Probably the most memorable night at General Council 40 was the evening when each table group was invited to write a six word story about the work that the General Council had done so far, the mood of the meeting, or a particular theme or incident that happened during our time in Kelowna.
After the stories were written, we were invited by the moderator to come to the microphones to share the work of our creative enterprise. It was a wonderful evening composed of laughs, poignant moments, brilliant insights and just a fun evening to take our minds and hearts in a different direction for a brief time.
Hopefully the six word stories that were shared that evening will be preserved in some fashion, because they just might be some of the best stuff to come out of the General Council. That is not meant to be a criticism of the important work that got accomplished, it's just that I think the creative work we were called to do with the six word stories was something that helped us to think differently, step outside the box and do some dreaming with both seriousness and whimsy.
The "six word story" theme was inspired in part by this famous six word story by Ernest Hemingway: Baby Shoes For Sale. Hardly Used. It makes sense that Hemingway, the master of minimalist writing would be the one to come up with such a meaningful and mysterious story in such a few words.
I hinted last night that "six word stories" are the prose version of the haiku which have appeared in this blog on more than one occasion. I also hinted in one of my haiku verses that a six word story might show up in this night's entry. Let's see how it might go:Lenten practice sometimes works for me.
Every Sunday a little Easter. Hallelujah!
This dude's off to bed Goodnight
Yellowknife,
March 26, 2010
