March 27, 2008This Week in the World ~ Creativity for Peace

Filed under: This Week in the World by merylrunion |

My husband and I took a retreat this week and stayed at a place called Creativity for Peace. One of the things they do is host Israeli and Palestinian teens so they can get to know each other as teens. (An Indian Yogi, Shri Shri Ravi Shankar does the same thing in India.)

There’s a bulletin board at the center that is full of pictures of the teens. We noticed one that looked like three teen girls making peace signs. We then realized they had a Charlie’s Angels gun-holding stance. Ironic, isn’t it – that the entertainment industry provides the foundation for such a common bond?

The Peace Center applies the kind of approach I advocate and detail in my book Unite and Concur. It’s about standing inside each other’s shoes and seeing each other as the individuals we are. Yes, there are times to stand and fight. But a PowerPhrase is as strong as it needs to be and no stronger, and the best approach to any conflict is to Speak as strong as you need to and no stronger. But many times when we drop the ammo, we find bridges we didn’t think existed.