I hope you don't mind if I change the subject. From what? From synergy, edge, buzz, spin, leaks, manipulation, mistakes, apologies, and the overall mauling of American journalism. Why? To move away from the mirror for a minute and to go through the looking glass to explore inside ourselves.

That's what about twenty journalists plus several more people from the publishing world, the academy, the clergy, and other related fields did at a weekend retreat in July. The Fetzer Institute, a private family foundation in Kalamazoo, Michigan (the founding patriarch made his fortune long ago in radio stations), had invited us to reflect on the relationship between the deeper dimensions of our lives and our craft. The institute operates in several areas of social concern – science and health, education, and community among them – but it also seeks to explore the common work of every field. Common work is what the historian Arnold Toynbee described as the ultimate work of civilization – the unfolding of deeper spiritual understanding. Fetzer aims to connect the secular with the sacred, the inner world of mind and spirit with the outer world of service.

The retreat was a remarkable experience of reflection and dialogue. We spent most of the time learning about and participating in various spiritual traditions and in the discipline of "mindful practices" in various forms. Mindful practices are intended to quiet the mind to allow the individual to pay more attention to the inner life and apply the inner awareness to the complex acts of living and working. Some of the time was spent in group conversation telling each other about our work and our lives. However, to create and sustain an environment for less guarded communication, we were told in advance that the experience would remain confidential. That's a comment in itself on how events are changed by the presence of reporters, not to mention cameras. I asked permission to write about one segment of the exchange, a session in which we were asked by the discussion leader what questions had occurred to us as an outgrowth of the retreat. The questions themselves told a story of the deeper uncertainties many journalists feel about journalism today. Here is a sample:

What's the story we are missing?

What is the role of the media? And of the journalist?

Are there other words for "the media" to help express our purpose?

What would compassionate journalism be like?

Can we be as considerate and compassionate with the people we deal with – sources, for example, (and subjects, I might add) – as we are with our neighbors and friends?

Is the language we use adequate to express what we want? Can it be refreshed? Renewed? Expanded beyond the literal?

Are there new means of connecting the storyteller to the public? Are there new delivery systems?

How can the media be the reflective mind of the culture?

How can we break down the fierce resistance of the public to the good work the media are doing?

How do we tell the public what it doesn't want to hear?

The media are informing and directing the public. Can there be more of an exchange? How can we become a more respectful listener (to the public)?

How do we as journalists learn to ask questions and learn to hear the answers?

Can we resist telling every weird thing? Why does readership increase when we report despicable news?

How do we keep from being discouraged?

How can we get back to the spiritual core of what we do, why we went into this business in the first place?

Why did we go into this business? Although journalists are often perceived to be cynics, I believe that most of us are idealists. We see journalism as a way of participating creatively and constructively in the life of our society and our times, and we see it as a public service and public trust.

What are the deadening impulses that keep us from that creative core? So many things – the gods of profit, competition, power, vanity, etc. The material gods have always been a value in this business, but more and more they are becoming the only value, separating us from the sacred gods of service, justice, and now, more often in the mainstream media, of truth.

How do we keep from being discouraged – by a journalism that even for the best is becoming in some dominant stories the amoral equivalent of war? The message of this four-day weekend pointed a direction – by connecting our inner selves with our outer work, by returning to our origins, our passions, and our ideals, to creative, constructive participation in our life and times, including the search for answers to these many questions.

Several participants arrived with deep reservations and doubts about the approach and value of such a retreat. But in the end, most of us felt enlivened both by the spiritual practices and by the more honest and open communications they inspired. The purpose of the retreat was to try to help us make a better connection between our inner and outer lives. Would that we could live up to the spirit of this gathering, which connected us more with our better selves and one another. Come to think of it, maybe these comments are about synergy, edge, spin, buzz, mistakes, and the mauling of American journalism after all.

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