CED GRADUATION REMARKS BY CHARLES BETTERTON 1992
Good
evening. It is my privilege to continue the CED Program
tradition of having the opening remarks given by the class
member voted least likely to offer remarks, comments
and opinions.
During
our first class weekend, I introduced myself as a community
development specialist for the Kingdom of God on earth and
right-use-ness. The response to my statement was
understandably as diverse as the make-up of our class.
Comments ranged from statements of appreciation from people
with a similar orientation to someone asking me if there was a
place in my world for atheists and Michael Swack asking if I
was a member of some cult.
During
later classes with Chuck Turner, we spent time discussing the
root causes of the problems that threaten our society. We
developed the following list:
The
me generation
Getting
away from God
Lack
of spirituality Lack of common vision
Absence
of wisdom
Focus
on accumulation versus circulation
Spiritual
and cultural disintegration and the
Lack
of an appropriate value system and ways to express it
The
following month we considered potential solutions to these
problems by reflecting on the values of community economic
development which we described as including:
Spiritual
underpinning, a sense of oneness
Application
of cooperative principles
A
focus on human development
Retention
of wealth in the neighborhoods
Valuing
community and the larger society
Consideration
of multicultural differences in religion, values perspectives
and communication and
Enabling
people and communities to empower themselves
We
defined the role of CED as an educational process to help
people become empowered and connected with others, thereby
becoming the curative process. I am not the same person who
entered this program in September of 1990 and neither are any
of you. Through the information, exercises and experiences we
have shared, we have all completed another upward spiral in
our lives and careers. We have acquired skills and techniques
and access to resources that can transform our lives, our
organizations, our communities and our world.
Over
the past 16 months we have become a family and a community.
And just like our biological families and our geographic
communities, we have varying levels of connectedness with each
other member of the group. Even so, I believe we have far more
in common than we may have of difference.
When
I say I am a community development speciali'st for the Kingdom
of God on earth and right-use-ness, I am sharing my goal of
being a positive factor in assisting with the evolution of the
world from what and how it now is, into what and how I believe
it can be through the application of CED principles.
Just
as Abraham Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs and described a
fully actualized person, I see a vision of a fully actualizing
civilization. I see a world where the widespread practice of
community economic development principles fosters the
realization of personal, organizational and spiritual potential.
I see a world where individuals balance their inclination toward
personal objectives and material acquisitions with a broader
sense of community, purpose, an attitude of service and
stewardship and the practice of cooperative principles.
In
an article we read by Mel King and Samantha George entitled
"The Future of Community; From Global to Local", the
following statements were presented:
"Community
development on the material level is necessary, but not
sufficient without a complementary development of human
consciousness along the spiritual dialectic .... The point here
for community developers is to create structures that stimulate
the development of consciousness so that, in transforming their
physical communities, people grow into spiritual community.
Community
development must embody the process of uncovering our essence as
human beings and as co-creators, in order to build a new earthly
order reflecting the divine principle of oneness"
I
suggest that we are all community development specialists for
the Kingdom of God on earth and right-use-ness. Or if you prefer
the term, for Heaven on Earth. " We are not human beings
having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a
human experience."
I
deeply appreciate the opportunity to travel this path with you.
I look forward to spending the rest of my life sharing with the
world what we have learned through our participation in the CED
program. I also appreciate this opportunity to share these
thoughts with you this evening. In closing, and in keeping with
the ecumenical nature of this "non-invocation", May
the Force be with you. Thank you.
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