The next time you encounter conflict, ask the question, “I wonder what God is up to now?” Conflict is often an opportunity to learn something new about God, through forgiveness and reconciliation.
I have learned how to turn conflict and confrontation into opportunities to resolve differences. Just imagine a scenario where there is neither victor nor vanquished. Imagine living in a world where a disagreement – whether it be an argument with a stranger on the street; a congregational conflict; an ethnic, racial or cultural conflict; or two nations waging war – can be resolved through the process of peace-making through conflict mediation. Sitting side-by-side instead of sitting as opposites allows the possibility that there can be a win-win. Neither side wins a total victory. Each side feels that they negotiated, and their main concerns have been addressed and satisfied.
We can develop and use helpful strategies and skills, such as listening, concentrating on interests not positions and using “I” messages, and work to incorporate these into every interaction we have with others in the world.
This message is excerpted from “Road to reconciliation” by Rosemary Dyson in the June 2016 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate The Martyrs of Uganda, 1886, and John XXIII, Bishop of Rome, 1963.
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