Member-only story
Grieving with each Other
And keeping up the hard work of dialogue towards love
Recently, I convened a grief circle for the global group of peacebuilding dialogue practitioners under the auspices of the Global Dialogue Collective (formerly US Academy of Professional Dialogue) to mark the violence in the Middle East which has wrought so much death and destruction. Our goal with this new organization is to serve as a big tent that will bring together dialogue practitioners who do the hard work of bringing polarized or fragmented people together to dialogue, and begin the slow road to rehumanizing each other and possibly understanding the “Other”. The aim is to preserve life and peace, dignity and respect, justice and equity, and all the human values that we envision in a just and beautiful world. It seems utopian. One of the members on the grief call said: “Here we are a few dozen people dedicated to dialogue- how could we make a difference?” For myself, I have been doing this work for decades, and I have never given up hope. I have witnessed many dialogue groups fall apart when violence erupts, such as Sabra Shatila massacres in 1992 and many events since then where words could only harm, and only tears were shed.
We showcase practitioner’s work and unique approaches, we convene circles such as the Peacebuilders Circle, and we network with other organizations…
