So many of us still remember the first moment we heard about September 11, 2001, when extremists hijacked four planes flying above the United States. Two planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Another into the Pentagon, the top military building in Washington D.C. Close to three thousand people were killed. The horrific memory is forever etched on our hearts. We continue to honor the loss of life. Questions haunt us: How are we different? How is the world different given all we experienced then?
Margaret Wheatley, in her 2017 book, Who Do We Choose to Be? Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity, offers two critical questions for civil discourse today: “Who do you choose to be for this time? Are you willing to use whatever presence, power and influence you have to create islands of sanity that evoke and rely on our best human qualities?” (168)
In light of the current social, political, racial … unrest, can we host simple conversations that challenge us to choose to be for this time? Wheatley suggests that, perhaps more important than any other time in history, is our self-awareness and the ability to notice who we each are becoming as we respond to unending pressures. She offers a sort of Examen of Consciousness for self-reflection as a prompt for meaningful conversation that creates possibility:
Where has fear or distrust begun to influence decisions?
Where have you asserted control? Was it necessary?
What happened to relationships as a result?
How are you living with integrity today?
Will we turn toward one another and host reflective conversations to restore hope and sanity?
—Ann Jackson, PBVM, Prairiewoods spiritual services coordinator