The world is alive with your goodness, O God,
it grows green from the ground
and ripens into the roundness of fruit.
Its taste and its touch
enliven my body and stir my soul.
Generously given
profusely displayed
your graces of goodness pour forth from the earth.
As I have received
so free me to give.
As I have been granted
so may I give.
~J. Phillip Newell

One of the local television news programs has a nightly segment called “Good Question”. People can write in and ask a question they have pondered and a reporter will do his level best to research and find an answer to that question. The content varies from the profound to the ridiculous but never fails to be interesting. Since I am a lover of questions in general, I always am intrigued to hear what queries people have roaming around in their brains.

Yesterday I was cleaning out my book bag and found some notes I had taken recently while listening to a speaker. Down in the lower lefthand corner of a scrap of paper, I had written a question the speaker had posed: “What dialogue is imperative for the good of the world?” Good question!

I remember sitting up straighter in my seat when this question was stated. I say stated because the speaker’s point was not to answer the question but to explain that in the community in which he lived this was a question that bound them together. Their communal conversational life was grounded in exploring what dialogues they were commanded to have for the good of the world. When I found the piece of paper and was re-introduced to the question, my mind started spinning.

What dialogue IS imperative for the good of the world? What do you imagine these conversations might contain? Have you had any conversations lately that led to the good of the world?

Last night I led a group of people through a book study where ‘living with reverence’ was a central theme. It seems to me that so much of what might bring us and conversely the world to a greater good is the practice of living reverently. What if our community dialogue led us to honor the Holy within ourselves and then turn that mirror toward each person we meet? Would the on-going practice of such dialogue lead to the good of the world? I believe it would. Would we, through the gift of this dialogue, find ourselves more aware of the Spirit within us and within all Creation?

This might lead us to have some very long and compassionate conversations about the inequity of resources in our communities, nation and the world. Everyday I make my drive around our city streets and see those who make their homes on those same streets. There are many contributing factors to why this is so and the reasons are complex. But as a person of privilege and faith, it is something that should and does nag at me. What kind of dialogue might happen that would bring an answer that moves these people and all of us to a common good?

There are so many dialogues that are imperative for the good of the world. In some ways it is overwhelming to know where to begin. But today is as good a day as any. In our workplaces and homes, in our schools and coffee shops, conversations will happen that have the potential to bring good into the world. I believe if we set our intention to bring this good into the world in all the conversations we have this day, it will make a difference. These will most likely not be the ‘big’ dialogues that the speaker was referring to but will be common conversations about common things. However, if we practice these dialogues well, it will prepare us for bringing our spirit and being in the presence of the Spirit, when the even bigger conversations present themselves.