Dexter's Response

Steve,

Thanks for taking the risk and sharing your thoughts and your challenges. Being the "new person" in a group comes with its "outsider" element. The challenge for any group is to help to shorten that outsider time so that the new person feels that her/his voice is welcome. As challenging as it is, we hope to be a place where open discussion takes place and where we can all feel welcome to learn together. Of course that means taking the risk of making mistakes. The key is can we learn together without devastating each other in the event of mistakes or missteps.

Because we share differnt life experiences, our truths must collide at some point. Where we go from there is the challenge of mature life. The first time my most cherished truths were challenged I was disoriented and needed new moorings. Thankfully I have found moorings that can accomodate challenge and change. The best we can do, I believe, is to hold tentatively to that which we believe with an openness to learn from others. In other words, all of us have gravel under our feet and the water is clear only sometimes.

On another note, I just listened to the excerpt from the song. You and Kristi are good. I hope you and Kristi will sing for us soon. This is the reason for the kind of discussion we had last week and propose for next time. We need to know what talents and abilities are in our Conversation family.

Dexter