(Ir)religiosity

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Well, I made it. I’m back and quite exhausted. Being hit by the one two punch of being at a conference and going through daylight savings the same weekend drains you. But it was well worth it. On a whole the conference was great. I’ll mention a few highlights and then some criticism.

First, I was most impressed by the action taken by the staff throughout the conference to not only talk about sustainability, but to practice it as well. Too many times I’ve been to conference we’ve talked about sustainability over a nice styrofoam cup of coffee or strategized about alleviating poverty and world hunger over a 3 course, catered meal.

Second, aside from the information and knowledge gained from the plenaries and workshops, this trip was worth it just for the conversation and fellowship that was had among friends and colleagues. It’s kind of weird, I hung out with people I see almost everyday, but don’t speak to all that much. It took a conference for us to take off our “school hats” and engage in genuine friendship. That being said, I have the best friends and colleagues a guy could ask for; it’s not everyday you run across authentically concerned and compassionate folks who refuse to leave things the way they are. Amazing.

Now for the criticism. Or maybe it is just an observation of the typical happenings at these types of events. I don’t mind people sharing personal success stories about how they implemented a certain strategy that resulted in transformation. I think that’s great and further proves my belief that everything is and must be contextual and local. What I do have a problem with is the manner in which those stories are presented. More often than not these local, contextual stories are shoved on the listeners in a prescriptive manner that assumes a certain strategy or idea that worked in one context or locality can be generalized as some sort of silver bullet that will work for everyone. That is simply untrue. What works for me may note work for you and vice versa. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about sustainability or poverty. And in that respect and I don’t want to isolate this particular event. I’ve been to many conferences like this and it always happens. This one was better than most. All I’m saying is there is a way to share personal, local success stories in way that is not prescriptive and at times condescending. Contextuality needs to be shared, it is in enriching, but a larger conversation must jettison from that or else we’re just patting ourselves on the back.

Ok, enough said about that. Like I said, this was one of the better conference I’ve been to. I didn’t talk much about content here, but by and large it was good and spot on in most respects. I’m always holding my hope and my cynicism in tension. This weekend I was able to re-grip that tension with a sense of realism and without feeling like I’m out there being crazy all by myself, which I do most times.

~bh ><>