Responsibility denotes ones own ability to accept, absorb and learn from their decisions.  This often takes place when a person finds themselves at a “crossroads” in life.  A traumatic incident may have taken place, for example, a death of a loved one or loss of job.  These incidents evoke a stress response in the neurological system, causing systemic results in the mind, body and spirit.  As the person goes through the transformational process of full acceptance of ones own behavior or situation in life, they become responsible for their personality.  (This could take years, decades, a life time or never at all.)

Here is my perspective:

People in western Society don’t like reality.  The acceptance of who they are, because we are really good at developing extensions of ourselves.  Ie, business, blogging, inventions etc. Our extensions allow us to analyse and distract us from the core of who we are.  The real problem facing the world today.  We can be all connected virtually at any moment, and yet we have digressed in our own understanding of our responsibilities.  We can live in alternative realities of what it means to be human, male, female, black, white, successful, etc.

We tend to accept the illusion that we are above culture, that somehow our understanding of ourself comes from a higher power.  As someone who’s worldview and belief system is shaped by my identity in a Anabaptist/Mennonite faith tradition.  I do believe in a higher power (God), however, in my work with Christians, I am finding an unwillingness to accept our own limitations, as well as possibilities for greatness.  (The word greatness needs work, I am not able to go into for this blog post.)

For example: I have notice this from my own personal development and work with organizations and individuals.  There is a tendency to slip into the comfortable understanding of self as just made up from the values of our culture.  This is just one small example:  Our culture values what we buy, because our broader society values the consumptions of goods and services.  Therefor, my identity becomes shaped by where I shop, who I support financially etc.  This is not wrong, but it does not make up the some of all our parts a citizens of the world, in our own particular tribe, family and business.  This can be found in where we live, the church we go to, the places we shop, and the name on our bank account.

My suggestion is we all take small steps toward responsibility for our personality.  We must stop thinking we can change the world and start believing we can be apart of the greatest transformation to ever happen in human civilization.  I am talking about the illumination of all mankind.  That we are all connected and who I am, what I do actually matters.  It does, just look at your neighbor, or the person who washes the dishes at the restaurant you frequent.

Over time, a long period of time, individually and collectively we can have a reorientation of character.  We can be transformed by the renewing of our minds – scripture.

Here is the question:

How are you oriented right now and what are small steps you can take to reorient toward responsibility today?

According to wikipedia‘s  definition of Character Orientation:

Receptive Orientation: People who are passive.

What are you asking from someone that you can be responsible for?

What can you do right now to become responsible?

Hoarding Orientation: People collect and keep stuff they don’t need

What are things you do not use you can get rid of this week?

Marketing Orientation: Who are you trying to sell?

To take a step today, I would suggest asking the question:

What/Who am I investing in?

This blog was inspired by my investment in my own personal understanding and responsibility for decisions and outcomes I find less desirable.  We all have a shadow mine tends to be narcissistic, impulsive, unfocused, rebellious, undisciplined, possessive, manic, self destructive, and restless.  This is true, just ask my wife or colleges over the past 10 years.  However, with that said I have a radical belief that we are living in and out of a story.  My story is not over, but it has meant taking responsibility for my personality. Understanding my strengths, my unique contribution to my wife, daughter, family, friends, colleges, partners, congregation, community and world.

If you are feeling in transition this post is for you.  Welcome to the new normal, welcome to the new way of being in this world.  Where we can finally face some of the the lies which we inherited like “security” and “wealth” and flip them on their heads with a radical simplicity.  A hope in something more than the individualistic, consumer, American “dream”, which has failed us all.

To understand failure and its power of transformation, I believe one needs to fail their expectations and live in spite of fear.  The driving theme in our human narrative is the fear of death.  Overcoming our greatest fears, is a process of living well.

“What do you do?” is in my estimation the toughest question for a person in transition.

May I suggest a better question for people in transition, “What are you learning?”

