Happy New Year 2015! Dare we imagine that this year could bring peace breakthroughs in relationships we previously gave up on? Which relationships would you most like to see restored this year? Perhaps with your spouse, your parent, your child, your sibling, a previously close friend…? How does such a seemingly impossible reconciliation start? IContinue reading “Dreaming of Peace”
Tag Archives: peacemaking
What do Muslims Believe?
An American friend recently told me that he had discovered there were some Muslim families in his apartment complex. But he hesitated to approach them, not knowing how they would respond. He assumed if he understood what Muslims believe first, it would help him to make friends. My friend’s desire is understandable, but may notContinue reading “What do Muslims Believe?”
The Importance of Reconciliation in Conflict Resolution – Part 2
I’m a bit behind on my writing due to moving from the US back to Indonesia, back to our work with local Muslims and Christians pursuing peace. What a joy to be surrounded by people here who share a common dream for a better world and are willing to put aside their personal prejudices andContinue reading “The Importance of Reconciliation in Conflict Resolution – Part 2”
The Importance of Reconciliation in Conflict Resolution
Effective peacemaking depends on Conflict Resolution–but Conflict Resolution without Reconciliation is rarely effective. This December I’ll be writing a 2-part blog on this topic. Part 1 is already written and posted on the website of my good friend and amazing peacemaker, Thomas Davis (who will also soon be a guest blogger on this site!). PleaseContinue reading “The Importance of Reconciliation in Conflict Resolution”
Peacemaking that Produces Intimacy
I was listening to Danny Silk teach on communication in marriage today, and it struck me the implications for the peacemaking process. Danny teaches that many of us have a wrong goal of intimacy, believing that it comes from getting the other person to agree with me. We don’t value what we don’t believe orContinue reading “Peacemaking that Produces Intimacy”
Peacemaker of the World
One of my favorite descriptions of Jesus in the Bible comes from Micah chapter 5. Many Christians hear the beginning of this passage read at Christmas foretelling Jesus’ birth: “But you, Bethlehem…from you will come the leader who will shepherd-rule Israel…” But if you read in the Message translation, verses 2-4 end with the shepherd-rulerContinue reading “Peacemaker of the World”
A Way Out of Hell
Many sources have relayed this story of Gandhi’s extraordinary wisdom in peacemaking. On one of Gandhi’s prayer and fasting to the death attempts to bring Muslim and Hindu radicals to lay down their arms and reconcile, a group of Hindu radicals enter the Muslim home where Gandhi has chosen to fast to lay down theirContinue reading “A Way Out of Hell”
Healing the Wounds of a Nation — South Africa
As we work toward reconciliation between religions, we have to recognize that often other factors of difference, such as ethnicity, culture, language, control of wealth, control of power, etc., are also contributing to, if not driving, the conflict. On the surface, these contributing factors may make the peacemaking effort seem impossibly complex. But at theContinue reading “Healing the Wounds of a Nation — South Africa”
Jim Baton 