For a week we enjoyed a kind of "wonderland" of delight and hope in the United States. In the midst of an extraordinarily polarized political environment, Pope Francis came to visit and offered a healing breath of fresh air. A news junkie, I took satisfaction (righteous, I suppose) when commentators and pundits had to retreat from stories they anticipated about Pope Francis fueling one political or social controversy after another.
In fact, Pope Francis did give us plenty of words around which to take sides, hold positions, stand our ground -- whatever those sides, positions or ground may be. The other day, I realized that, without even speaking to anyone, I was "busy" on Facebook aligning myself with organizations and political candidates who were posting messages using the Pope's words to advantage. There I was: "yes this" - "no that"- "right - "wrong". Actually, I was stopped in my tracks by Francis' famous words: "Who am I to judge?" I caught myself in the irony of generating polarized energy a couple of hours before facilitating a fearless conversation for a client organization.
In
Fearless Conversations we unlock judgments of one another, good-bad, right-wrong, like-dislike. Instead, we activate connections with one another: appreciation for and curiosity about one another. Appreciation and curiosity eliminate or, at least, weaken the grip of fear. Pope Francis articulated controversial issues that beg for our dialogue and action; at the
same time, he opened up a heart space every place he visited, asking us to "carry on the conversation". Speaking to a joint session of Congress, he received a long and large standing ovation when he said: "We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to discard whatever proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule: 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'" In heart space we move with the golden energy of what is alive and good in ourselves and one another.
Heart space exists in what Pope Francis calls a "culture of encounter"; the method of that culture, he says, is dialogue. In whatever old and new ways we can, may we step into that space. Thank you, Pope Francis.
