Sal's Reflections

There is too much we versus them in our world these days. People are referred to with judgmental labels and our so called sources of news are any thing but neutral. The political bombardment never really addresses the major issues and vilifies the opponent so that genuine dialogue is almost impossible. Most of us live in a world where we mingle with real diversity of gender, political bent ,race and sexual preference. These choices don’t prevent positive outcomes and we must find ways to change the political environment so that it reflects our needs. We may differ passionately with each other, but I am sure on the major issues there is much more agreement in our circles than in the broken political fiasco.

Last evening I attended an event at the Press club which featured Woodward and Bernstein being interviewed by Marvin Kalb.It was a fascinating session focused on the Nixon presidency and the Watergate scandal.It was remarkable that then two twenty some odd year olds were responsible for bringing down the most powerful man in the world.It would never have happened without the support of their editor Ben Bradlee and owner Catherine Graham.One of the key points made during the evening was that the Networks no longer are news organizations but rather sound bite outfits that provide little depth. Both Woodward and Bernstein believe that great reporting still occurs but because of the instant gratification of the internet it is more rare than years ago when the News departments were not primary money makers.

While working on the goal setting process I had a startling revelation. If you take my friends on Facebook and multiply it by their friends the number is somewhere around fifty thousand. What an incredible pool of resources. It would be possible to gain knowledge and assistance on any goal that was desired. Haven’t figured out how to make this a depository of wonderful ideas and suggestions viable but the thought is germinating

Almost always when you set a goal there will be a stumble along the way. The immediate temptation will be to quit and believe that the goal is not attainable. If the goal was to quit smoking and you lit up one day that does not mean the goal should be abandoned. The bigger issue is whether you still value the goal.There are times when the stumble is an opportunity to make a more and lasting commitment. Today I commit myself to behaving toward the two goals that I have set. One hundred reviews for each novel and twenty five additional speaking engagements . Failures are temporary and do not define us .What defines us are the moments when we see the goals, say them out loud and behave toward them.

In the 1960″s under the vision of Pope John the XXlll I saw the church moving to an embrace of the world and a closer fulfillment of the Beatitudes. For a host of reasons that wave of love and willingness to change was stifled and the fortress mentality once again became dominant. The policies and edicts were not born of dialogue but rather were a list of don’ts clearly identifying the evils but rarely the goods. Some were forbidden sacramental nourishment and others were mad…e to feel as though there was no place for them. This climate has been altered by a true pastor and though the laws have not been abrogated there is a new climate from the seat of Christendom. Pope Francis is less interested with Canon Law than he is in being a true shepherd of all people not just Catholics. It is a new era and I hope that clerics all over the world embrace the spirit f this man who has evidenced the beauty of inclusion and service to others.

In order to build momentum in the goal setting process it is critical to identify the payoffs or lack of payoffs. Another way of getting at this is to spell out the pleasure of achieving the goals and the pain of not fulfilling them. In my case the pleasure of the goal regarding the hundred interviews is that it would enable me to fulfill a promise to my mentor,grow awareness about the effects of racial bias,engage more people in the dialogue about Jewish and Christian relations,and offer more opportunities for personal appearances and speaking engagements. The pain would be lost opportunities, fewer speaking engagements and a mediocre response to a promise I made to my mentor. If you can clearly in concrete terms identify the pain you will receive in not fulfilling the goals as well as the pleasure the attainment will provide you will have created strong leverage.