Correspondence
Hazel Kight Witham’s interview with Jared Seide called to mind an autumn in California ten years ago, when I was at the Ojai Foundation taking Council training with Seide. What an incredible and humane person. Under his guidance, and in the presence of a trusting circle of people, I was brought to depths and heights that I was unaware existed.
Tommy Donovan
Bozeman, Montana
I was touched by Jared Seide’s description of Council, which encourages people to relate to colleagues and adversaries alike with compassion [“The Power of Story,” interviewed by Hazel Kight Witham, June 2020].
Our world has been torn apart by the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. It’s hard to know how to repair years of broken relationships, but if every institution, community, and family applied the Council’s principle of listening to one another, it would be a good start.
Michelle Bentcliff
Laguna Beach, California
In the introduction to her interview with Jared Seide, Hazel Kight Witham says that Council is comparable to the “talking circles” of the Iroquois, the “Fambul Tok” of Sierra Leone, and “what Quakers call Friends meetings.”
The practice of worship in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) is not a sharing of stories or an unpacking of feelings. Quaker worship is waiting in silence for a divinely inspired message. Sometimes these meetings are completely silent, with no one being given a message to share.
There is a Quaker practice known as “worship sharing,” a less formal gathering where Friends sit in silence while reflecting on spiritual quotes and related queries. Some might share their reflections with the group, but again, this should be distinguished from the “Friends meetings” Kight Witham references.
Lisa Erazmus
Gulfport, Florida
For years I’ve facilitated small group discussions for the Catholic Church, and much of what Jared Seide said about the stressful lives of those who are imprisoned or in law enforcement rang true [“The Power of Story,” interview by Hazel Kight Witham, June 2020]. We all need to rediscover the humanity in the other.
Seide should consider using his techniques at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. His description of a beat cop’s daily, unresolved cycle of fear and anxiety sounds like what our Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans deal with.
Walt Sears
Hilliard, Ohio
Hazel Kight Witham responds:
Thanks to Lisa Erazmus for clarifying the practice of worship in Quaker settings. Though Friends meetings do not have the element of storytelling that Council offers, the two practices share a focus on honoring silence, speaking authentically, and listening from the heart.
Hazel Kight Witham’s interview with Jared Seide [“The Power of Story,” June 2020] provided me with an answer I’ve been seeking for a long time.
Despite being part of a 12-step program for more than twenty-five years, I never felt I belonged. When Seide spoke about Council being a place to unburden oneself without an agenda, I recognized my problem: it was the focus on fixing people. In 12-step programs you’re told you must “work the steps” to recover from addiction. I now realize I was healed not by working the steps but by listening to others’ stories.
Name Withheld
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