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PEACE ON EARTH


Confl ict Resolutions that Work to Bridge Divides


by Linda Sechrist He lal


Hea iing h happ


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


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Call to Action Roughly 30 years ago, notable voices


began urging Americans to embrace a sustainable worldview of unity in diversity, recognizing our core oneness as a solution to an increasingly out-of- balance society. Success in this endeavor depends primarily on the “habits of the heart” of our citizens, developed in local 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 confl ict—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 confl icts and create cohesiveness, 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 Educational training materials and books are giving outdated models of confl ict resolution a facelift. In The Revolution Where You Live: Stories from a 12,000 Mile Journey Through a New America, Sarah Van


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Gelder devotes a chapter to a Greensboro, 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 training, and then developed story circles in which residents were able to have the diffi cult discussions that don’t ordinarily take place among the police, city council, churches and social agencies. Today’s confl ict resolution experts are


discovering that confl ict is an essential and powerful call for applying spiritual principles and exercising spiritual practices.


Provocative Questions “What if we considered confl ict 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 confl ict in a healthy and transformative way look like?” queries Ma’ikwe Ludwig, executive director of Commonomics


24 Central Florida natural awakenings


USA, an organization which educates and advocates for a world where a commons-based economy creates economic


and ecological security for all. “Confl ict 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 confl ict; maybe even welcome it. Ludwig, author of Together Resilient: Building Community in the Age of Climate Disruption, recently helped present new perspectives on confl ict resolution during a webinar for Transition US members interested in creating inclusive and diverse communities through collaboration. The nonprofi t 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 director for the nonprofi t 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


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