Sawu bona ("I see you"), Sikhona ("I am here") - I don't "exist" until I'm recognized
I went to a conference last week, "Transformational Hospitality: Welcoming Diversity and Change Conference" and one of the things I learned was:
A northern Natal tribe greeting, "Sawu bona" means, “I see you.” If you are a member of the tribe, you might reply by saying Sikhona, “I am here.” The order of the exchange is important: until you see me, I do not exist. It’s as if, when you see me, you bring me into existence. Our goal is to really "see" each other.
I alluded to this in a recent sermon, "Diversity in Relationships" (audio | text) that I gave to my congregation this past Sun. Most of it was written prior to my attending the conference.
Videos are now online from the conference, but they cannot be seen via the public channel as they're meant to be shared with UUs (though friends & other interested people can see them also):
Part 1 (Worship) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdt6fDZTlmk (7:12)
Worship leaders included Rev. Carlton Elliott Smith of UU Church of Arlington and Rev. Scott Sammler-Michael of the Accotink UU Church.
Part 2 (Keynote Part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6poJ03q3gr0 (12:03)
Janice Marie Johnson has us think about what Hospitality means.
Part 3 (Keynote Part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z0PYBZQQ5w (14:56)
Janice talks about Gordon R. Dragt's book, "One Foot Planted in the Center the Other Dangling Off the Edge" besides other things related to building a multicultural congregation. How can we invite others in?
Part 4 (Keynote Part 3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku4JGG43Qfo (12:02)
Janice asks us some hard questions about our congregations and association. What does hospitality look like? Who guides our feet?
Part 5 (Sharing Our Answers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5aoCzrA1pw (14:00)
Participants come back from a break-out session to share the answers they came up with for what radical hospitality could look like in our congregations.
Part 6 (Q&A & Wrap Up) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gif7qKwe1c4 (12:01)
She starts with the grace for lunch about the greeting "Sawu bona" ("I see you"), and then goes on to her post-lunch wrap-up; we ask and have questions answered, we are given questions to take home, and are pointed to "Building the World We Dream About".
It was essentially a 5-hr. conference, but I distilled it down to less than 1 1/4 hrs. The links are available in the description below the video, but you have to have at least one of the above links to get to them since they're not public.
A northern Natal tribe greeting, "Sawu bona" means, “I see you.” If you are a member of the tribe, you might reply by saying Sikhona, “I am here.” The order of the exchange is important: until you see me, I do not exist. It’s as if, when you see me, you bring me into existence. Our goal is to really "see" each other.
I alluded to this in a recent sermon, "Diversity in Relationships" (audio | text) that I gave to my congregation this past Sun. Most of it was written prior to my attending the conference.
Videos are now online from the conference, but they cannot be seen via the public channel as they're meant to be shared with UUs (though friends & other interested people can see them also):
Part 1 (Worship) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdt6fDZTlmk (7:12)
Worship leaders included Rev. Carlton Elliott Smith of UU Church of Arlington and Rev. Scott Sammler-Michael of the Accotink UU Church.
Part 2 (Keynote Part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6poJ03q3gr0 (12:03)
Janice Marie Johnson has us think about what Hospitality means.
Part 3 (Keynote Part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z0PYBZQQ5w (14:56)
Janice talks about Gordon R. Dragt's book, "One Foot Planted in the Center the Other Dangling Off the Edge" besides other things related to building a multicultural congregation. How can we invite others in?
Part 4 (Keynote Part 3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku4JGG43Qfo (12:02)
Janice asks us some hard questions about our congregations and association. What does hospitality look like? Who guides our feet?
Part 5 (Sharing Our Answers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5aoCzrA1pw (14:00)
Participants come back from a break-out session to share the answers they came up with for what radical hospitality could look like in our congregations.
Part 6 (Q&A & Wrap Up) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gif7qKwe1c4 (12:01)
She starts with the grace for lunch about the greeting "Sawu bona" ("I see you"), and then goes on to her post-lunch wrap-up; we ask and have questions answered, we are given questions to take home, and are pointed to "Building the World We Dream About".
It was essentially a 5-hr. conference, but I distilled it down to less than 1 1/4 hrs. The links are available in the description below the video, but you have to have at least one of the above links to get to them since they're not public.