Mandalas

Crayons are commonly regarded as playthings. In a child's hands, crayons can express dreams and visions. In the prior reflection (#7), I shared some images of the new church at St. Mary. They were crayon drawings by children in Kindergarten.  

During the project I write about in The Pivotal Pastor, the Pastoral Council had periodic formation meetings. The council, promoted by the Vatican II on October 28, 1965, is the umbrella under which most other commissions and committees of a parish are organized. With apologies to those on the Pastoral Council when Fr. Ron Lewinski arrived in 1996, the council wasn't as effective then as it could have been. Lewinski changed that.  

Briefly, the work of the council is pastoral planning. It supports the pastor, who empowers the council and ministry leaders to act. Formation meetings helped council members better understand themselves, their fellow members, and the parish.  

Beyond the Pastoral Council, several parishioners became chairs for different committees and ministries. Helping these chairpeople understand that they owned responsibility and needed to execute leadership was one of Lewinski's challenges during this transition period. Many parishioners needed to get used to leadership responsibilities, including authority. (Not all parishes have Pastoral Councils.) The prior pastors owned those privileges at this parish, even thirty years after Vatican II.   

One tool used during the formation process was the mandala. "Mandala" is a Sanskrit word that translates to "circle" or "center." In Hindu and Buddhist traditions, mandalas are typically symmetrical designs. Mandala-like images also appear in nature.  

A mandala needn't be fully symmetrical. In the banner of this reflection, I've shown some of the mandalas produced during a council formation meeting. Each quadrant of the mandala represents the person's depiction of their response to a specific question, such as "What is the most important thing we should focus on this year?"  

During a facilitated discussion, the group used personal mandalas to convey their thoughts and ideas about the parish to their fellow council members. As is usually the case, visual images help clarify one's thoughts, but the resulting dialogue is what is important.  That dialogue influenced decisions by the council and, in turn, by the underlying committees and ministries.  In short, the drawings contributed to the parish's future.       

Crayons are commonly regarded as playthings. In adult hands, crayons can express dreams and visions.  

I realize that it is difficult to see these images in the banner—just click on the banner to see larger images. 

In my first reflection I mentioned that, depending who you are, you may be in The Pivotal Pastor. More about that soon.

Send me your comments/questions.

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