{"id":6304,"date":"2020-12-15T09:39:58","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T14:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anthroposophy.ca\/?p=6304"},"modified":"2020-12-16T20:11:56","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T01:11:56","slug":"mediators-for-initiates-by-mark-mcalister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anthroposophy.ca\/en\/mediators-for-initiates-by-mark-mcalister\/","title":{"rendered":"Mediators For Initiates? \u00a0 By Mark McAlister"},"content":{"rendered":"

Members should consciously make themselves mediators between what the questioning human soul feels as the problems of man and the universe, and what the Initiates have to recount. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This quote is from a Letter by Rudolf Steiner to members of the Anthroposophical Society, dated 13 July 1924.\u00a0 Elsewhere in this letter, he describes how the Initiate is able to discern moral laws of the soul <\/em>which are intimately connected with the happenings of everyday life.\u00a0 Steiner challenges us to take this into account when we try to solve problems in the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To some, this may sound dogmatic \u2014 Herr Doktor hat gesagt \u00a0(the Doctor says)\u2014 <\/em>but here is another way of looking at it.\u00a0 Acknowledging the existence of factors that will always be beyond our control is the first step in any decision-making process.\u00a0 (Management consultant Peter Senge writes about this extensively in his landmark book, The Fifth Discipline.)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In other words, Steiner is asking us to be mediators. <\/em>This requires a high level of critical thinking, and the ability to take multiple \u2014 often conflicting \u2014 points of view into account. \u00a0<\/em>Gradually, we can then learn to form imaginations which allow spiritual forces to stream into our initiatives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Each of us will take up Steiner\u2019s challenge in different ways, according to our vocation.\u00a0 In my career as a business communications consultant, I kept coming back to a central theme: Understand your audience and engage with them \u2014 and pay attention to the new social forms that emerge. <\/em>In this article, I will share some of my stories.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My first full-time job was at Rudolf Steiner Press in London in the late 1970s.\u00a0 We had an ambitious plan to create a catalogue of trade editions, and to promote its sale in the public book trade. We were all very excited \u2014 but one day at a team meeting, I found myself saying, This is all very good, but who\u2019s going to do the selling?\u00a0 <\/em>There was an awkward silence in the room, and perhaps you can guess what happened next!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, I became the Trade Rep, and spent my days traipsing around London trying to place our books in stores.\u00a0 Needless to say, this was pretty challenging, and the business results were modest.\u00a0 However, the encounters with booksellers were often quite stimulating.\u00a0 Excuse me, Ma\u2019m.\u00a0 I see you have some Waldorf books on the <\/em>Witchcraft shelves.\u00a0 Might I suggest that you also stock them in your <\/em>Education and Parenting section<\/em>?\u00a0 I also remember visiting the Bookshop in the Tate Gallery<\/em>, and showing (with some trepidation) a copy of Steiner\u2019s Colour<\/em> lectures to the Buyer.\u00a0 To my astonishment, he ordered a stack of copies without even opening the sample.\u00a0 He just loved the Geissberger watercolour on the cover!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

During those\u00a0 three years, I spoke with dozens of booksellers as well as customers at book fairs.\u00a0 Listening to them, and learning about their perspectives on the needs of the reading\u00a0 public, my own relation to Steiner\u2019s work began to shift and evolve.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In 1980, I was back in Toronto, looking for work.\u00a0 Here is an excerpt from the Career Goals <\/em>section of my Resum\u00e9:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

…the rapid deployment of word-processing and media technology has outstripped the development of writing and communication skills in many companies and organizations.\u00a0 New concepts are not broadly understood within an organization, or are not conveyed successfully to the market\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I was soon hired by SYSDOC International Inc., a technical writing firm.\u00a0 I was promoted to General Manager, and oversaw all aspects of the business.\u00a0 Our informal slogan was, motivate people to act.\u00a0 <\/em>The primary purpose of a computer manual (or on-line documentation) is not to explain computers \u2014 it\u2019s all about helping people to do their jobs.\u00a0 Most of the staff had Arts backgrounds, and we fought like hell to protect and cultivate the English language.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aside from Robert Massoud wandering in from the street and trying to sell me furniture, I did not meet any anthroposophists in the course of my day.\u00a0 However, the work of Rudolf and Marie Steiner was always in the background for me.\u00a0 This meditation was particularly helpful:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In present earthly Time, Man needs renewed spiritual content<\/em><\/p>\n

in the words he speaks.<\/em><\/p>\n

For of the spoken word Man\u2019s soul and spirit<\/em><\/p>\n

during the time outside the body while he sleeps<\/em><\/p>\n

retain whatever is of spiritual value.<\/em><\/p>\n

For sleeping man needs to reach out<\/em><\/p>\n

into the realm of the Archangeloi<\/em><\/p>\n

for conversation with them;<\/em><\/p>\n

and they can only receive the spiritual content \u2013<\/em><\/p>\n

never the material content of the words.<\/em><\/p>\n

Failing such conversation,<\/em><\/p>\n

Man suffers harm in his entire being.<\/em><\/p>\n