On September 19, 2012, I was asked to speak to the Lawrence Downtown Clergy group about my experience at the Kansas Leadership Center. These are the thoughts I wrote in preparation for that meeting.
When I went to KLC in August, I will be honest. I was
frustrated and disillusioned with Kansas. I was seeing a polarization of
political parties that was happening across the nation, particularly clear in
Kansas, and it seemed to be clear among religious lines as well. Kansas seemed
to be held up nationally as an example of what’s going wrong, and continually
presented as a state of backward-thinkers.
I was born in Emporia, my grandparents were from Newton and
Hillsbro, my entire family attended KU. But I rarely spoke about any of this in
public. Being a Kansan was not something to be proud of.
What I saw when I got to Wichita was this:
People were truly interested in sharing and learning about
other beliefs. Not with the intent of conversion, but with the intent of
finding commonalities, the intent to understand.
As we went around the room of nearly 80 attendees and shared
the problems we saw in our communities, it became clear that our problems were
not exclusive to one or two communities, or concerns for only one or two faith
groups.
And then we talked about what we were already doing in our
communities. And it became clear that there are already people who are making a
difference about things that we care about.
I found that we may use different words to describe the
reasons for why we do what we do in our communities- some used the words “for
the Glory of God”, some said they were doing “what Jesus would do”. Others just
said they were doing the right thing, because they had been there, or had had
the issue touch their lives in some way. But each person cared deeply about
what they were doing and wanted to do more, wanted to make more of a
difference.
I’m a Unitarian Universalist, and I learned some things
about Unitarians in other cities that I didn’t even know. On our 3-mile
run/walk the second morning, I learned from some Mennonites that the best
sledding hill in Manhattan is behind the Unitarian Church, and that there are
sledding parties when it snows- which has been unfortunately rare lately.
Before I attended KLC, I was someone who said I was from
Lawrence- that island of sanity in Kansas. I don’t say that anymore. It’s clear
to me now that there are people all over Kansas who care and are making a
difference, and we’re all in this together.
I would love to see the people of KLC come here to lead a
Leadership and Faith program. Lawrence is ready for this. We are already doing
great things in our community, and bringing together the people of our
congregations to use a common language and learn how to take things to the next
level could have truly amazing results. When Allie told me that she was going to be
speaking here today, I was so excited, I did a happy dance in my living room.
And that was before she asked me to share my experience!
The other thing that was clear to me when I was in Wichita
was that the people of KLC truly love what they do. These are not people who do
it because it’s a job, or because it’s something that they are particularly
trained in. I don’t think that it’s easy for them, and I would venture to guess
that they learn quite a bit each session as well as the attendees. Their passion truly shows.
It’s hard to put into my KLC experience into words, and when
I talk with the rest of the people on my team who attended with me, they also
have difficulty doing so. But there are things we are able to express. The
experience has been transformative. And if you care about Kansas and your
community, drop everything and go to the KLC. You won’t regret it.
