The Power of: A Clarifier
Why it Matters
GENUINE POWER
Power is not the problem. The absence of genuine power is the real issue.
Throughout our Growing Place website and info sheets, you will often see the words ‘The Power of…’ in front of a specific topic. That is not rhetorical. Every living system from a cell, a relationship, a community, or a human life requires energy to function as it was designed. That energy, directed well, is what we mean by genuine power. The body needs it to heal. A child needs it to grow. A family needs it to hold - to stay intact when life’s challenges arise. A community needs it to move toward something worth accomplishing together. Even joy requires it. Intentional, honest, and generously offered energy is one of the most transformative forces we have access to.
The word has taken on a complicated reputation, and not without reason. Power is not dominance. It is not control. It’s the capacity that energizes and releases something or someone to become what they were made to be - reaching toward potential. If or when power is misused, hoarded, or imposed, it breaks trust and can cause real harm. This is, however, not an argument against power. It is an argument for genuine power: capacity, intentionally stewarded, held with integrity and compassionately offered in relationship.
Our hope is to shed genuine light on the things that shape us most, and to name both what they make possible as well as what they may cost us. When understood and walked out, they will have a powerful influence. These are not small things. Whether embraced or left untouched, they do not sit still. What follows is an honest conversation about what happens when genuine power meets the things that shape us most.