Richard, your writing continues to provoke reflection and, often, a sense of resonance. This piece—particularly the lines around “relationships dilute with distance” and the call to attend to values through lived action—feels deeply relevant. And yet, I find myself sitting with a growing discomfort.
There’s a haunting beauty to the “gradually, then suddenly” arc you describe, but I’m left asking:
Are we—those drawn to this space—responding with enough urgency and clarity to the ‘suddenly’ we now inhabit?
Or are we at risk of becoming observers of change, not participants in its shaping?
You write of the value in small, relational acts, and I agree. But in the face of systems that are structurally broken—or actively extractive—what does agency look like for the new artisans? What are we building that goes beyond commentary and companionship?
I sense this community is rich in awareness, but I wonder:
• Are we applying scrutiny to ourselves, or simply enjoying the comfort of shared perception?
• Is our language one of construction and consequence, or mostly metaphor?
Put bluntly: are we here to soothe each other in the storm, or to craft tools and take action?
It may be that the answer lies in embracing both roles—but if we’re serious about values, relationships, and post-suddenly renewal, I believe we owe it to ourselves to risk more, decide more, and do more.
Your comment made me smile; it arrived as I was talking with @JohnnieMoore on the same basis. There is a space, I think, between the "comfort and support" of shared views and the space for action. I think of it as "The Quiet Before" - a liminal, catalytic space that works on Kairos rather than Chronos time in which what needs to happen appears rather than being constructed. It does the impatient side of my head in, but I think we cannot build new approaches fed by the energy of old models.
Much to think on here - and your thoughts much valued.
Very much agree. Distance is not always the "space between" us. Instead, the mediating institutions of society can both have a diluting and an intensification effect on our relationships. Reading Ferdinand Tonnies' "Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft" distinguishing between community and society in the 70s, To Empower People: The Role of Mediating Structures in Public Policy by Peter Berger and Richard John Neuhaus in the 80s, then Communitarian Amitai Etizoni's work and Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone in the 90s, I realized that in order to foster healthy relationships, we need to understand the context in which they take place. Seeing people overcome these limitations was the source of seeing what I have described as "the persistent, residual culture of values that persists because it resides in the relationships of the people." It is that "hidden in plain sight" reality that is necessary for society to be resilient in the face of chaotic change.
Richard, your writing continues to provoke reflection and, often, a sense of resonance. This piece—particularly the lines around “relationships dilute with distance” and the call to attend to values through lived action—feels deeply relevant. And yet, I find myself sitting with a growing discomfort.
There’s a haunting beauty to the “gradually, then suddenly” arc you describe, but I’m left asking:
Are we—those drawn to this space—responding with enough urgency and clarity to the ‘suddenly’ we now inhabit?
Or are we at risk of becoming observers of change, not participants in its shaping?
You write of the value in small, relational acts, and I agree. But in the face of systems that are structurally broken—or actively extractive—what does agency look like for the new artisans? What are we building that goes beyond commentary and companionship?
I sense this community is rich in awareness, but I wonder:
• Are we applying scrutiny to ourselves, or simply enjoying the comfort of shared perception?
• Is our language one of construction and consequence, or mostly metaphor?
Put bluntly: are we here to soothe each other in the storm, or to craft tools and take action?
It may be that the answer lies in embracing both roles—but if we’re serious about values, relationships, and post-suddenly renewal, I believe we owe it to ourselves to risk more, decide more, and do more.
Hi Steve,
Your comment made me smile; it arrived as I was talking with @JohnnieMoore on the same basis. There is a space, I think, between the "comfort and support" of shared views and the space for action. I think of it as "The Quiet Before" - a liminal, catalytic space that works on Kairos rather than Chronos time in which what needs to happen appears rather than being constructed. It does the impatient side of my head in, but I think we cannot build new approaches fed by the energy of old models.
Much to think on here - and your thoughts much valued.
Onwards....
Very much agree. Distance is not always the "space between" us. Instead, the mediating institutions of society can both have a diluting and an intensification effect on our relationships. Reading Ferdinand Tonnies' "Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft" distinguishing between community and society in the 70s, To Empower People: The Role of Mediating Structures in Public Policy by Peter Berger and Richard John Neuhaus in the 80s, then Communitarian Amitai Etizoni's work and Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone in the 90s, I realized that in order to foster healthy relationships, we need to understand the context in which they take place. Seeing people overcome these limitations was the source of seeing what I have described as "the persistent, residual culture of values that persists because it resides in the relationships of the people." It is that "hidden in plain sight" reality that is necessary for society to be resilient in the face of chaotic change.