Killian Noe, in the book Finding Our Way Home says, “If we are to grow up spiritually, if we are to become who we were created to become, we need structures in our lives in which we are held accountable to that becoming. We need people in our lives who will hold us to the commitments that keep us in the process of growing spiritually. Again, spiritual practices like prayer, sharing of resources and being with the suffering and excluded have no power in themselves to heal and transform. These practices merely keep us in the process of growing up spiritually. Spiritual practices are what keep the doors of our hearts open to the power of the Spirit of God. That Spirit does the healing and transforming.”
A staff room can be one of those structures to encourage growth. I thought our architects did a brilliant job of getting it just right: windows to outside, windows for looking out and in, lots of shared space, individual work space and best of all a large island around a food prep area where most of the really important conversations happen. It also helped when S. would bring cake every Monday morning to get us started.