Showing all posts in The Point

Small, routine, good deeds of ordinary folk going about their daily lives—that is the great power that stays back evil and injustice. Like drops in a rain storm washing away the drought, no single part seems too significant in itself, but things so small can’t possibly operate alone. No rain drop is ever alone because rain only falls in large numbers from a looming cloud.

Evil and injustice only have chance to spread when people believe that they don’t matter merely because they are small. Small things always come in numbers, so they always matter for better or worse.  · · · →

A society can only be as lawful as its laws are suitable. Laws can only be as suitable as the lawmakers are both lawful and in touch with the society they govern.

Law is like a custom suit. Every measurement must be taken, cut and sewn, then it must be tried and tested. Governance is an ongoing work and it can’t succeed without constant learning and asking.

Even with information and suitability, governance also requires awareness of “source” or “spark”. Society is not guaranteed to grow and progress indefinitely. We need charge, recharge, and lift to empower what is governed.  · · · →

We all need friends. We don’t need “yesmen” or people to tell us that we’re always doing great even when we’re not. While we do need cheerleaders about half the time, once in a while we need help draining the swamps that seem too big to drain.

Rain is good, but too much overflows and garbage clogs the drain. When life makes a swamp in your neighbor’s back yard, be a good neighbor, yank the plug, and save the neighborhood from the stench. If the swamp swells in your own back yard, be thankful for good neighbors when they knock.  · · · →

Hang in there with people who need to do better. Explain it to them. Be nice as you be firm. Things don’t need to get ugly every single time we disagree. The feeling that conflict must always end uglily is an addiction to ugliness; it’s not a negotiation philosophy. Don’t let addiction to ugly endings direct your conflict management strategy.

As a general rule, if you know how to be calm in a way that calms others, if you can put away the dagger and convince others to put away theirs, then do just that as long as you can.  · · · →