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Pedro Silva

Pedro Silva is Director of Engagement at YOUnify. A veteran of the United States Air Force, who served as both a Satellite Communications Technician and a Mandarin Chinese Language/Intelligence Analyst, he has cultivated the capacity to think missionally and practically--strategically and tactically--on a wide variety of concerns. In his post military career, Pedro worked as a corporate recruiter for 8 years serving dozens of for profit and not for profits in the areas of technology, biotech, and more. In 2009, he entered Andover Newton Theological Seminary and for 10 years served as a pastor in the socially active, United Church of Christ. In this role, Pedro built on his passion for civic engagement and made a mark on the bridging movement through his volunteer work with Living Room Conversations and now as a Director of Engagement with YOUnify.
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    Leveraging big ideas

    But what can I do?

    Pedro Silva
    May 26, 2022
    people talking

    Do not take talking for granted, writes YOUnify's Pedro Silva.

    filadendron/Getty Images

    Silva is director of engagement at YOUnify.

    “But what can I do?” That’s the question I heard most often after speaking with groups about the challenges of our time. It didn’t matter what the subject was. It could be homelessness, the racial tensions, political divides, economic disparity, political polarization or any of the many other human-created issues that often make us feel disempowered. That common refrain would be spoken time and time again: ”But what can I do?”

    For a long while, I thought that people were genuinely asking me a question, and I was ready with an answer. I had an endless list of things they can do, or stop doing, to create the world or at least the country that so many of us profess to want. Let’s face it, if people wanting better communities, a better democracy, greater relationships, justice and equity, etc., was enough to make it happen, nearly everything we complain about today would vanish. Many of the systems, policies and institutions that deter us from sinking into utter turmoil would be unnecessary and every -ism (racism, sexism, ableism) that we argue over would be replaced with an -ity (humanity, civility, unity) that is indicative of individual and relational thriving.

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    Leveraging big ideas

    A call to restore the balance

    Pedro Silva
    April 13, 2022
    A call to restore the balance
    Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

    Silva is director of engagement at YOUnify.

    “A bird flapping with one wing is grounded and spins in a circle going nowhere fast.” — The Way

    This awareness is at the root of my conviction on all of the challenges our nation and this world face politically, socially and otherwise. It is also a principle that I apply to my own life. As someone who has spun in both directions in many areas of my life, I am in awe that there is a Law above our laws that doesn’t need my permission or understanding to work. And, that surrendering to this Law can welcome a harmony between apparent opposites that enables the miracle of flight for both wings and everything in between. My hope in writing this is that it will serve you as it has served me.

    In my faith tradition, there is the guidance that when one is doing a good deed we should not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. I believe that is because, in part, they serve two different and yet, harmonious purposes: to hold grief in one hand and joy in the other. After all, isn't that what life is all about? But, this isn't something we're taught. We are addicted to zero sum thinking and experience most phenomena as "this or that." And it seems that these days way too many of us are holding grief in both hands and competing with one another as if the one with the most grief wins. As someone who has authentic relationships with all types of people, this has burdened me for quite some time. And thus, I feel compelled to do something joyful about it to restore the balance.

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