The genesis for Change Agent occurred at a colloquium of graduate students during a sabbatical in mid-career. I had a conversation with another student, sharing my subject of psychology and Transactional Analysis, a discipline for understanding where people are coming from in a conversation — as an adult (straight and factual), parent (critical or supportive), or child (angry or delightful & playful). The next colloquium she came rushing up to me at lunch time. As soon as we sat down, she said: “You saved my life. I had decided to commit suicide after the last colloquium, but you changed my mind. Now I have a good relationship with my daughter and grandchildren. Life is good!” We know what we say to another — we don’t know what they heard!
Change Agent is not about how the words of politicians, government or religious leaders are powerful. It’s not about the power of news or entertainment media. It’s about how and why our Words are so powerful that they affect and change the lives of others — especially the lives of children, but also adults. Our choice is whether we affect another life positively or negatively
Brief Description of chapters:
Prologue – An untraditional way of looking at how we change. Examples of change, both personal and systemic.
I Words are Powerful – Words are powerful and affect us in different ways. Review of the “the word” in scripture and how creation occurred through the Word. How words can hurt or heal. How Words move into our psyches and become a part of us. How words change lives.
II My Road to Discovery – Who the writer is. A basis for interpreting scripture. The author’s basic beliefs and approach to writing this book. Why he feels “called” to share his discovery.
III Healthy Beliefs– Why it makes a difference what we put into our psyches. How every faith leads us to be better human beings. As a result, we do good things.
IV Harmful Beliefs – Beliefs that are harmful to ourselves, our families, communities and country. Beliefs that lead to violence and destruction, creating “the other.” The role of words in our human interactions. The power of words to change lives.
V The Word in Scripture – The importance of the “Word” in Christian and Jewish history. The creation story. The incarnation. How our words also can be “incarnational.”
VII The Power of Change – When our Word becomes incarnational, it has the power to effect deep life-changing for the better fpr better or for worse. We consider two types of change: one that does not change our deeply held incarnational beliefs, and one that does. Our core values.
VIII My Journey of Discovery – How I came to believe incarnation is active now in our daily lives. Examples of how lives were changed by my and others words, leading to my understanding of how incarnational words change lives.
IX Love – The most powerful words in the world – regardless of faith, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, country or language are – I love you. Review of the importance of Love in scriptures to change personal relationships and the world – our only hope. Why so many find it difficult to say, “I love you.”
X – Systemic Change – How television as an industry, the interstate highway system and air conditioning changed the economy, where people work, and where they live. How denominational communication leaders responded to television’s impact.
XI— A series of personal transformational experiences that changed their lives. Short stories of change.