Here is what I am learning:

1. We need new metrics of success.  (Money, power, fame will not work in this new world we are living in, where the curator of information and the promoter of others, becomes the new CEO, because last I heard the salaries aren’t that good

2. We need community more than we need commodities. (When I use the word community think of this analogy.  An alcoholic steps into a room and this persons friend hands them a diet coke while entering a party.  Community empowers the person, it does not enable destruction.)

3. There is are new social spaces emerging. (We have the white noise of social space vibrating our phones and filling our minds with activity.   But People who make real face to face human contact happen, will yield the new currency.)

4. Empathy can take the lead in the “new economy”. (I am biased, I have a passion for faith communities specifically the tribe I belong too.  The reason the congregation can lead is they can design mission around people projects, not buildings and salaries.)

5. At the end of my life, I will be thankful for this year. (I am overjoyed with a thankfulness to the people who have allowed me to commit and share with.  Each week I become affirmed in my faith as a way of life, not just a belief.)

One year ago I stepped away from a company I co-founded with my father, wife and a couple friends.  I did this to reclaim my life and it’s purpose. I did this to integrate a life lived on mission with my wife who is my greatest partner and friend.  I did this, because I have a daughter and if I hope for her to live in a way that is abundant and meaningful than, I better start living with intention.

Step 1 – I went back to school to finish a degree in leadership.

Why did I go to Eastern Mennonite Seminary?

The Anabaptist Mennonite narrative is my grounding story.  They are my faith community and were instrumental in bringing me back to life.  I hope to ultimately work with leaders in activating their God given dreams for this world on the mission of reconciliation and transformation.

Step 2 – We started a “company” Why?

This time we designed it a little differently by founding a Talent Collective.  I have a gift and I want to share it with amazing people, companies and organizations.  There are better ways to work and www.myohai.com is just one of them.

Step 3 – We named and joined a movement

There are 1000′s of movements all around us, I recommend naming one or joining one you identify with.  I connect and collaborate with www.ohipeople.com and www.anabaptistnetwork.org.

In the past year I have had the opportunity to share my gift with inspiring people doing amazing work in business, NPO’s, community development and churches.

Thank you for all those who have given me oppertunities and encouragement over the past year.

I have not used the word “calling” in my vocabulary till recently, due to the many meanings it has had in my life.  It used to mean to me that there was this specific job, role, task I was meant to do or person I was meant to be.  Now calling is more about the fullfillment of a longing that ecompasses both my intellectual, spiritual and emotional understanding of myself in the world.  I fullfill my calling primarly in the small things, like doing dishes, laundry and spending time with Andrea, my wife, June my daughter and the relationship extenstion that keep me grounded.

I need grounding in my life, because I am a dreamer and impulsive.  Expressing myself as a whole person in family and society comes with its challenges.  Number one challenge in my life is developing a carreer, profession or the word I like to use: vocation.  The word vocation takes into account the small things I do every day to fullfill my calling.  I have a deep longing to be a husband, father and worker.  A person who serves God in the profession of helping people live their calling through their business, ministry and work.

Five months ago Andrea and I went a way to a small house in New Jersey to find clearity on how we would live out our longings as parents and workers the upcoming year.  After seeking counsel from wise leaders who know our passion, hopes and dreams we started a talent cohort to do our work together in community with people who have gifts outside our capacity.  This provides a level of accountability and a structure to work with small business leaders, Ministries, and Non Profits.

Andrea and I failed at our first effort of working together. Largely because of my ego and in ability to take her lead where she is strong.  Thankfully the business we helped start continues to this day and it doing well.  Removing ourselves from structures that did not support our strength was our first step in developing our vocation and fulfilling our calling.  We have just begun and it is a challenge and rewarding in our personal relationship.  There are many different opportunities we have because of this decision, but it has meant letting go of the american dream of owning home, property and stuff.  We are privilege to even get to decide that we will “sacrifice” those dreams for a more holistic dream of living our calling.

How do you celebrate your way of life?

How do you understand your way of being in this world?

