: Ted Dunn
: The Inner Work of Transformation A Guide for Personal Reflection and Communal Sharing
: BookBaby
: 9781098394059
: 1
: CHF 10.70
:
: Philosophie, Religion
: English
: 202
: kein Kopierschutz
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
The inner work of transformation is for individuals, religious communities, churches and other faith groups who have reached a crossroads in life and are looking for ways to bring forth new life through processes that promote deep change and transformation. It represents the kind of soulwork I believe is too often neglected but nonetheless essential to the successful transformation of communities and the individuals who reside in them. In essence, this guide is for all those who want to proactively cooperate with grace by doing the soulwork of deep change and transformation. My ministry over the last few decades has been primarily with Catholic religious communities. As a group, they are going through an enormous transition and I have accompanied many of them through what I call a 'Journey of Transformation.' The foundations for my work on personal and communal transformation was recently published in a book entitled, Graced crossroads: pathways to deep change and transformation. I indicated in that foundational publication that this companion book on the inner work of transformation would follow. This book provides a series of reflections and suggested processes aimed at helping those who wish to do this kind of soulwork. It is meant to be a resource, not some kind of seven-point program for guaranteed transformation. There is no such thing. I do not presume to think that what I am offering is the only way that such inner work can be done. However, it is one way that I have found to be highly effective. The communities whom I have been accompanying, and who have engaged in this inner work, have found it to be integral to their larger Journey of Transformation.

How to Use this Guide

One of the best gifts of a journal is that it gives you a place to showup.
HelenCepero

Does it sound like a lot of work? It is. However, it is not a race nor is it constrained by a specified time period other than the time you allot for it. This is the kind of work that can take a lifetime. While the sequence of these reflections is intended to build upon and foster integration from one to the next, you might choose to work with them differently. It’s up to you how much time you give to this and how you approach the work.

There are any number of processes that could be developed in order to use this material. However, as a departure point, let me recommend one approach that I have used successfully with a number of communities. You can then adapt these suggestions to fit your own circumstances. I want to share this process with you at the start so that you have it in mind as you are working with the material.

For large communities

Organizing small groups

If you are working with this guide as a larger community, it is best to divide up the community into small groups. Given the complex mixture of your members’ schedules, capacity to do this work, motivations and resistance, baggage with other members, and varying living circumstances, it might be best for leadership to arrange these small groups. Leadership can discuss all these matters in confidence and arrange the groups in ways that optimize their potential viability. Here are a few things to consider:

  1. Groups of six or seven are usually best. Smaller groups, if one or two people are absent or particularly shy about sharing, can diminish the richness of conversation. With larger groups (eight or more) it becomes cumbersome to get everyone’s voice into the conversation. Larger groups require more time for everyone to share and they make spontaneous, free-flowing conversations a bit too cumbersome.
  2. Using existing intact groups may or may not be wise. An existing group, especially one whose norms of sharing might work against this kind of intimate sharing, may become highly problematic. It usually works best to shake things up and arrange for new groups. This helps to ease the resistance that can sometimes become entrenched in some intact groups.
  3. Using new groups offers the opportunity for people who do not know one another that well to become very bonded. Novel groups starting from scratch to build trust together can become profoundly cohesive. It also strengthens confidence that if they can build trust in this new group, they can do the same in other circles, rather than stay wedded to the safety and familiarity of an existing group.
  4. If these new groups have individuals with “baggage,” who have avoided one another for years because of past wounds, this can be a great opportunity for healing. Now, having to sit face-to-face, they may come to a newfound appreciation of one another, even reconciling old wounds. The only caveat might be to not place people together who have strong disdain or rifts that are “too hot to handle.” This is a judgment call for those who arrange the groups.
  5. Each group ought to have at least one person who is capable of convening and facilitating the group. Be sure to place some members who may have more difficult styles of interacting wi