MARCH 2012
by Hans TenDam
The Board had its winter meeting. Who cares? Well, we do. Let’s start with the good news: we still have money in the bank and better, we see no reason to increase membership dues. The bad news is of course that we are ashamed of ourselves, even positively guilty.
Those of us who come from a country with a Roman-Catholic or Greek-Orthodox background feel ashamed, those of us from a country with a Protestant background feel guilty. After all, not all of our members are rich and happy, and who is to blame for that. I am afraid to say: the Board. Who else is responsible? The higher we stand, the more the crushing weight of responsibility.
In the darkness of our souls we instructed the Program Committee to take “Beyond Guilt and Shame” as the theme of our next Annual Convention. This title is for external consumption only, internally we refer 
to it as “Getting Rid of Guilt and Shame.” So we hope that by a wonderful process that is both professional and spiritual at the same time to find the modern-day variant of plenary indulgences (you know, those things that started the Reformation).
We hope to meet many of our fellow sufferers again in Kleve, to refresh ourselves from the springs of wisdom of those colleagues intrepid enough to stall their wares before the weary eyes of their more humble fellow-men. As you can read on our website: we are seeking workshop proposals.
TRANSFORMATION IN KLEVE 2012?
the name of the game
is stopping the blame
and dampening the shame
(well, maybe the Lord is a Dame)
rather tame, but not lame
out of the convention they came
more themselves, though no longer the same
