The Moral Imagination II

In this week's readings, Lederach reminded me of infinitely important concepts I have lost touch with. Firstly, he writes on serendipity, and how the term relates to peace building. There is great value in the study of peace technique and applications, and in case studies of peace projects. Yet, there is also immense value in charting a more intuitive path to build peace, to set out with a goal, but not a precise map of how to get there. Lederach writes: "Serendipity requires peripheral vision, not just forward-looking eyesight ... [it] describes the fascination and frustration of sideways progress that constitutes the human endeavor of building peace in settings of violence, for constructive social change is often what accompanies and surrounds the journey more than what was originally and intentionally pursued and produced" (115). Lederach warns against adopting "tunnel vision" when searching for ways to transform conflict. He suggests we remain flexible with our approaches, so that we may be sensitive to small cues and insights that can lead to huge breakthroughs. "The key ... is how to build from the unexpected, how to connect accident with sagacity," Lederach writes (119).

Lederach's chapter "On Pied Pipers" also made a rather profound impact on me. My own work is largely centered around creative expression and its ability to heal. For years I tried to think my way out of harmful life-patterns, or think my way out of severe depression. My experience has been that often healing comes from using the body, leaving the mind out of the equation for a moment. Lederach comments that artistic endeavor is "transcendent," and that "This transcendence is the challenge of the moral imagination: the art and soul of making room for and building the creative act, the birthing of the unexpected" (161).

Finally, I can't complete my post without touching on the chapter about vocation. What a powerful chapter! Lederach discusses the connection between risk, vocation and voice. He writes: "[Risk and the moral imagination] is the soil of finding our voice, finding a way to speak with our lives" 165). This is vocation. Vocation is settling into the feeling of purpose and place in the world, and being able to speak from that place of inner knowing.