Being a stand for
transformation
isn't difficult. If you tell me you experience difficulty being a
stand for
transformation,
I'd say you're not being a stand for
transformation.
I'd say you're being inauthentic. If you're being a stand for
something, it's an expression of
who you really are.
An expression of
who you really are
is joyful, easy - even sublime. Being a stand for
transformation
is an expression of joy. And what often goeswith being a
stand for
transformation
(as
Alan Watts
may have said) is being met with
resistance.
This is nothing new. I don't mean it's nothing new today. I mean
it's nothing new throughout history. It's even to be
expected. Ask Dion about Abraham, Martin, and John - not to
mention
the other
John,
Mohandas, and
Jesus.
It's natural for survival to resist that which completes it. It's more
than that, actually. It's built into the nature of
survival ie it's built into the
machinery
of survival to
resisttransformation.
If it weren't, the whole world would be
transformed
by now, yes?
Being a stand for
transformationin the face of
being perceived as a threat,
in the face of
being
resisted,
in the face of
being fought off, calls for the highest form of tenacious spiritual
diplomacy - if you will. This tenacious spiritual diplomacy,
this unwavering compassion, this ruthless compassion is
really a hard line.
Ordinarily, taking a hard line shuts off the possibility
of open communication. Ordinarily, taking a hard line shuts off the
possibility of genuine exchange. Ordinarily, taking a hard line
doesn't serve anyone - period.
Here's the exception:
Taking a hard line in this sense, taking a
diplomatic hard line, taking a compassionate
hard line, taking a tactful hard line while being a stand
for
transformationin the face of
being perceived as a threat,
in the face of
being
resisted,
in the face of
being fought off, is integral to forwarding
transformation.
It's pivotal to what it takes to serve. Its powerful
foundation is required if you're going to make a
difference.
Even though the hard line I'm speaking about is unflinchingly firm, it
isn't rough, brusque, forceful, arrogant, or righteous. In its most
effective form, the hard line I'm speaking about is
actually a dance. It's a dance with survival
in the face of
being perceived as a threat,
in the face of
being
resisted,
in the face of
being fought off. It's not a dance as in the meek "May I please have
the next dance?" which is open to an outright "No!" or even
to "Go away!". It's a dance as in the assertive "Let'splay!".
Notice the dance in the assertive "Let'splay!" results
in
transformation
like a game, not in crucifixion.