Thursday, February 25, 2010
Social Entrepreneurship, Economic Empowerment and the Faith Community
7a-8:30a
 
Social House Atlanta
1663 Howell Mill Road Northwest
Atlanta, Georgia 30318

Breakfast with The Works™ is a community gathering that allows for public issues to be shared from a faith perspective in general, and an Applied Christian Ethic, in particular. It is the purpose of Breakfast with The Works™ to provide a space of moral sponsorship for community opinion leaders to voice commentary regarding current events that impact the life of the local community in an ethical, cultural, social, spiritual, and economic context. It is our hope by providing this safe space of shared continuous learning that we will encourage people to “come now, and let us reason together”, in a concerted effort to Communicate Whole Leadership™. An Intentional Community of Faith, Civic, Business, Government, Non-Profit, and Creative Professionals and Scholars, ages 25-44.

Breakfast with the Works Photos: Marlon Grigsby

© 2010 Generator Development Group, LLC

In any wilderness the unsuspecting traveler may come upon the burning bush, and discover that the ground which he (one) stands is holy ground.  Wherever such occurs, we may be sure that even though the context itself may be casual or even random, the experience itself is not.-Dr. Howard Thurman, The Creative Encounter, 1954

As I reflect upon this quote, I find it to be extremely enlightening.  As I key in on the beginning sentence, wilderness communicates a vague place of unfamiliarity; raw, untamed, a lack of infrastructure with clear pathways, lost, directionless, a sense of chaos and elements of danger.  In what appears to be a place that lacks purpose, God may show up in the midst, symbolically as a burning bush, transforming and transfiguring the existential purposes and meanings of your present surroundings or situations. 

Your location may not change, but God can change your perspective; allowing you to view your environment with new lenses of opportunity.  It indicates to me that God changes situations not necessarily by changing our location, but by changing us.  In doing so, what appears as casual or even random, is indeed filled with God’s infinite wisdom, purpose, and intentionality.

As a result, we are transformed through our creative encounters with God in our everyday circumstances.  I believe many people seek to move away from their God-given blessings versus praying to see God at work in the midst of fiery experiences.  In my own life, I need to see the places where God is igniting a fire; and based on my location and proximity, ask God how am I to recognize and respond to God’s invitation to transform wilderness to Holy Ground.  Lord, help me have eyes to see and ears to hear. 

Here am I.

Robert H. Hughes, M.Div.

Interfaith Youth Leadership Gathering at the America I AM Exhibit in Atlanta

On Saturday, August 29th, a group of Metropolitan Atlanta interfaith youth leaders gathered together at the Atlanta Civic Center to experience the America I AM exhibit.

The City of Atlanta, Georgia and the Metropolitan Atlanta region have experienced tremendous shifts in its demographic populations since 1990, creating an extremely dynamic multicultural, multiethnic and interfaith community.  This reality shapes our daily interactions and overall quality of life.  As a result, the residents of our city in general and youth in particular have been uniquely shaped by this human experience.

The purpose of the America I AM: Interfaith Youth Leadership Gathering was to explore the inter-changing faces and phases of Atlanta from the view and voice of youth.  In an effort to inspire interfaith roundtable conversations and neighborhood quality of life projects that support understanding the ongoing contributions of unique cultural groups in America; and specifically in Atlanta during the 21st Century.

Going forward, as Atlanta residents prepare for the 2010 United States Census, we will explore the value in which interfaith youth and community leadership will guide the sustainable and equitable development of Metropolitan Atlanta, in an era of urban, regional and global investment; as the City of Atlanta continues its emergence as a world city.

What do you want Atlanta to look like in 2010? in 2025?  Take a moment to share your comment, thought or idea.  It’s Time to Release the Potential!