The ferry cruised steadily on its usual course among the San Juan Islands of Puget Sound. We’d left the port of Anacortes earlier that morning, fog hanging heavy over the forested shoulders of multiple islets. As we came into sight of the ferry terminal at the little town of Orcas, on Orcas Island, the sun…
Mortals Telling Stories on the Threshold of Mystery (with apologies to Ray Barfield)
You never meet an individual. Oh, sure, you can run into someone standing by herself in the line at the coffee kiosk, exchange greetings, and have a two-way conversation analyzing the coffee, but the fact is: she’s responding with a style, using vocabulary that she learned, and referring to cues she picked up from a…
A Word to Pastors: Don’t Try Hard – Try Easy (Lesson 6, Part 2)
I’ll never forget something I read back in the 1990’s from a business innovation guru named Robert Kriegel. He wrote a book called If It Ain’t Broke, Break It! Kriegel said that when you aim to accomplish something, don’t wear yourself out trying your hardest. Instead, Kriegel says, “try easy.” In my observation, we have thousands…
Lesson #6: Why Do Pastors Resist Something Soooo Good? (Part 1)
Lesson #6 has to do with the resistance to Support Teams that I’ve encountered among pastors and, indeed, it comes in two parts. Here’s Part One and it’s a heart-felt sympathetic description of why one encounters resistance. There’s a good reason for it. Part Two will come next Wednesday (March 9, 2016), and it’ll be…
Lesson #5: The Homeostasis Bug-a-Boo
I was a naive Ph.D. student when I first encountered the concept of family systems. Maybe it was an indicator of my immaturity regarding my own family dynamics that I firmly resisted learning about the concept. I much more liked the notion of dealing with people as individuals, talking to them about what they’d done…
Trust: We’re Fellow Travelers
In “Viva la Resistance,” I described various shades of resistance I’ve encountered over the last two years in my work with Support Teams. As I said at the conclusion of that post, trust alone stands as the best way to overcome resistance. In fact, any effort to nurture a loving and supportive community – which…
“Viva la Resistance” . . . or Not!!
Even though I think Support Teams are fantastic, frequently the very people whom I perceive as needing a team the most nevertheless resist having a team organized. Consequently, I’ve had ample opportunity to reflect on the various shades of resistance I’ve encountered over the last couple of years. In the third of my “Ten Lessons…
“Community is Medicine”
Here’s a second lesson I’ve learned over the last two years. What if I were to tell you that you have a powerful medicine at your disposal? This medicine has the capacity to help heal you or someone you love, make the process of facing the illness easier, and make you or your loved one…
What Support Teams Are NOT
When I start to talk about Support Teams, I’ve learned that everyone already has an idea of what I’m talking about – and in many cases, it isn’t what I’m talking about. People like it when I say that I’m working with Support Teams, but I’ve found that I need not assume they understand what…
Top Ten Lessons Learned Thus Far
It’s a New Year, and the occasion gives me the opportunity to reflect on what’s happened (and not happened) since I’ve been here at the Support Team Network. I came to UAB Hospital almost two years ago and took on the mantel of “Support Team Network Manager.” I remember the excitement I felt. Support Teams…
