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Part 3 of Clairvaux Manifesto entitled Thinking & Acting dives into the life and times of active contemplatives. The phrase “contemplative activists” doesn’t ring true; our active focus must be on the right thing, contemplation!

If my prayer is not answered, I am.
If my petition is not fulfilled, my person, my soul, is;
as the artist comes to himself and his happiness
in the exercise of the talent he was made for, in spite
of the delay and difficulty of turning his work to money.
If the genius is happy who gets scope, the soul is blessed
that truly comes to itself in prayer.
P.T. Forsyth, The Soul of Prayer

Kirk Bartha

strategist, negotiator, consultant, advisor, friend

Summary
developing circles of quiet within the clamor of evil (PS 94:12) around 10,000 professionals and global change agents in various disciplines and structural models – deploying abbeys of prayer and work locally, building cities of refuge globally. Of course it will take new governmental and legal structures, innovative software and communications, intuitive applications and practical infrastructures, not to mention a whole new way of banking…

“He died, in short, for our salvation, and not for the mere exhibition of charity…” St. Bernard

We constantly have to disengage and pray… not disengage because we are uninterested or irresponsible… it’s just, that we are up against some major ideological strongholds and we can’t change anyone’s minds for them, can’t market manipulation.

Ideology crafts idolatry, and it has to be the work of God’s Spirit to demolish such strongholds.

This morning, I awoke from a dream where I was speaking passionately before a room full of influential leaders, “We will discover, develop and deploy ten thousand young professionals and global change agents to secure, stabilize and sustain one million orphans and refugees at the initial cost of one hundred million dollars, any questions?”

(notice the money but see the people)

This snail shell was discovered among the thick greens around Clairvaux Abbey – the stone beneath, from the orchard lands of Le Thoronet Abbey. I view these beautiful creations everyday and they lead me to prayer.

Now, of course, these might only be juxtaposed things sitting pretty for a picture, like my prayers could end up sounding, juxtaposed and pretty… but there may be metaphors resting between these creations, ancient organic compounds, coral and shells all compressed and shaped over time by the pervasive, perpetual and penetrating flow of water. The development of prayer in the human being isn’t much different. I can pray a fragile fibonacci prayer, but I can also be pressed into something profoundly weighty.

Last week, @markpetersen tweeted, “Talking about how to successfully shift culture in nonprofit orgs. Is it possible? Or shd they just die, and start over?”

This morning, @kirkbartha responded, “@markpetersen economic crisis put zeitgeists into overdrive non-profits can’t manage, creative & collaborative coalitions of interdependence”

Now I’ve yet to meet Mark, but today I unloaded these fluid, cryptic and convoluted comments on his blog regarding this tweet about the culture of nonprofits:

“(quote) Take this fire hose with a grain of salt, a drop of olive oil, a nibble of bread and a splash of wine.

Last October, I snapped this pic of Bono going by on the moving catwalk under the claw in Vancouver. He’s reaching toward the Edge who is coming toward him on the other catwalk; another ceiling in another chapel.

As U2 stands down while Bono recovers from back surgery I sit here reading The DATA Report 2010 remembering Bono’s Ted Prize wish which helped catalyze ONE and DATA. When the G20 spend a billion on security; when BP loses a billion in value and spends a billion in recovery; when billions of people don’t get access to what a billion have… it’s time for a surgery of ideologies!

Reading between the lines of revisionist history, Robin Hood is the sequel to Kingdom of Heaven.

Kingdom of Heaven ends with Richard the Lionheart embarking on crusade; Robin Hood begins ten years later, with the consequences.

From blacksmiths to stonemasons, France to England, feudal skirmishes to draft charters.

In Robin Hood, I find it fascinating that Friar Tuck is depicted as a bee keeper. Bernard of Clairvaux is the patron saint of bees, and certain legends suggest that Tuck was once a Benedictine/Cistercian.

From Fiat Lux in Clairvaux Manifesto,

Last summer, I crafted this cross for a friend. The friend who first taught me how to craft stone, created the limestone tower in the background, historic replica of a stalwart Maltese sentry of the sea.

It took patience and a steady hand to hollow the eye out of the stone, which when filled with olive oil lights, heals and nourishes the stone beautifully.

[Hagar] gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. Genesis 16:13

I’m crafting a document entitled Clairvaux 3D (started out as 3.0, but now it’s 3D), full of global business initiatives and dreams, and we’ll use this document to raise the first pool of funds coming from philanthropists, to sow into this growing global vision, a unified front of for-profit and not-for-profit, within a platform of international development.