I had a newsletter scheduled for last week and decided not to send it because my news and notions didn’t seem to match the gravity of tensions and crises in the larger world. Today, I want to offer a reminder to each of us (myself included) that our words and wisdom are worthy and necessary even if they do not immediately end wars, abolish evil, or eradicate human suffering.
We need peacekeepers on the front lines, AND we need peacekeepers in our homes and classrooms and boardrooms. We need changemakers who can shift harmful societal systems and challenge wickedness on a global scale, AND we need changemakers who shift hearts on playgrounds and challenge injustices in our workplaces and on our streets.
When we model kindness and breathe compassion into the world, when we choose to love and serve humankind in even the smallest ways, it matters. You matter. We matter. The reloveution we are all a part of together, matters.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to facilitate a retreat for a newly formed team, during which we focused on laying the philosophical and relational foundations for their work together. Following the experience, one of the participants shared:
"Marissa was an incredible facilitator of conversations, making it an open, safe environment for our team to share our own personal experiences and build a foundation of mutual understanding and trust that serves to benefit our working relationships going forward."
The CEO later reflected:
"It’s been great to see our differences, acknowledge them, and talk about them comfortably. I have been amazed how we have been able to take what a person may have thought of as their weakness and see how other team members see it as a strength. We have started from a strength perspective and taken a massive step toward creating a culture of learners who are not afraid to ask questions."
At Reloveution, we see these conversations and experiences, these moments of togetherness and reconciling and trust building, as the work of peacemaking. We’re not ending global conflicts (yet), but we are opening hearts and doing our part to tug the thread that connects all of humanity toward love. And it is worth it. Every opportunity we have to point towards love is worth it.
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