Contemplative design nurtures the collective courage to walk into the unknown and risk. It is embracing the gospel call to agape for a new and evolving world.  It is again framing the gospel message in ways similar to the historical experiences of founders and foundresses of movements and religious congregations. Their courage is God request of transformative communities of our era.

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Contemplative Action:

Courage and perseverance are the two cornerstones of contemplative action. The courage to risk the shared direction by testing each step and being receptive to continual adaptation.  It means nurturing the collective will to persist and trust the mysterious unknown as the plan begins the implementation stage. Any action will have a mixture of missteps and success. The transformative community commits to individually and collectively remain in a discerning mode.

 

Communities tend to spend more time in the creation of the vision rather than the arduous work of implementation.  The excitement of developing the vision and direction often becomes muted or dissipated in the daily struggle to implement.  The implementation process is rooted in testing and adapting which matures and gains clarity over time. Transformative communities realize contemplative action takes tenacity to walk the path to achieve the aspiration. When we reflect on the great scientists, founders, and foundress, it was not their holding onto a vision but their resolve to see the aspiration become actualized that made a difference.

 

The foundation for understanding the emerging future is in the implementation phase.  Transformative communities embrace the pilgrimage that tests the visionary and strategic assumptions, beliefs and mental framework. Perseverance is critical because the community cannot forsee spontaneous disruptive events like an economic downturn, losing key staff or funding that impacts achieving the vision.

 

The core elements of contemplative action are measurable action steps that establish accountability and responsibility. Hallmarks of the implementation phase are always recognizing the changing needs of others and adapting the plan. The complexity of the world makes collaborative relationships vital to build the necessary capacity and investment to solve the most pressing issues.

 

Collaborative relationships often have inherent tension with various visions of the future. These relationships invite the transformative community into deepening their understanding of mutuality, shared visioning and moving beyond one’s tribe. In theory, while the concepts are high-minded in practice, they invite the group into deep soul work around their desire for control, being self-righteous, and other hidden bias that blocks true mutuality.

 

You take any of the great inventions of our time from the computer to the internet, to the environment, it was based on testing and persevering to reach the solution. Every great vision starts with a question and moves to a concept that leads to action. 

 

“Faith asserts that God’s Word is enunciated in every age and every human life by the work of God’s Holy Spirit.”[11] The real power of contemplative action; is the vision becoming flesh for our times through collaboration and cooperation.

 

Contemplative Adaptation and Learning:

“Since God calls us new every moment, the response of faith is never-ending. The hearing demands an asceticism of attentiveness. There is never a moment before death when faith can say, ‘Enough it is finished.’ ”[12]   This statement speaks that God is always engaging and calling the transformative community to learn and adapt their evolving direction. It allows the group to continue experiencing God in both the known and unknown. 

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One of the hallmarks of adaptation and learning is creating a resilient community on mission. It is the ability to adapt and change with sudden shifts in the economic, political, social and spiritual dimensions. “Resilience is what happens when we’re able to move forward even when things don’t fit together the way we expect.”[13]  As we have experienced, these swings often happen without warning and create seismic shifts to society.

 

“We live today in an age of transition, in which traditional ways of thinking and living are passing away, yet new ways have not been found to replace them. It generates doubt and confusion and above all, a sense of profound dissatisfaction.”[14] This quote speaks to the question and needs to create transformative communities that demonstrate the ability to be nimble. God is actively present both in the darkest times and moments of light. There is a collective need to nurture the virtue of hope.

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In times of significant change, continuous learning and adaptation is not a luxury.  These qualities are essential for achieving any bold direction. A key ingredient is foresight, the capacity to explore emerging questions.

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Foresight as describe in Webster Dictionary is “the act of looking forward.” “Foresight is different from prediction! Foresight scans and anticipates possible futures in recognition of the fundamentally unpredictable and uncontrollable nature of the complex dynamic systems we participate in.”[15]

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This virtue invites us into experiencing God, not as a static presence rather in walking with us to explore emerging questions. That presence will support us into greater participation in the unfolding universe.  Foresight is keeping the “what if” questions and emerging trends in front of us as we pursue a visionary direction.

 

For example:

• How has your community/organization been transformed in the past six months?

• What is one evolving issue that will impact your community/organization in the next five years?

• By 2020, what adaptive capacities will the community need to develop?

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One of the critical elements is for a transformative community to seek continual formation. A significant capacity is to see what is emerging, and what new capabilities will be needed to cultivate and develop individually and collectively.  There is a need to nurture ongoing formation and capacity development in light of our desired direction.  We often affirm a plan without taking the time to explore the transformative adjustment needed to achieve it.  There is a tendency to believe we can create a bold vision and maintain the same skills and mental frameworks. Discernment is always calling us to leave the known and move into the unknown. These historical times are teaching us anew the spiritual discipline of collectively living in the known and unknown. This ancient spiritual practice invites us to release control and live the gift of receptive openness.  It is not comfortable to hold the tension of the two.

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What allows the transformative community to live this spiritual path is to create a real-time structure that supports ongoing learning and adaptation. We live in a world with shifting events on a weekly, monthly and yearly bases often without notice. Thus the community needs to foster a community culture that encourages learning and adaptation not as an idea but instead as a living discipline. 

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Summary:

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What is clear is that the transformative communities’ discernment process is rooted in being present to God’s movement in a significant paradigm shift.  They live the words of Donella Meadow, “Vision without action is useless. But action without vision does not know where to go or why to go there. Vision is necessary to guide and motivate action. More than that, vision, when widely shared and firmly kept in sight brings into being new systems.”[16]

 

Transformative communities create a culture of discernment through contemplation in the areas of presence, design, action, and adaptation/learning. Transformative Communities recognize this is a sacred path in an integrated and diverse society. Thomas Merton offered a definition of contemplation that is simple, yet challenging. He said it is a way of being “fully active, fully aware, fully alive.”[17]  It speaks to the gift and challenge of the spiritual path for the transformative community as it becomes a culture of discernment.