Well everyone Rick did it! He is now a certified mediator and got his Intercultural Peace Building Certificate! Seriously this man is destined to do great things everyone!
Now the man of the hour will tell you a little bit about the program and his expereince:
The Intercultural Peacebuilding Certificate is an academic program offered through the David O. McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding at BYU-Hawaii. It is 19 credit hours of conflict resolution and peace studies, mediation and facilitation, and leadership skills. In addition, students engage in various projects to provide service on campus and in the community for the McKay center, and we also become certified peer mediators.
More than this however, the program has changed my life. Our society has a perception of peace that deems it impractical, improbable, and weak. It's associated with a non-compliant counterculture of hippies and idealistic dreamers. I admit that I too entered the program with this cultural baggage. I was interested in the program, but I was more interested in referring to it with more professional-sounding labels like "conflict resolution" rather than peacebuilding.
Through it however, I have learned the realities that we sometimes refuse to tell ourselves. Firstly, that Peace is a Choice; I cannot hope to see peace in my community or the world if I do not choose have peace in my own life. What drives us to either have peace or conflict with others how we choose to see them. Philosopher Martin Buber said that we can either have an "I-it" or an "I-thou" relationship with others - seeing them as objects or seeing them as people with equal hopes and needs. We often see others as the source of the conflicts in our lives, and we are the victims. Most often, it is ourselves that have allowed conflict to creep into our lives be failing to recognize the humanity in others. The second reality is that Peace is Active; we tend to equate peace with pacifism. I can tell forthright that what people like Gandhi, MLK Jr, Mandela and others did was far from passive. Peace is quite often a hard behavior. It takes a lot of personal strength, patience, and endurance. We have to act to produce peace. Gandhi admonished, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." One last reality that we refuse to let ourselves believe is that Peace is Possible. This was something that I too was convinced of the contrary. I thought that conflict resolution skills would prove to be useful, but that the idea of lasting peace - especially on an international scale - was not possible. Sadly in Mormon culture we often reinforce this idea. We look at conflict around us and throw up our hands and say, "oh I just can't wait for the Savior to come again and bring peace!" What we often do not understand is that the Savior will not come again until we have established peace among us. We are commanded to build Zion - being of one heart and of one mind -before we can expect the the second coming. And Zion is not merely a collection of Latter-day Saints. Zion will include all faiths, and it is our responsibility to figure out how to do it before we can hope for the paradisaical glory of the millennium.
It has been quite a journey to discover these realities through the peacebuilding program. It has been a challenge to identify my self-deceptions and justifications and learn how to break the cycles of interpersonal conflicts. I am in no means freed from those cycles; I entangle myself in conflicts of all sorts on a frequent basis still today, but it becomes harder and harder to justify myself as I recognize the symptoms of contention and conflict escalation. I feel so blessed to be part of this amazing community that is known as Brigham Young University - Hawaii. When dedicated by David O. McKay in 1955, he said "from this school, I'll tell you, will go men and women whose influence will be felt for good toward the establishment of peace internationally." I believe that. I see the nations of the world come to this campus and learn to transcend difference to love each other as brothers and sisters. Marion G. Romney referred to BYU-Hawaii as a living laboratory where nations would come together to figure out how to live in peace, and the extent of our success would be a microcosm of peace on a world scale. As I've worked closely with fellow students from all parts of the world, I've seen it in action. I've also seen others go before me to be the influence that President McKay spoke of. I count myself lucky to be associated with those great people and this amazing institution. As an educational degree, it is neither the first I've received or the last, but I count it as the most valuable to me. It symbolized not only things learned and skills developed, but a personal transformation and conscious decision to seek peace in my life and my relationships.
More than this however, the program has changed my life. Our society has a perception of peace that deems it impractical, improbable, and weak. It's associated with a non-compliant counterculture of hippies and idealistic dreamers. I admit that I too entered the program with this cultural baggage. I was interested in the program, but I was more interested in referring to it with more professional-sounding labels like "conflict resolution" rather than peacebuilding.
Through it however, I have learned the realities that we sometimes refuse to tell ourselves. Firstly, that Peace is a Choice; I cannot hope to see peace in my community or the world if I do not choose have peace in my own life. What drives us to either have peace or conflict with others how we choose to see them. Philosopher Martin Buber said that we can either have an "I-it" or an "I-thou" relationship with others - seeing them as objects or seeing them as people with equal hopes and needs. We often see others as the source of the conflicts in our lives, and we are the victims. Most often, it is ourselves that have allowed conflict to creep into our lives be failing to recognize the humanity in others. The second reality is that Peace is Active; we tend to equate peace with pacifism. I can tell forthright that what people like Gandhi, MLK Jr, Mandela and others did was far from passive. Peace is quite often a hard behavior. It takes a lot of personal strength, patience, and endurance. We have to act to produce peace. Gandhi admonished, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." One last reality that we refuse to let ourselves believe is that Peace is Possible. This was something that I too was convinced of the contrary. I thought that conflict resolution skills would prove to be useful, but that the idea of lasting peace - especially on an international scale - was not possible. Sadly in Mormon culture we often reinforce this idea. We look at conflict around us and throw up our hands and say, "oh I just can't wait for the Savior to come again and bring peace!" What we often do not understand is that the Savior will not come again until we have established peace among us. We are commanded to build Zion - being of one heart and of one mind -before we can expect the the second coming. And Zion is not merely a collection of Latter-day Saints. Zion will include all faiths, and it is our responsibility to figure out how to do it before we can hope for the paradisaical glory of the millennium.
It has been quite a journey to discover these realities through the peacebuilding program. It has been a challenge to identify my self-deceptions and justifications and learn how to break the cycles of interpersonal conflicts. I am in no means freed from those cycles; I entangle myself in conflicts of all sorts on a frequent basis still today, but it becomes harder and harder to justify myself as I recognize the symptoms of contention and conflict escalation. I feel so blessed to be part of this amazing community that is known as Brigham Young University - Hawaii. When dedicated by David O. McKay in 1955, he said "from this school, I'll tell you, will go men and women whose influence will be felt for good toward the establishment of peace internationally." I believe that. I see the nations of the world come to this campus and learn to transcend difference to love each other as brothers and sisters. Marion G. Romney referred to BYU-Hawaii as a living laboratory where nations would come together to figure out how to live in peace, and the extent of our success would be a microcosm of peace on a world scale. As I've worked closely with fellow students from all parts of the world, I've seen it in action. I've also seen others go before me to be the influence that President McKay spoke of. I count myself lucky to be associated with those great people and this amazing institution. As an educational degree, it is neither the first I've received or the last, but I count it as the most valuable to me. It symbolized not only things learned and skills developed, but a personal transformation and conscious decision to seek peace in my life and my relationships.
No comments:
Post a Comment