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PEACE by Linda Sechrist


Healing happens when we handle conflict in a healthy and transformative way.


Call to Action Roughly 30 years ago, notable voices began urging Americans to embrace a sustainable worldview of unity in diver- sity, recognizing our core oneness as a solution to an increasingly out-of-bal- ance society. Success in this endeavor depends primarily on the “habits of the heart” of our citizens, developed in lo- cal milieus of families, neighborhoods, classrooms, congregations, voluntary associations, workplaces and public places where strangers gather.


Activating Answers While mainstream media often largely focuses on the negative aspects of con- flict—discord, divisiveness, intolerance, violence, incivility, injustice, chaos and complex problems—a counter- movement is convening constructive conversations. Participants are initiating dialogue and deliberations intended to resolve conflicts and create cohe- siveness, collaboration, cooperation and compromise among local factions that disagree on how to deal with everything from health care and social justice to environmental protection and climate science. Educational training materials and books are giving outdated models of conflict resolution a facelift. In The Revolution Where You Live: Stories from a 12,000 Mile Journey Through a New America, Sarah Van Gelder devotes a chapter to a Greens-


16 Austin Edition


boro, North Carolina, battle over a story about a deadly, racially charged incident from the city’s recent past. She quotes James Lamar Gibson, a 20-something African- American activist and core organizer for the Counter Stories Project: “We’ve been stuck in an old conversation for a couple of decades. We want to have an army of people with restorative conversation skills, so we can get past the divisiveness and imagine together a different sort of Greensboro,” he says. The project began with facilitator train- ing, and then developed story circles in which residents were able to have the difficult discussions that don’t ordinar- ily take place among the police, city council, churches and social agencies. Today’s conflict resolution experts


are discovering that conflict is an essential and powerful call for apply- ing spiritual principles and exercising spiritual practices.


Provocative Questions “What if we considered conflict as a secret ally or a guidepost, showing us what really matters to us and how much we care? What if our intense emotions are sources of invincible energy, with the power to build the world we want, together? What does having conflict in a healthy and transformative way look like?” queries Ma’ikwe Ludwig, execu- tive director of Commonomics USA,


AustinAwakenings.com an organization


which educates and advocates for a world where a commons-based


economy creates economic and ecological security for all. “Conflict has the power to bring to


the surface what’s really at stake and to unite people toward a common goal,” advises Ludwig. Her thought-provoking questions can help shift perceptions toward the idea that we need to use conflict; maybe even welcome it. Ludwig, author of Together Resil- ient: Building Community in the Age of Climate Disruption, recently helped present new perspectives on conflict resolution during a webinar for Transi- tion US members interested in creat- ing inclusive and diverse communities through collaboration. The nonprofit inspires, encourages, supports and provides networking and training for grassroots initiatives seeking to build community resilience in the face of such challenges as oil spills, climate change and economic crises. Courtney Breese, managing direc- tor for the nonprofit National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD) and her colleagues, together with thousands of innovative thinkers, are helping by introducing people to simple dialogue and deliberation structures, processes and resources that invite meaningful and productive conversations leading to constructive


ON EARTH


Conflict Resolutions that Work to Bridge Divides


Little Perfect Stock/Shutterstock.com


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