Below are some links to articles, videos and stories that JustPeace staff have enjoyed this week. We hope you enjoy them too!
May 6, 2016
Faith & Leadership – David Anderson Hooker: Keeping the narratives in alignment – Faith & Leadership recently interviewed David Anderson Hooker while he was at Duke Divinity School to deliver a lecture at the Center for Reconciliation.
A lot of that is inside the stories, the unconscious narratives that drive our lives. We have to go back and unpack those and ask, “Who told you that that’s the only way it could be? How did you learn that, and what might be some other options?” The thing is, the beauty of it is, all the stories are true, but they didn’t necessarily happen that way. What makes something true for someone is that you organize your life around it. But you can organize your life around a different story. You have options.
Restorative Works: Motivational Interviewing: Change through restorative dialogue – Dawn Schantz, Motivational Interviewing consultant for juvenile justice in the state of Pennsylvania, explains how the skill of motivational interviewing can simultaneously hold people to high expectations while also providing high support for helping them internalize their own motivations for change.
On Being – Conversations at the Margin – Aseel Zahran writes about On Being’s Civil Conversations Project and reflects on the meaningful conversations from his life and how they often take place outside formal structures at the margin.
I know now that we will not arrive at a unified universal truth. That’s not the point. The question is, how do we deal with the complexity and uncertainty of our time? How do we sit with it without passing moral judgments and letting fear overtake our sense of being? I also know that people are hungry for conversations, for forming deeper and more profound relationships, more meaningful communities, for moving beyond the polarities. Such hunger expresses itself at the margins, away from what’s happening in formal spaces. This is what I want to talk about.
Kraybill Table: Tips for a Conflict Resolution Career – Ron Kraybill offers 7 tips for building a career in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
Even if you cannot yet credibly present yourself as a resource on conflict resolution, you can still advocate for creation of structures and processes for constructive resolution in the settings where you are connected. Start a playground mediation program in your school if you’re a teacher, encourage clients to explore mediation if you’re a lawyer, counsel a client in dealing with a conflicted family if you’re a social worker, lead a workshop on conflict resolution for a group of youth if you’re a youth worker.
KPJR Films – Resilience (Trailer) – A new film shines a light on how “toxic stress can trigger hormones that wreak havoc on the brains and bodies of children, putting them at a greater risk for disease, homelessness, prison time, and early death. While the broader impacts of poverty worsen the risk, no segment of society is immune. Resilience, however, also chronicles the dawn of a movement that is determined to fight back.”
Upcoming Events & Opportunities
- May 13, 2016 – Public Conversations Project: Become the Communicator You Want to Be – Boston, MA
- Mediation Skills Training for Church Leaders – May 9-13, 2016 in Toledo, Ohio; August 1-5, 2016 near Chicago, IL. Click here for more information.
- June 14 – 17, 2016 – Restorative Justice in Motion: Building a Movement – Eastern Mennonite University’s Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice in Harrisonburg, VA. Convening a space to discuss our collective roles in the restorative justice movement’s gathering momentum.
- June 6-11, 2016 – Duke Summer Institute for Reconciliation – Seeking Justice Through Reconciliation, Durham, NC
- Sept 29, 2016 – Public Conversations Project: Become the Communicator You Want to Be – Boston, MA
- October 19th, 2016 – Webinar: Restorative Justice, Restorative Theology, Restorative Church – This webinar hosted by Eastern Mennonite University will feature Chris Marshall and Ted Lewis and explore how restorative frameworks can be adapted and used in congregational settings.
- January 11-23, 2017 – Lombard Mennonite Peace Center: Peacemaker’s Pilgrimage to the Holy Land – Join Richard Blackburn on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to visit prominent landmarks and meet the individuals and groups working for peace and conflict transformation.
