The Place Called Reconciliation

The single greatest challenge of any conflict, particularly those with long history of violence and suffering, is create the social space where it is possible to hold together and interdependent, not separate and isolated, the impulses of the four social energies of Truth, Mercy, Justice, and Peace. Where they meet, are connected and relate, we create the pathway leading toward reconciliation. Where they are ignored, isolated from each, or where one is chosen over the other, we often are unable to create sustainable peace processes.

The key question then becomes how we understand the impulses and energy represented by each of the voices, and how we move to think in a more comprehensive way about their relationship. What I have discovered is that they are best linked when each is given a voice, as if they were people, and invited to speak and advocate for what they need, but in the active presence of the others.