And I had little patience with the Google translation, which said that "Gefährtin" meant "danger". Then realised I had forgotten to put the umlaut over the "a". First lesson.
I think that what the author means is that if we try to rush ahead with anything, without taking the time to do the groundwork first, it will usually fail.
Fall flat on its face.
Ideas can inspire us, and we want to implement them straight away, but unless we take the time to bring other people with us, it is very possible that we will end up at the end of a very narrow branch, with someone sawing it off near the trunk.
In my own context, which is Unitarian ministry, this is especially important to remember. It often happens that a minister (or lay leader or committee member) has a wonderful new idea, then rushes off to make it happen, or to lay it before the committee, only to be met by lukewarm reactions, if not negative ones.
Unitarian ministry must be collaborative. The leaders in our movement must learn the patience to consult other people, to explain new concepts with patience, in order to help those other people feel his or her own enthusiasm for the project, whatever it is. This applies not only to BIG IDEAS, like removing the pews from a chapel, but also to small ideas, like moving the chalice from one place to another.
Change is difficult for most people. They are naturally resistant to change... very, very few people embrace it wholeheartedly, at least not at first hearing. So patience is needed to do the groundwork first, to explain the reasoning behind any new proposal, and to allow people time to mull the new idea over in their minds, so that they can ask questions about it. Leaders also need to be open to adapting new ideas, because someone has pointed out a flaw in our reasoning. This takes patience too, and also humility.
It is better to get people used to a new idea, by drip, dripping it slowly, rather than flooding their minds with it. Patience is the companion of wisdom.
No comments:
Post a Comment