The revolution is the leveling of the playing field.  People want to offer their best to the world and they are tired of being told to wait until the powers that be are ready for them to serve.  This is heard in the global voice of young educated leaders in Egypt who used social networks to organize, communicate and create change in their country.  This revolution is taking place in the market space of philanthropy, social entrepreneurship and and it is even taking place in and around the American evangelical faith communities.

This can be witnessed in the rise of tribes who support the release of a new book by Rob Bell.  This can also be viewed as a grand marketing platform which get’s an organic trending topic on twitter and thousands of comments on blog posts.  I think of it as a sign of what people of faith want.  They want to bring their “calling” to the for front of the way they live.  Not in a dogmatic or forced way.  They want to be liberated and able to lead with their whole heart.

As a recovering Evangelical I found myself liberated in my 20′s by the ability to enter into the questions people like Rob Bell, Brian McLaren and now early Anabaptist voices through class’s and Eastern Mennonite Seminary.  The historical narrative of faith expressions connecting people to the teachings and way of Jesus is and will always be transformational.  The fact is we do not “know” intellectually as we once thought we did and this scares a lot of people.  It is easy to sell Certainty, people want to know if they are in or if they are out.  If it is not as simple as hitting a “like” button on my computer I may loose interest a leave your church for my television or go to a golf course.

As a person who has just emerged from many years wrestling with my identity as a “christian” and how I live and work in the world.  Recently I have started working with local leaders on a faith experiment this has helped shape the way I feel I best serve the needs of my local community.  I am both a leader and a listener.  I am listening to the passions of leaders in and around the church and I am leading by creating platforms for people to collaborate and bring their inner desires to the community.

We have asked the question of what it would like like to work together with other faith communities, business leaders and artists for the common good of a community.  We do this through collaboration and generosity.  You can learn more about the emerging platform for generosity at Open Hand Initiative.

1.  Breathing when I felt anxiety rise.

2. Trusting people as much or more than I trust myself.

3.  Choosing to see the good in all things

I have the joy of working with talented people.  My role is simple: build relationships, listen to concerns, hear desires or dreams of leaders and respond with an idea to implement.  Then I introduce that leader to the talent to execute the strategy or we develop the talent from within the organization.  To complete this kind of work, I have needed help from others…

In the midst of my learning how to develop my own personal foundation I often find myself overwhelmed by the confusion of birthing something new, innovative and real.  I have an innate desire to see people achieve the dream that wakes them up and opens their mind.  I find solace in knowing I have been used as a resource and tool in their life to move their dream further along down the process of possibility.

This quick post may help anyone who still confuses Christmas with the incarnation of God through Jesus.  From what I can tell this is a holiday filled with expectations of a bi gone era when Christianity was king and society affirmed the Christian story.

Maybe one way Christians who believe this story can engage in the ever evolving post Christian landscape is through relationships with people who think we are crazy, weird or uneducated.  We have an opportunity to share good news through being human with people in our neighborhood.  Listening to the common thread of stress and loneliness during meals supposed to bring meaning, but all to often bringing frustration and anger.  This type of conversation may bring a fuller understanding of the narrative of God’s love in which we find hope.

This piece from the New York Times gives a perspective I find helpful.  The last line states:  Christians need to find a way to thrive in a society that looks less and less like any sort of Christendom — and more and more like the diverse and complicated Roman Empire where their religion had its beginning, 2,000 years ago this week.

I am not certain of the Christian story, but I am a believer.  I have a hope that comes from my own on going reconciliation that puts the narrative of the incarnation, along with the death and resurrection at the center of my being.  Advent seems to be a better practice for my understanding and worldview than Christmas.  Please don’t misunderstand, I like Christmas: the imagination, creativity and gift giving (at times), but I long to be apart of something more epic, like the grand narrative of scripture gives us…

This Christmas I find myself  hopeful because of:

A deep and growing relationship with Andrea (my partner, friend, wife.)

A challenging and fun relationship with my daughter June.

A reconciling relationship with my extended family.

A growing relationship with my faith community.

