Reflections on the Ground by Steven J. Lawrence
I have a friend who is a little older than I. He has been involved in activism for marginalized communities for decades now, and I consider him a mentor, as he is always on top with the most up-to-date trends and learnings within the larger human rights universe. Just a year ago, my friend turned…
Hillary Clinton delivered one of the most outstanding acceptance speeches I have ever witnessed. I’ll move out of the way to allow space for other voices. There will be many jubilant voices who will want express their admiration. It seems our next Commander in Chief has come into her own in public life like never…
I’ve been thinking a lot about the current political discourse on the national level, and the proliferation of the ego-centered leadership style across the spectrum of political, professional, and social subcultures. This has always been an important issue, because when we look around us, there are more leaders than we sometimes realize. When we consider, for example, a…
*I’m re-posting this essay in its entirety. It was first published in 2014. In early October, I was walking with a friend. We were discussing the topic of compassion, and he said something striking. “Compassion is not boundless. To be effective, it needs to be channeled into a specific locality or sphere in which you have…
I want to review a very useful book today. It’s called The Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense at Work. To my great fortune, I was turned onto the works of author Suzette Haden Elgin, Ph.D about five years ago by a close friend. This is one of Elgin’s greatest works, and should be included…
This morning, I read an article with the title “Bryan Fischer: Torture Is A Christian Value.” The title is certainly a grabber, but its level of deception doesn’t meet even minimal journalistic standards. This man said no such thing. If my post below became a sensational headline, it would read, “Lawrence states that Bryan Fischer’s Logic…
Servant Leadership can also be called socially responsible leadership, caring leadership, or even steward leadership. Boiled down to its essence, this is a leadership philosophy that makes caring about people the most important thing. It would be difficult to argue that leaders should not care about people. But, while most critics would agree that caring leaders are needed in…
This morning, I awoke with a vivid recollection of numerous moments throughout my life. It didn’t feel like what the Buddhists call “monkey mind,” the onslaught of chaotic, rapid disconnected thoughts that cause agitation or coagulate into a rigid storyline. It felt more like the simultaneous visitation of life moments beyond time and space. Hard…
Over the past six months, I’ve been developing an approach to educational consulting, that I think has made me a better teacher. One client in particular has given me an opportunity to see stories in a whole new way, as we have worked together for two months building a theatre arts curriculum geared towards middle school…
Recently, I joined the Board of Directors of a non-profit called ESAC, which funds adult education programs across the city, works to prevent homelessness, and helps senior citizens avoid foreclosures on their homes.Today we had a meeting that was so inspiring I could barely contain myself. We were talking about expanding adult education programs, and…