So if I use the word choreography to refer to the
coordination of
Werner's events,
that's
my personal view of
things.
It's more likely
Werner
would describe such management as logistics supervision.
Whichever term is used, one of the hallmarks of his choreography is
it's brilliant deployment which
creates
consistency over time and place
deliberately.
For example, when
Werner
was first becoming widely known as a radiating power of
transformationin the world,
big crowds got the opportunity to meet him at
"Be Withs"
- events so-called because at a
Be With
you got to
be with
Werner.
That was their sole purpose.
Since those halcyon days, clear format and support structures have been
devised and bolted into place to deliver
Werner's work
predictably, unerringly, and effectively independent of
Werner
delivering the material himself. But back then you got what you got by
being around Werner.
At a
Be With
the choreography was such that the chairs on the podium came from the
kitchen and office of
Werner's home,
the Franklin House.
Werner
could have used chairs supplied by the meeting facility. But he wanted
the chairs to come from
his home.
Not many people knew that. For those who did, when you looked at
Werner
at a
Be With
you could see
his home
extending to the podium and including the entire auditorium.
Werner
was creating the space for a thousand people and more to be with him in
his home
- only more intimately ...
To me, that's like a great recurring lead riff in a
synchopated jazz
composition, like a golden thread meandering through the
theme of an intricate and carefully woven tapestry:
Werner's
kitchen chairs with him on the
Be With
podium! It strikes a chord with me, one which resonates profoundly. I
love the consistency. I love his ongoing
conversation for
transformation
and his choreography connecting the dots between the places and the
years.
The truth be told, had he just sat there and read the telephone book or
the dictionary and done nothing else, these events would have worked
just as well. It was clear to everyone
present
it's who
Werner
is being that
creates
the magic.
Werner
is simply wonderful with people. Add to that the
brilliance of his
conversation for
transformation
itself and his facileness with it, those events were simply awesome.
I've sought out and met many
great teachers, swamis, and gurus.
I've read most of the recognized texts, theories, and paradigms in
which intelligent authors and philosophers describe their views of the
human condition. And, given this is the twenty first century, I've
watched many of the latter day masters, both religious and pragmatic,
on late night cable, dish, and satellite television. In every case I've
come away with a sense of being in the company of a powerful man or a
woman, of having heard a truly remarkable person speaking, and of being
in the
presence
of genuine greatness. From each and every single one of them I got
something valuable.
And yet, from the get go, there's always been a profoundly
unique distinction I've gotten from
Werner.
It's this:
In the
presence
of every other teacher I get how amazing they are. In
Werner's
presence
I get how amazing I am.
That's my best shot at articulating what I've gotten over the years
from this
work of transformation
because my expression of it keeps altering, keeps coming forth newly,
keeps on reinventing itself. I guess it's still simmering after all
these years. Its continuing emergence has great relevance to how I
create
my life ongoingly, to how I'm always morphing into the
next, new
Laurence.
In
this context,
what continuously occurs for me is an injunction to step
up to the plate of my life. I'm
cause in the matter,
whether I own it or not. I may as well step up! Without
integrity
nothing really
works,
whether I am that or not. I may as well step up!
I'm
transformed
... now I'm not ... I'm
transformed
... now I'm not ... I'm
transformed
etc. That's how it's been going over the nearly
thirty years
I've known
Werner.
No matter how the dice roll, I may as well step up!