A fuller acceptance of myself, my complexity and eccentricity.

Most of all I am overwhelmed by the provision that I can only call God Grace through others and through an emerging sense of call to a new way of life.

When sometimes the most revolutionary thing I can do is accept myself, love my wife and others.  Work a job, go to church and make a meal.

May peace find you in the chaos of the season.

Finding my way again,

Scott

I had the privilege of listening to Stuart Murray speak at the Franconia Conference during a leadership breakfast.  The Naked Anabaptist has been one of many books which have influenced my return to a Mennonite faith community through the Salford Congregation.  Recently, Andrea and I became members at a time when many people are finding their way to faith through an Anabaptist tradition.

Here is a brief history of our vocational/educational/communal faith journey:

Andrea and I met in high school on a trip to Atlanta for people interested in missions.  We both experienced some transformation and believed we were called to live a life as mission.   I was a senior at  Christopher Dock and she attended Lancaster Mennonite.  We were both influenced in positive ways by Anabaptist stories and formation through excellent education and development.  Even though our family history is Anabaptist we never felt apart of the Mennonite culture, which has made our return to this community even more transformational.  It has allowed us to rescript our story and bring new life to our worldviews.

After High school we went on to study at Eastern University where I majored in Youth Ministry and Andrea majored in Theology.  During College I served at Branchcreek as a youth pastor while Andrea helped develop and launch Encounter.  Then we moved to The Woodlands UMC to work in youth ministry as well develop another alternative service called “Teleos”.  We then moved back to Pennsylvania to pursue further education.  We collaborated with some local leaders and started a faith community called Livingroom which we participated in for the next five years.  During that time Andrea received her MBA in Economic Development and I started attending Biblical Seminary, but was unable to finish due to the launch and growth of One Village Coffee which I co-founded in March of 2007.  This fall I transferred my credits to Eastern Mennonite Seminary Pennsylvania Campus where I plan to finish a degree in Congregational Leadership with a focus on local and global mission.

Recently, I was speaking with a life long Mennonite in my congregation and he asked me, “why are so many people coming joining Salford?”  I explained something that Stuart Murray made clear during the leadership breakfast.  The Anabaptist tradition offers good news to the marginalized lonely people in our world.  We have transformational stories to tell about how people lived out their mission of reconciliation and peace.  These stories point to the meta-narative of God’s Mission through Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection.

As someone who was surrounded by the Mennonite culture my whole life and never felt like I was home, I know that Stuart’s point about “good news” for our world is arguable.  There has been much pain caused through cultural differences, shunning and other destructive behaviors.  However, like any great story there is pain and there is reconciliation.  I will continue to tell my story of transformation and how relationships with this faith community are creating a new reality for Andrea and I to live out our calling.

We are designed to live and create meaning.  We are all on a path toward new creation.  I found a space to belong in a Mennonite context in Southeastern Pa and I plan on sharing this good news as a story of hope, faith and love.  May you find encouragement from this simple story from a Mennonite on the margin.

1. Creating Jobs: I still can not get over the thought that somehow creating a marketable good in the economy of Specialty Coffee, has given people a place to work. (I get at least one email or call a week for the past several months about job opportunities. Thankfully it is not up to me or I would hire most people, because I enjoy giving people what they want.)

2. Being apart of Growth: It is a crazy thought that a year ago at this time we had four wholesale customers, now we have five times that. I do not know how good this is in the world of start ups, but according to our B-Plan we are doing well.

3. Something new: What we are doing at One Village Coffee is about building a business that supports Non-Profit work, or causes. This is not a new idea, but in the world of start up specialty coffee roasters it is unique. The fact that the wells we will build this year are connected to friends we have in Nigeria is tremendously fulfilling.

This Past weekend my friend Josh Smith and wife Gina Smith came up from Maryland to celebrate his graduation from .

Friday evening Jared Byas , Josh and I sat on the upper porch off my “man room” to be… and spoke of our dreams to develope community to see trasformation of culture and lives for the betterment of the the world.