I Am In Houston

Saturday night, 11:54 pm, Texas time. I am intending a workshop that is sponsored by World Wide Marriage Encounter and the title of the workshop is Leading Through Relationship (LTR). The first two sessions are done. And I am feeling grateful.
I have felt this way before when I have had a teacher who had the ability to help me discover the answers to questions that I had been searching for a long time.
The question I am focused on is how can I support other people in confidently using their gifts (values, creativity, other skills, personal presence) in helping other people share their presence and their talents.
When I was in college I tried to order people to do this and to do that and they quickly disappeared... I remember this one group that elected me its chairperson... twenty people came to the first meeting; two came to the second. That experience comes to mind every time I start choosing to order people around or talk too much.
I have tried being cordial, positive, and listening. I have tried poking holes in what I considered illogical thinking, writing, and speaking. And the results I have had are not impressive.
But I do know this... people have so very much to offer one another, just by listening, understanding, and hanging in there with other folks.
And it is too early to know what I shall learn at this workshop. I know that I really like the priests and the couples at the table where I am sitting. And I think that part of what I shall learn is that I have to patiently reach out to others and come to understand them, accept them as they are, and support them in being themselves.
But that is what years of hoping and crying and failing and succeeding have taught me... Now I have a chance to learn from folks who have taken the time to study
leadership, think about the ups and downs of their own lives, and to share honestly and humbly what they have discovered.
Wow... I feel very, very grateful.