I have been following with deep, deep concern and sadness, the racially motivated events that have been occurring in our cities. It seems we are more divided than ever before. I for one, am interested in seeking out, listening to, and putting all my energies and support towards those in our community that are committed towards working for true peace. I believe that is the only way we can come together in making contributions in bringing about change, and healing the significant racial tensions in our world. F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” The ability to put yourself in another’s shoes is a basic skill of exceptional power, maturity and one’s ability to have empathy. I believe that If we want more “truth” about a situation, we need to be able to put ourselves in another’s shoes – especially those whose ideas we oppose.

I have a son in law who is a police officer. I was not raised in a “military” or “law enforcement” family.  This experience has educated me on some of the ways of that world, and the commitment of those I know to significantly alter the way people in power interact with those they serve each day. I also have a son who majored in peace studies in college, and has worked in an inner city North Minneapolis non-profit. I have seen first hand, these two individuals working towards the same goals of creating peace, opportunity, safety, and respect for all, each from their different posts.

I have also worked and volunteered in the inner city, and I know our whole race “conversation” has to be elevated significantly. I am interested in those who are forwarding the motion of the important change we humans need to create in learning to live peacefully with each other – here, and all over the world. Sometimes the work to be done, seems like a mountain on all of our backs. I want to be part of, and support those working towards solutions, and not be a contributor to the problems and the negativity.

Aside from my profession, I am a mother, and a grandmother, and I want to know I have done what I can do to make this world a better place for generations to come. I read a beautiful quote the other day by Carlos Santana: “Peace has never come from dropping bombs. Real peace comes from enlightenment and educating people to behave more in a divine manner.”

I am sharing below, one of the many examples of others committed to making a positive difference in our world. There is much work to be done…

Peace.

Speaking together differently in order to live together differently.

http://www.civilconversationsproject.org The Civil Conversations Project from On Being with Krista Tippett is a public forum providing ideas and tools for healing our fractured civic spaces. The Civil Conversations Project seeks to renew common life in a fractured and tender world. We are a conversation-based, virtues-based resource towards hospitable, trustworthy relationship with and across difference. We honor the power of asking better questions, model reframed approaches to entrenched debates, and insist that the ruptures above the radar do not tell the whole story of our time. We aspire to amplify and cross-pollinate the generative new realities that are also being woven, one word and one life at a time.