Spiral Dynamics

-
So right now I'm struggling with the concept of Spiral Dynamics. I've encountered this before, but it's interesting to right now consider how it applies to ministry and our movement. Look at Table 1 in this paper for more information. What meme/worldview do you see Unitarian Universalism as operating from? Where do you see yourself? Where do you see your congregation? What are the limitations of the worldview from which you operate?
Meme 1 - Beige: SurvivalSense - survival, protection
Meme 2 - Purple: KinSpirits - tribalistic
Meme 3 - Red: PowerGods - Power, ego
Meme 4 - Blue: TruthForce - Authority, one right answer
Meme 5 - Orange: StriveDrive - Success
Meme 6 - Green: HumanBond - caring, community
Meme 7 - Yellow: FlexFlow - flexability, adaptability
Meme 8 - Turquoise: WholeView - spirituality, wholeness
(And do be polite in your response, even if you struggle with another's worldview.)

Comments

Matthew Smith said…
Hi Cynthia,
I see you are a sympathetic soul. I'm a Unitarian ministry student in the UK. I see many problems in UK Unitarianism as a struggle between orange and green. I wonder whether an integral vision (despite the danger of being perceived as hierarchical) is preferable to pluralism which may be worthy but ultimate not sustaining of hope for the future. Warm regards, Matthew Smith Email: matthew@clayhill2.freeserve.co.uk
Saturday, April 26, 2014 at 3:30:00 PM EDT
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Garrison Keillor Is no "Companion" for Unitarian Universalists

-
Many Unitarian Universalists, myself included, are regular NPR listeners.  And among them, many listen regularly to Garrison Keillor's " A Prairie Home Companion ."  It's on weekly at about the time I leave church, so I have listened to it many times.  Garrison Keillor makes a regular practice of poking fun at Unitarian Universalists on his show.  I've often had church members come and tell me he mentioned us again, often with delight, because we're so rarely mentioned in the media.  One example of a Unitarian Universalist joke attributed to Garrison Keillor is: "A sign at the Unitarian church said: Bible study at 7:00. Bring your Bible and a pair of scissors."  So, yes, some of the joke are funny, some point out our foibles and idiosyncrasies.  But lately I've been turning off NPR whenever "A Prairie Home Companion" comes on.  Listening to him talk about us over the years it's becoming more and more evident that he isn't laugh...
Read more
-
The UUA has announced a new campaign against hate crimes, "Standing on the Side of Love." Hate crimes are definitely something we've had enough of in the last year: July 27, 2008: Jim David Adkisson enters the Tennessee Valley UU Church and kills two people and wounds more. He says in his manifesto , "This was a hate crime: I hate the damn left-wing liberals." May 31, 2009: Scott Roeder enters a Lutheran Church and kills Dr. George Tiller. He is quoted as saying on a blog, "Bleass [sic] everyone for attending and praying in May to bring justice to Tiller and the closing of his death camp." June 10, 2009: James Wenneker von Brunn enters the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and kills a guard. Von Brunn ran an anti-Semitic website and had connections to hate groups. What is striking about these three, in comparison to all the other horrible hate crimes that happen, is that they all took place in places that should be places of peace, where we hono...
Read more

Triggers

-
Image
Photo by  Quentin Kemmel  on  Unsplash I'm realizing that although I have at least two degrees of separation from any mass shooting, these school shootings and other mass shootings are still something of a trigger for me. It's at least in part related to the 2013 shooting deaths of Chris Keith and Isaac Miller . Chris Keith was a former member of my church. She and her son Isaac were killed in an act of domestic violence, by her estranged husband. Like the killer in the recent school shooting, Chris's killer was a known threat. These are the things I know about her killer: He had been abusive of Chris for some time. Chris minimized the abuse when talking to me, saying it was the first time, when it wasn't, but she wasn't ready to leave. What I didn't know, but found out after her death was that authorities had been called all the way back in 2003, before I met her. In the news it was revealed that Chris had taken out a personal protection order agai...
Read more