Starfish and the Spider: The language of Touched Twice United

Since 1996 I have had a difficult time talking to people about the methodology or philosophy that Touched Twice United was organized around. Recently I was recommended the book, Starfish and the Spider; The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations. This book has given me the common language to engage people in another system that doesn't require a heavy, top down controlling bureaucracy. This system instead requires release and trust to allow it to grow. It is easily duplicated and is extremely resilient. The authors contrast and compare the creatures starfish and spiders. At fist glance they look similar. However if you cut the head off a spider it dies, cut a starfish and you tend to get another starfish.

It seems that the current health care system needs some work and our country can no longer afford to sustain the current escalating costs. Without some major change in thinking things look bleak. Either costs will continue to rise or people will be cut off from care.

I believe that this starfish way of organizing offers the hope we all are looking for. Helping more people at less costs while continuing the progressive research and development America know for. Over the next several blogs, I will see if I can effectively convey this idea using the language of The Starfish and Spider over the next few blog spots. This is a collaborative work in progress and it will require your help.

Wisdom of Solomon

Just this morning I was I woke up to a report on gay marriage. I started thinking about what I believe on this divisive subject. I feel that community and relationships are foundational to my understanding of God. For me the Trinity: Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit is the ultimate form of community. Jesus uses this 'one' language when describing His relationship to the Father as does the apostle Paul when he talks about the relationship between a husband and wife. A complete new entity is formed by these unions and it seems that they are by design not to be divided.

In the old testament, there was a king Solomon who the Bible says was the wisest man that ever lived or will live. (Sorry Dr Hawkings) In the text is a story of two woman fighting over a child. Both mothers claimed it was theirs. To solve the conflict Solomon declared that the baby be cut in two. Once hearing his verdict the birth mother disavowed any claim to the baby. Solomon understood that because of this idea of oneness, who the mother was.

Is it possible that this baby gives the understanding to why marriage was designed to produce one flesh and can not be duplicated by same sex couples? Simply accepting this does not produce any sort of solution. If nothing else it divides us even further from each other and gives more force into the argument. If only Solomon was here now to help us diffuse the situation and bring order to this chaos.

In this world with a fallen humanity, and regarding our relationships with our same sex brothers and sisters, what represents the baby and how can it be spared?