09/04/2024
We have some exciting news. Next month we are launching a 9-month Practicing the Way of Jesus online learning community!
When we did a survey last month, the overwhelming majority of respondents said that they would prefer a longer-term 9-month format. That is consistent with the feedback we’ve gotten from our Lab participants over several years.
So, you may be wondering, why has it taken us to long to switch gears and consider a longer format?
1. It’s a big ask to invite people to sign up for a longer-term commitment that requires more financial investment.
2. We hoped that after a short-term experience in our learning labs, with some additional training, people would feel inspired and equipped to gather a practice-based group in their local community. In reality, many participants have struggled to identify people in their context who are ready to be part of a community of practice.
Our culture is oriented around quick wins, fixes, and returns. We like to think that getting insights, ideas, and exposure to new experiences and practices is all that is necessary. However, learning to live in a new way, inspired by Jesus, is a slow process that takes time, sustained effort, compassionate guidance, and community support—and the literal rewiring of your brain. Research in the science of learning suggests that to learn a new skill or have deeply internalized knowledge and wisdom requires first exposure, new experiences, forgetting, and then going back over the same material repeatedly. Even after gaining competency or mastery, if you don’t revisit the topic regularly, you will forget what you once knew. That’s why people who are responsible for the safety of others, like airline pilots, have to have continual training and be recertified regularly. (Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel).
I recall the times I spent with two of my earliest and most important teachers, Dallas Willard and Richard Rohr. I remember thinking, “They keep saying the same things I’ve heard them say, over and over. I think I got it.” On a cognitive level, I could grasp ideas like the kingdom of God, non-dualism, moving from false self to true self, and the importance of silence and solitude. But looking back I realize my grasp was superficial. It took years for me to internalize what they wanted to teach me. It took me a long time to develop a consistent contemplative practice. It has taken me years to learn to forgive the people who have hurt me. It is taking me a long time to learn to trust God, overcome my shame, love others, and love myself.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes it feels like I need to relearn things over and over again.
Recently I invited author ChiChi Agorom to guest lecture in a doctoral course I teach. She is a therapist and author of The Enneagram For Black Liberation, (a book I highly recommend). One of her comments really stuck with me. She said, “In our desire to grow and change, it can feel like we keep circling around the same issues and challenges. But what if growth is like a screw being drilled into wood. Every time we revisit our challenges and do the work, the screw turns and goes deeper.”
We want to invite you to the slow work of turning the screw to go deeper. We’d love for you to consider joining one of our learning community cohorts! See the full description and a link to apply on the reimagine dot org website/ learning community
