorable decline in many of the women’s religious congregations, including my own. I’ve also had a few conversations with some our young alumni (I teach at Univ. of Detroit Mercy) who have generously given a year or two of service after graduation, and are wondering and looking for that next thing to do before settling down in a more permanent way.

It is clear to me, if not yet to many other sisters, that the form of religious life as we have known and lived it is not the thing many of this generation are looking for, despite our best efforts to find contemporary expressions of our commitment. (I am not as familiar with the trends facing men’s communities.) I still believe there is a place for vowed religious life in the Church and that there will always be some people who are called and who want to respond with that total and perpetual self-gift of their lives to God in consecrated celibacy, but I think this is also an exciting time for dreaming possibilities of new forms of “religious life” that are radically inclusive and that make room for people of all ages, colors, orientation, gender, class, etc.

I know many young adults love and admire the religious they have gotten to know (and those numbers are quickly diminishing), and I can’t help but thinking that because we still look for only women to be members, and only those who have or are open to discerning a life-long call to celibacy, and in some cases, only those who are debt-free and under a certain age, and are willing to stay in the closet if they are not straight, we are missing out on a lot of life and vitality for ourselves, and on a responsibility to be radically available to spiritual seekers of all stripes, being willing to live/pray/work in communities that have vowed and non-vowed, male and female members, that are multicultural, multigenerational, or multi-whatever, perpetually committed, or committed for a finite time, but all striving to live in profound union with a God who is madly in love with each one and who desires that total self-gift in response from each one, in ways and for periods of time that make sense for each person and are appropriate to one’s particular call.

I also recognize that were I to try to articulate my sense of what young adults may be looking for, it would be merely a guess that is affected by my own very different perspective as a 50-ish woman committed perpetually in an institute of consecrated life. So before I go any further down this road of dreaming a new way to bring more people together around our common values that spring from a love relationship with God that impels one to serve others, it would be negligent not to consider the values and desires of those who might be interested in creating something new with me and other sisters and brothers who are passionate about this.

I know the 20/30 “movement” in CTA has been exciting to see unfold, and I am wondering how we as religious women and men can respond to and affirm the new life that is arising in this movement. At our last general chapter, one sister wondered what we might look like if we made a formal and all-out commitment to an “option for youth.” It may be that it is time for us to take a more passive role and just cheer from the sidelines, but I’d like to think that a partnership of some kind that honors the premise that the young adults are the leaders, and that the older religious are just some veteran companions whose wisdom might be helpful at various times would create a win-win scenario.

I wonder if there is some way to begin having these conversations… I am writing on behalf of myself, even though I know that there are like-minded religious out there who are willing to listen to Spirit calling us to something new, even as the existing forms of our life together are crumbing. I do think that the Sisters of St. Joseph Federation and the LCWR and other confederations and congregations of religious would love to get involved as well, but it also seems very clear that Spirit must have space to breathe deeply and in ways that we in previous generations might not readily perceive or might find “cognitively dissonant” with our own experience. I tend to favor a grass-roots approach, which is why I am approaching you before taking it to leadership-type folks and vocation directors. I know some wonderfully affirming and well-meaning religious who are very charismatic and/or highly competent in many arenas. And it would break my heart to see an important movement deferring to a respected elder, when what may be needed is a fresh, new vision that doesn’t first consider the reasons why something will not work, but that dares to dream how it CAN work. In my opinion it is time for the deference to go the other way (remember “option for youth”), and I would be thrilled to just come along for the ride…

I will be at the conference in November, and I come to Chicago several times a year to spend time with friends (usually on weekends.) So perhaps either (or both) of you and whoever else you would want to be present could sit down with me to help me discern what God might be calling me to do with this great passion for what comes next, even as I attend with presence and integrity to the grief that comes with diminishment and death, and the realization that there may not be enough of us left with the openness and energy to engage in the transformation of a lifeform that is no longer viable on many levels.

So I ramble on…you’ll be glad to know that my manner in spoken conversation is more like a sponge than a fire hose…when it is time to listen, as it is now, I do that quite well.

I do hope you’ll talk about this a bit and get back to me about what, if anything, you might be interested in doing with me.

Nicole forwarded this message to the 20/30 listserv shortly after I sent it, and almost immediately I received e-mails from a couple of the list members, and have since heard from several more who are interested in having some conversations about this. We have not yet decided the best vehicle for communication, but I’m thinking of some options to present to the group for their choice…

I’m getting some encouragement from some of the folks to organize a caucus session at the Call to Action conference in November, so will put together a proposal for that. I also thought it would be a good thing to open up the conversation to 20/30 young adults who are not on the CTA listserv, so give me a holler if you want to be in on these conversations.

Peace to all!