SENTIENT TIMES Dec/Jan 2001
Remembrance:
Robert Theobald
By Bob Stilger
A year ago, November 27, 1999, Robert Theobald died. His spirit soared,
leaving his broken body behind. For those who don't know who Robert was
(and is): Forty years ago he moved to the United States from the United
Kingdom because he believed the social change which needed to occur in
the United States was key to the survival of the planet. He sometimes
called himself a "defrocked economist," because of his early
training in economics and because of his early conclusion that its models
were far to limiting to serve the world. Robert wrote more than 25 books
during those forty years. He consulted with hundreds of companies and
governments, spoke before thousands of groups, and touched uncountable
hearts.
Even now, a year after his death, e-mails are still received every week
from people who have discovered either his life and his work, or his death.
He continues to touch many people. Why? Because he cared deeply and he
believed in people. He saw, time and time again, that we had the capacity
to release the full potential of our human spirits in service of the restoration
of the planet. He saw that most of us cared deeply for each other-once
we were able to connect at a fully human level.
For many years Robert's voice was one which told people "you're not
crazy-the systems you are trying to work in are." This year Paul
Ray and Sherry Anderson have identified a large population they call "Cultural
Creatives" who embody these qualities Robert saw. (See the book review,
this issue.)
I call us the "caring, and isolated many." The invitation in
Robert's death is to break down the isolation. To find the connections.
To do our separate and common work. So much has happened in the year since
Robert died. As I think on it this early winter morning, I see Bill Ellis
and his work with Cooperative Community Life-Long Learning Centers (www.creatinglearningcommunities.org);
Tom Hurley and Terra-Civitas (www.chaord.org);
Joanna Macy's work to expand the vision of The Great Turning (www.greatturning.net);
Marianne Williamson and the Global Renaissance Network (www.renaissancealliance.org),
and many, many more.
My own path has led me to starting New Stories (www.newstories.org) as
the primary vehicle to carry on the work Robert and I and others did.
And, from New Stories my most engaging work in the world has been to serve
as one of the leaders of From the Four Directions: People Everywhere Leading
the Way (www.fromthefourdirections.org), a global leadership Initiative
brought forth by Meg Wheatley and The Berkana Institute with support from
PeerSpirit (www.peerspirit.com), New Stories and many others. We do this
work out of a belief that leaders are abundant on the planet now, and
that we want to lead in life-affirming ways. Our work in From the Four
Directions is to help these leaders find and support each other to develop
the courage to both be and lead the change they want to see in the world.
What would
Robert say about all this, a year after his death?
He'd shake his head and write prolifically about what's happening in Florida.
How is it possible, he would ask, that we spend all this time and energy
and focus counting little holes in ballots and not stepping back to ask
what this election really says about the underlying uncertainty and confusion
of the United States culture?
He'd look at the breakdown of the peace process in the Middle East and
ask how long we would continue to believe that political processes could
simply gloss over the deep grief and deep pain peoples on all sides of
the conflict have felt and inflicted on each other.
And he'd look out with a spirit of great hope as he saw people, everywhere,
rising up in new ways to join together to live and work in more life affirming
ways. Robert, as always, would be infused with a spirit of hope as he
saw the different movements-like those mentioned above-that expressed
people's resilience, our hopes, our love and our laughter at the prospect
of creating a better world.
Robert would frequently flash his big smile and talk about how he was
a "mile wide and an inch deep." He saw the patterns and he saw
the possibilities. More than anything, he saw the deeply rooted capacity
of us-you and me and millions of caring people in the world-to live more
sane and fulfilling lives, in relationship with each other.
During the last week of Robert's life, the night after we brought him
home from the hospital to his small apartment overlooking downtown Spokane,
we all thought he would die. But that night, in the presence of two members
of our healing community-Anne Deveson and Francesca Firstwater-Robert
had a powerful vision. He saw how he could continue to live. He saw he
could live if he could be deeply in community. He could live if he could
be deeply in relationship.
Throughout the remaining days of his life, that week, he worked on two
levels. The first was he kept trying to learn more and more about this
insight. The second was that he tried to bring his body into alignment
with his new understanding. His body was too far gone, but his new understanding
continues to evolve and it is represented so clearly in the work of so
many in this past year.
Perhaps that was Robert's parting gift to us all-the deep invitation to
find our place in community and in relationship and to do our work from
a deep appreciation of our interconnectedness.
Bob Stilger is Managing Partner of New Stories, 350 East 10th Spokane,
WA 99202; (509) 835 4128; Fax (509) 835 4182; bob@newstories.org;
www.newstories.org
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