Comments from Arno

The Danger of Routines

 

Jason has expressed his concerns with doing things by rote.  I’d like to present the analogy of a carpenter building a home for his family.  He’s doing the one of the most important things in the world.  But when he’s hammering, I’d prefer to have him concentrating on the nails rather than his ultimate purpose.  I agree that we can sometimes get caught up in the meaningless details of life, but I have faith in Jason (and Ivy) to regularly check to ensure that the little things they’re doing are leading up to good big things.

 

 

Mosaic’s Purpose

 

I think it’s easy to appreciate Jason’s work with FamilyPoint Resources assisting those in great need.  Mosaic’s role is a bit more subtle.  I see it as assisting those not in apparent or relative need.  It’s objective is to nudge general society in a positive direction, to engage our culture, and to spread our values.  Mosaic’s purpose may be just as important as FamilyPoint’s, but it is by nature harder to assess.  I see this as a worthwhile challenge, not as a reason to back away.

 

 

Simplicity, or Not

 

In essence, our goals are simple.  But if we’re to engage society, our endeavors will have to grow more complicated.  The challenge is to keep our basics simple while dealing with a complex world.

 

Also, I find that own thinking tends to get narrowly channeled when thinking on my own or with similarly minded people.  Interacting with the world can help get me (and others, I assume) out of self-created ruts.

 

 

FOM vs FamilyPoint vs Mosaic

 

I think there’s a lot of concern that we’re tending a lot of flocks other than our own.  I think it was wise to set up the FOM, FamilyPoint, and Mosaic as separate groups.  Although the FOM is kind of a parent to the other organizations, it also has its own separate purpose of serving the member’s spiritual lives.  I think the community outreach of the other groups can both assist our own spiritual goals and distract us from them.  The key is balance.  Maybe we need to decide what the FOM needs to do apart from these other groups before deciding how it will assist them in their objectives.

 

 

FOM Next vs. Community Center

 

The existing community center is hidden behind the church.  It doesn’t engage society, though it does provide a useful meeting place for various groups.  It helps support society’s strengths (scouts) and helps fight society’s problems (AA and similar counseling groups).  If you belong to a group that meets there, it is great that it exists.  If you don’t belong to one of these groups, you may not know it exists.  I think the advantage of FOM Next is that it will try to attract individuals who have not committed to joining a particular group.  And of course, we will have much more freedom in deciding how to shape our own facility and what types of activities to sponsor.

 

 

FOM Next: FOM’s Front Porch

 

Although our door is always open (figuratively), there’s still a pretty strong boundary between “us” and “them”.  The FOM Next facility would help to break this boundary.  How we engage “them” will have to be determined, but it would allow the following interactions that can involve expression of our values in some form:

 

Theater: Kidz Planet, other children’s theater, adult theater, church services, other entertainment with positive values.

 

Coffeehouse: General socializing; Sales of CDs, books, etc.; Fair trade products.

 

Coffeehouse performances: Musicians, open mic night, student performances, poetry.

 

Meetings at coffeehouse: Church small groups, One year Bible, book clubs, knitting groups, writing groups, art groups, environmental groups, financial literacy, life skills.

 

Classrooms/play areas: Kidzstreet and Treehouse, playing while parents at coffeehouse, child education (FamilyPoint non-sports activities), adult education.

 

 

Arno