Source: Living City
Real people who want to make positive change. Real stories of how
they’ve already done it where they are. That is what EXPO 2013 was all about.
http://www.expo2013.us/
There was no keynote speaker to set the stage, no scholarly lecture to
spur the conversation. Instead, small groups of people belonging to different
walks of life, sharing real-life experiences, showed how the Gospel-based Art
of Loving can make a difference in various areas of work.
For example, a business administrator, focusing on what would be best
for customers, stepped down to give a younger colleague his job so that he
could train him before he retires. It was a gesture that could become a model
for everyone. A teacher described how, with patient help, a school bully
discovered that he could walk away from a fight; and a college student shared
how a bag of chips helped to make friends with a classmate who was being
obnoxious — going beyond the skepticism of his friends.
Not every story had a happy ending, but those involved did not give up
restoring relationships, without holding grudges.
Close to 500 attended the meeting at the Sheraton Hotel at Chicago’s
O’Hare Airport on April 27–28, sponsored by the Focolare. More than 1,000
others followed the live streaming of the main sessions on the Internet.
In eight different workshops, defined by areas of interest, people could
exchange their ideas on how to deal with different situations in their own
environment. The participants discovered, though, that their own fields are not
so separate from others.
“What has really amazed me is that I, a healthcare worker, can relate to
the experience of an engineer,” said one participant, “not in a technical way,
but in the way we are trying to live out our values where we are in society.”
How did they do it? An opening presentation used YouTube, Twitter and
Facebook-like elements showing, not only a chain-reaction of people transformed
by caring actions, but also the questions and struggles most people go through
when they try to put it into practice. How can I stand my colleague who is
getting on my nerves? How can I succeed in my career when helping others
instead of putting myself first?
The answers were simple yet convincing: try it, and you will discover
that the values of faith help more than any career guide.
A volunteer working as a mediator at a family court realized that in the
Art of Loving she found answers to the challenges: seek the best for the
children, understand the mother who was struggling with addiction, but be clear
about the rules that she had to respect for the good of her children. In the
end, the mother agreed that the best solution was to give the custody to the
children’s grandmother, so that she could still be a part of their life but her
mother could give them the care they needed.
Another example: “Sports is not only competitive; it’s about people. And
having fun should be more important than winning or losing,” said one
participant at the sports workshop.
An artist discovered that his work could be a gift for others. In fact,
around 25 participating artists from various fields, including several young
musicians, put that into practice immediately. They prepared a concert for
Saturday evening that included a piece that involved the whole audience. It was
symbolic of the EXPO message: you don’t have to be a famous artist or a CEO of
an important company to make an impact on our society. You can start right
where you are, with whatever means are in your hands.
Each group wants to stay in contact and reach out to others. “The
weekend in Chicago was just a beginning if we continue to renew our society
wherever we are,” said Mary Ann Cottone, from the event’s coordinating
committee.
With Susanne Janssen
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