My mind keeps going back to last weekend, when my hubby and I went to the state peace groups’ conference, "Building a Culture of Peace." It's the second year we've done this in Arkansas. Last year, Omni Center started it out, and this year two Little Rock Groups - Arkansas Coalition for Peace & Justice, and Arkansas WAND - hosted it at Ferncliff Conference Center.
We're still a pretty small group. Maybe 40 or so folks. There's just something good about hanging out with people who share your passion though. It's interesting to see who comes back a second time. There was ACPJ, and WAND, and the determined Springfield Missouri bunch sent a rep, and the radiant Sisters from St. Scholastica Monastery, and some new women from Russellville and Fort Smith with new ideas and new contacts. New people were just really exhilarating, and seeing 'old' groups in a new light. Speakers from the WAND and ACPJ group kinda gave me an insight into where their groups are focusing energy. I love that.
Something I wasn't expecting at all was a comprehensive set of historic albums that Antje Harris has been constructing for several years. Attentively mounted photos, programs, flyers, speeches... memorabilia of years of peace work from the two groups she works with (ACPJ and WAND). It's a marvelous history. Wish our archivist could have seen them. They weren't elaborate or cutsey... just well made and attractive. She had an album from the first peace conference in September 2006. It was amazing to see the story of that, laid out in the material we'd collected.
They let me show my "Search for the Structure" powerpoint. I've been working on it for Omni leaders. Wasn't hard to change it around for other peace workers. Wonder if I can attach it to this blog? May try it. Nope. Won't do it. The blog likes photos or video. Maybe I'll try a slide from it instead.
I like this powerpoint. It's got some pretty pictures, and lots of good ideas from "Strategic Peacebuilding" . That's a little book from Mennonite Eastern University, by Dr. Lisa Schirch. Great ideas for peace makers. We need a long-term plan in a really big way. This is kind of ground work for that. We need a strategy. A strategy first, and then better infrastructure.
That's a question I dwell on. What infrastructure do we need to actually have a culture of peace? One thing I like about Dr. Schirch's book is the way it begins from the values and skills necessary to create peace. As you read this list of skills, it's clear why we have a violent society. We're hardwiring ourselves for it. Just look at this list:
Skills for Peacebuilding
- self reflecti0n skills
- active listening skills
- diplomatic and assertive speaking skills
- appreciative inquiry skills
- creative problem-solving skills
- dialogue skills
- negotiation skills
- mediation skills
When did they ever encourage anybody to think this stuff was acceptable in high school? Especially the 'self-reflection' part. Nah. When I was in high school, all problems would've been solved if we'd had a nicer car and name brand clothes. I don't think that part of school has changed much.
We've got a long way to go before the infrastructure for the culture of peace is strong enough to carry the kind of load we're laying on it. Whatever we do in groups like Omni Center seems so meager, but it's a start. There was a time when all highways were dirt, and everybody was fine with that. But the infrastructure grew as its value was understood. Having paved roads was only the beginning though. The people carving out the dirt roads couldn't have imagined 12-lane highways with on-off ramps, tunnel systems, built-in sensing systems, lighting systems... all this elaborate jazz we have to have in major cities.
If the human race survives long enough, the culture of peace will grow too. The infrastructure for it is at the dirt road stage, but it will change as its value becomes apparent. It's the perfect metaphor for a small but beautiful peace conference, in our small but beautiful state.
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