Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the roles of Story and Fact and the way their roles in our lives intertwine as we examine the past and envision the future. Stories ask and try to answer questions in our lives. To be human, I believe, is to be driven to search for “Truth” and “Meaning” and answers to such questions. We long for facts to lean on. If we don’t have all the facts needed to build our story, we propose facts until we have more information. As humans, we like having neat, little, comprehensible packages. Each discovery allows us to alter our stories to include this new facet of Truth.
Ah, but for all we humans think we like answers, I find that we’re really intrigued by questions. We’ll happily spend time developing the story with a new quest at its heart. Solutions or Facts may emerge right away or only after a long time and a great amount of work. When that occurs, once again, our very human hunger for knowledge will call forth a new question and a story in response. It’s a wonderful dance.
This is fascinating on a planetary level. It’s fascinating on a personal level. Scientists and artists continue to search on all levels. My fascination as a Peacemaker and a Poet is both the search for new Possibilities and then the application of those possibilities to new ways of being in Peaceful Peace-building community. What’s the question you’re answering with your story? What facts emerge when you begin to examine those questions, and how can the story be transformed for Peace? Here’s one way that played out in Lewisburg.
Winter was approaching. It would be cold. People would need coats, hats, mittens, scarves. Sometimes in stories, you might want to ask why don’t people have coats? We could blame cars — people run between their houses, their cars, and wherever they have to be, and so they don’t really register that they’re outside. We could blame economics — coats are too expensive. We could blame the people (and isn’t that too often the case?) — people aren’t responsible with their money. We could try and solve any one of these problems, or we could use the facts we have and develop that story to solve the problem.
When a local woman noticed that people had no winter coats, instead of asking why, she changed the focus of the story and asked, “How can we get them coats?” She went to the CommUnity Zone and they agreed to set up the lobby with an empty coatrack, hangers, and bins for the hats, gloves, and scarves. They made a request to the community. The Daily Item heard about it and published an article that resulted in more donations. Now the coatrack and bins are full. It’s just one example of Passing Peace and building a Peaceful Community.
The CommUnity Zone lobby is always open. People who are cold can get what they need. If you ask effective questions, answers appear. Now when you tell the story, people understand that coat-sharing is Peacemaking, and that ensuring that people have warm clothes is building Peaceful Community. Warm Peace, Community Building happening in Lewisburg. The fact that people are cold raised questions. That question resulted in a new story: In this Valley, we take care of one another. There are many questions that we can Peacefully answer, and thus create stories of Peace in our Valley. The next time a question arises, it will be easier to solve together. Peacefully.
As I went through my closet for a spare scarf and a pair of gloves, I was grateful to join many others answering the invitation to build Peace and Warmth. All of this happened because simply because someone asked, “Can I build Peace in our Community?” With great gratitude for the warmth of winter coats and Community Peace, My Peace Brothers and Sisters, I ponder, what will we think of next?
Salaam, Shalom, Peace, Blessed Be.