In the end, reconciliation is a spiritual process, which requires more than just a legal framework. It has to happen in the hearts and minds of people.
Nelson Mandela
This week, I have been reminded over and over about the importance of reconciliation. As many gathered around the world to commemorate 75 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp I listened to a Holocaust survivor speaking of how she turned fear and hatred into love and peace, recognising that all of us can bring suffering to others. What was key was how we move forward, how we reconcile what we have done or what we have suffered with the future we wish to have. Reconciliation is not just about a piece of paper agreeing a truce or an army liberating a camp but about how hearts and minds are changed from a place of polarity to a place of plurality.
Many are also hoping for a spirit of reconciliation in light of the UK’s departure from the European Union. Churches in the UK have issued statements to their sister Churches around Europe committing themselves to continued co-operation and fellowship, and others hope that the political and social division that have arisen as a result of Brexit will now have the time to heal and people be reconciled to each other.
Reconciliation is sometimes an underused element of Diaconia. We often talk about change and hope but not always about the need to reconcile past life to future life, past situations to future situations and enable people to reconnect and reconcile with the important people in their lives. Reconciliation is an inner process, often done in private and often done with a sense of shame. But I have seen in my travels around Diaconia in Europe the benefits of reconciliation among people who have suffered great trauma, abuse, addiction, and exclusion. It is an essential part of our diaconal work and indeed of our common humanity. Reconciliation also facilitates participation, our overarching theme this year, because if we feel we are reconciled that we can build the future together, knowing that we have come from different places and different opinions but united in a common goal for our futures. Participation is key for all people to be valued, loved and able to use their inherent dignity. Reconciliation is the pathway for participation. In a week where for some reconciliation seems far away or where for others it seems very near Eurodiaconia will keep supporting our members to lay done that pathway to participation through our advocacy, our services, and our identity.
Have a good weekend,
Heather