John Paul Lederach

We need to envision a more beautiful world.

And, um, I have been guided a lot by one, uh, peace activist, John Paul Lederach.

He's also a professor and author, and he's known for his work on conflict transformation.

He calls it moral imagination, that together we imagine a world rooted in empathy, respect, and interconnectedness, but not just imagine.

Any book, any article I would read, I would do a little summary, and I just got in the habit of doing them in haiku fashion.

And this came, it's written up in the book by, uh, a fellow named John Paul Lederach, who was a renowned peace mediator-

Mm-hmm

... through the Irish Troubles, uh, Rwanda, uh, like the Tutsis, the Hutus, et cetera-

So what is the, the measure of our humanity? You know, when you can ask yourself that question, what is the measure of my humanity? And where there is an absence, then how do I re-humanize not only myself, but how do I re-humanize, in my own view, um, those with whom I have the greatest differences? That's really a, an assignment for us.

And often, in almost every one of these, um, uh, series that we've done for now six years, we've asked John Paul Lederach, um, who has written many extraordinary books, including one that I, I love called The Moral Imagination.

And it's very much in Father Greg Boyle's, uh, sense of do you have the kind of moral imagination to actually see past the sort of ill deeds or unwholesomeness, uh, and hold that as, you know, one aspect.

But also to see into, you know, that unshakable goodness that is the ... at, at the heart of every human being, just as Father Greg Bole- Boyle describes it.

We're calling sprints, three in homes and three in Hope Chapel in October, November, six weeks of formation in the love of God and community.

And we're going to be looking at John 13 to 17, Jesus's words in the Gospel of John before he is betrayed and his sufferings and crucifixion, death and resurrection.

So a really key section of Jesus's teaching in John 13.

But I'm a real fan always of knowing our why.

Like, why do we do anything? Why do we do what we do? Why are we doing this? And so the actual evenings are going to be super practical, relational, day-to-day.

You can say

that for the tape.

Say that for the tape, John.

It's not exclusion, it's protection.

Another researcher, John Paul Lederach, has spent decades working in peace in places like Colombia and Sierra Leone.

His big finding in this, lasting peace doesn't come from grand agreement between big institution.

It comes from relationships.