Positive Deviance

What's working? And how can we do more of that?

Amy Krouse Rosenthal advised one trying to discern what to do in life to "pay attention to what you pay attention to." 

It's great advice that I have shared with others. It's also helpful outside of the discernment context.

It's important to pay attention to our attention and see whether what we focus on is a balanced picture of things.

It is easy for us to focus on what is broken — and surely, there's plenty of that. But brokenness is not the whole story.

Even when our lives seem like a mess, it's helpful to look for examples of what has been called "positive deviance." 

This is a concept whereby people engage in activities that are different from the norm but in a way that leads to better outcomes. 

There might be much that’s out of order, but we surely have some bright spots that we could build upon. 

This coming Sunday is Pentecost. If we focus on the signs of division in our world, it might look more like the Tower of Babel than the beautiful moment of Pentecost.

Still, the Holy Spirit didn't leave us 2,000 years ago. The Spirit continues to work wonders where human hearts are open to its promptings. 

If we make our own plans and only then invite the Spirit to come as an afterthought, we will be disappointed. 

But if we humbly watch and try to learn what God is doing around us and then follow the Holy Spirit’s lead, we will have some more examples of positive deviance.