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I am the coordinator of the STA Centering Prayer Group.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Is America in danger of being taken over by a race of elite superhuman intelligent beings? No, I haven’t heard of an imminent invasion by space aliens, but I did read an extensive article in the New York Times on the “Singularity Movement” that raised thoughts of such an invasion in my mind. The Singularity is a movement embraced by a group of the smartest and wealthiest technological minds in Silicon Valley. The vision of the Singularity movement is that eventually human beings and machines will be able to merge (if images of “The Borg” from Star Trek arise in your mind, you get the picture). Such a union will free these human/machine entities from illness, old age, and even death.

Raymond Kurzweil, the spokesperson for the movement , made clear his intention to live for hundreds of years and even to resurrect his father. The eventual advances of neuroscience and technological ability will enable him to download memories and data; medical advances will enable him to prepare his body for longevity. At this time, Mr. Kurzweil takes 150 pills a day and receives “regular intravenous procedures,” in addition to “reprogramming his body through a low-fat, vegetable-rich diet and regular exercise” (well, we’re all supposed to be doing that, right?). Nonetheless, I could not help but reflect upon how terribly frightened this man must be of death. Can technology truly “fix” everything – even the “problem” of death?

I’m not sure whether to laugh at this prospect or to cry. It seems so sci-fi; indeed, there are probably many in a position to say, “This all sounds great, but it IS sci-fi – we simply aren’t there yet.” Nonetheless, apparently there are some who think it CAN happen and is a really nifty idea. This of course raises all kinds of questions about how and whether this changes how we think of ourselves as human. Will these “borgs” become the new standard of humanity? Will the rest of us become “less than human”? The implications of such a superhuman “master race” are frightening. But I’m not yet ready to build a fallout shelter against the impending invasion!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

This summer I'm reading Barry L. Padgett's Professional Morality and Guilty Bystanding: Merton's Conjectures and the Value of Work. I'm going to be using it in my business ethics class this fall. While teaching the course last semester, I discerned that I needed a "formation" component to the course - that is, I felt the students needed to be coaxed out of their "business" mindset and invited to reflect upon who they are and what is important to them.

One of the favorite buzz phrases in business these days is "thinking outside the box." It is so ubiquitous among business students that I am tempted to ban its use from my classroom. It is a vanity, really, because people use the phrase to flatter themselves that they are "thinking outside the box" when really they are doing nothing of the sort.

Truly thinking outside the box requires profound self-knowledge of the Socratic sort. At one point Padgett notes, "self-reflection is a necessary component of living a moral life at all" (p. 107). I was so excited to read this sentence, as it expresses something that I've known all along and was not quite able to articulate. If we are going to go beyond mere compliance and become truly moral, we need not just to know the ethical theories and apply them to case studies, we need not just to memorize the four Franciscan principles of Marian University. We need to engage in deep and life-long self-reflection; we need to be open to what we learn from that reflection; and then we must act accordingly.

I'm looking forward to offering my students an adventure in self-knowledge this fall.

Padgett, Barry L. Professional Morality and Guilty Bystanding: Merton's Conjectures and the Value of Work. Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2009.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Training in Franciscan Servant Leadership

Next week, I will be presenting on Training in Franciscan Servant Leadership for Business Leaders together with Marcy Ripberger of Character Council of Indiana at the 2010 Symposium of the Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities. The symposium is being hosted by the University of St. Francis in Ft. Wayne, IN.

Marcy and I will be building on the practices of Franciscan Servant Leadership that I discussed in my previous blog: dialogue, discernment of gifts, and shared leadership. I will add prayer to that list as well. After this brief talk, we hope to show a couple of videos – one modeling poor leadership and the other modeling an appeals process that will illustrate some of the practices of Franciscan leadership in action. I imagine an energetic discussion will ensue.

The theme of the symposium is “Care for Creation.” Since business can be conceived of as an essential human creation – and since there is plenty of evidence that business has been poorly cared for of late – our presentation fits the symposium theme nicely.

Without giving away the whole presentation, suffice it to say that the four practices build upon one another. Through prayer, we discern God’s call to us to serve as leaders. Since servant leadership is about meeting needs, we engage in dialogue with those we serve to discern those needs. True dialogue that seeks the good of the other and not ourselves is only possible if undergirded by a prayerful attitude. As we discover needs and conceive of tasks to be performed to meet those needs, we need to understand our own and our team members’ gifts and talents. As we go through this discernment individually and in community, we do so in prayer and through dialogue. Finally, as we set upon the tasks before us, we share in leadership of the team. Those best equipped for certain tasks step up and lead the team. Some leaders may need to step down and allow others to exercise leadership and take authority. Again, we do this prayerfully, engaging in dialogue and constantly reviewing the gifts and talents of each person in the group.

While the practices of dialogue, discernment of gifts, and shared leadership can be embraced by a secular approach to servant leadership, I believe that prayer is a necessary practice that undergirds and perfects the other 3 practices. Furthermore, the Franciscan flavor of these practices is evident because the practices bring to fulfillment the four Franciscan values that Marian University embraces: dignity of the individual; peace and justice; reconciliation; and responsible stewardship.