Good morning everyone! I hope this finds you being who you are called to be.

In a recent conversation about working with other people, and inclusive language, I was reminded of the work of the brilliant Jewish thinker and writer from last century, Martin Buber.

When it comes to teamwork for example, we need to find ways to balance the we, the you and the I. As much as we are all one (in the words of Desmond Tutu, "black, white, brown, yellow, red, gay and so-called straight"), we are all individual manifestations of life. We are as much I as we are we. And there are times when to be clear I need to distinguish me from you, perhaps to honour you.

On that train of thought, Martin Buber's amazing book "I and Thou" tries to make this point.  Thou is a word that distinguishes and honours the individual. You, the far more common word now, is informal, and in Buber's concern, may in fact lean closer to "it" quite often. I, too often the supreme word in our time, am the subject, and you are the object; a dangerous and often deadly way of thinking. If we were to recognize each other as "thou" we might alleviate the exclusivity of 'I", and move closer to creating and recreating a world where the we, thou and I are all honoured and respected.

Given that, I hope that thou is being the thou thou is called to be.