We highlighted this quote at our monthly Grassroots Conspiracy gathering* last night:
”Revolutions are often planned in cafes and begin with talks among friends. Great social and spiritual movements germinate when a few isolated people find one another, share deeply and dream out loud about a different and better future. Through generative friendship, a collective voice becomes stronger, and what was once timidly whispered in private emerges to become the topic of public discourse and reform. Dialogue creates resonance that fosters grass-roots energy and initiative. Conversation at its best is never just talk; it is the means by which we kindle imagination and gain the courage to take action.”
— Mark Scandrette
When I read this I was struck by how dead on it was in describing what it is we are experimenting with in the fledgling GC movement. I’d love to fashion a blog around that quote but I tend to think that it adequately speaks for itself. And. So. I’ll just let it do that. I hope it inspires you and draws you up into a new place within your own imagination for what could be in your own world! Because the more I’m learning the more I am convinced that one of the greatest tasks of a leader is to cultivate a new imagination amongst a community of people.
* Our monthly gathering is not a worship/church service. It is the first among a series of rhythms that we’ve invited people to join us in. The idea, the expectation, is that if we live into these rhythms with intentionality it will lead to a movement of people getting to know Jesus and the eventuality of the formation of a faith community. If you are someone who lives in or around the downtown area and may want to join our little ‘Conspiracy’ please let me know and we’ll talk!
Is greatness worth it? It seems to me that in order to do things that will be remembered after you die, in order to be the kind of person that changes the world you’ve got to give up a lot. And I’m just not sure it’s worth it. Martin Luther King Jr. had many affairs. Gandhi watched his wife die rather than violate her body with a simple shot that would save her. Steve Jobs was eccentric and odd in extreme ways. High level pastors often make the news for their secret lives that include soliciting prostitutes, affairs, and addiction. It really seems like the people who accomplish great things inevitably sacrifice much.