Sylvia's Journal

I woke up from a dream in which I was presented with two choices: do something entrepreneurial and creative, or unload a car and add more stuff to a place that was already very full. Axel was encouraging me to go with the creative choice but I got busy loading more stuff into the room which required organizing what was already in there. I am not sure what this is all about other than getting mentally ready for the workshop that begins in a couple of hours.

Sunday was very quiet as I had intended it to be. I did go to Quaker meeting. This meeting is different than ours in that there are books on the table, several Bibles, Faith and Practice and other holy books and one can do contemplative reading during the meeting for worship. One of the members read a passage from Mark. It is the story of Jesus driving out the evil spirit from a, presumably, epilectic boy. The father of the boy had asked Jesus “if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” To which Jesus replied, “If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes.” The story is about the transformational power of believing in something. This is very much the core of our leadership program, here and elsewhere. The transformation occurs when someone believes in something enough to propel him or herself into action; when others see that, some will follow and become believers as well, attracting others. If you have enough of those who believe, things begin to change. This is how social change happens.

The theme reminded me of an interview I once read by Edmond Desmond in 1989 with Mother Teresa in which she said “I am like a little pencil in his [God’s] hand. That is all. He does the thinking. He does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do with it. The pencil has only to be allowed to be used.” And then I thought about the three of us in the plane wreck, three broken pencils, unable to write. And now, nearly four months later, here I am in Nairobi, with a newly sharpened point. I may not be quite like a brandnew pencil, but I am very ready to write again. And the work, not surprising, is about transformation.