Earlier this year the Bishop of Limeick, Rt Rev Trevor Williams, a former leader of the Corrymeela Community, gave a lecture at Stormont commemorating the life and witness of David Stevens, a later leader of the Community.
Introduction
David Stevens had the opportunity to create a career in chemistry, but then he was invited to Ballycastle where student volunteers were quite literally building Corrymeela. And the rest is history. His all too short life from that time on was committed to reconciliation. Working for the Irish Council of Churches as its General Secretary, and working for Corrymeela on the programme staff, then as Leader from 2003-2010, He was a member of the Standing Advisory Committee on Human Rights 1988-92, and a member of the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council 1990-96 and 2002-08. He was the consummate student, always learning, an avid Reader of good literature of all genres, and newspapers. Lover of art and committed to his family Mathilde, son Thomas and daughter Naomi. Thanks for this opportunity to give the first memorial lecture in his honour.
I was born a Protestant in Dublin and when I came to work in the Chaplaincy at Queen’s, John Morrow was also on the chaplaincy team and I was introduced to Corrymeela. Although I have moved to Limerick now I retain my membership of the Corrymeela community for it is there that I renew my Vision of the possibility of Reconciliation. In this short talk I want to talk about
• Safe spaces to share our story.
• Reconciliation as a worthy aspiration
• Learning to celebrate small steps
Ben Okri , the Nigerian novelist, poet and essayist, penned some words which I greatly value. He wrote:
‘Nations and peoples are largely the stories they feed themselves. If they tell themselves stories that are lies, they will suffer the future consequences of those lies. If they tell themselves stories that face their own truths, they will free their histories for future flowerings.’
Duncan Morrow has a great way of packaging profound truths in simple bite size chunks, mixed with his unique zany humour. If he was up here he would have his flip chart making wild drawings, shapes and squiggles. Building on the work of Frank Wright on contested spaces my own words it might sound something like this:
“Life in Northern Ireland is viewed as a contest between ‘them’ and ‘us’. There is little ‘common sense’ between the two sides. Each side claims to know the ‘true facts’ of any situation. At the same time nobody can agree on what are the ‘true facts’. Two histories exist, two sets of attitudes and prejudices, two loyalties, two cultures, two sets of tradition. The common factor is a deep-rooted fear of ‘the other’. Education and employment become battle grounds for ‘our rights’. Religious and cultural symbols can become badges of identity of who belongs to us and who belongs to the enemy. The differences between the two traditions are symbols of threat. Each new situation is interpreted to support the age old truths, the battle between ‘them’ and ‘us’.”
There is the correct retort, of course to this model. Northern Ireland isn’t just two opposing communities. That is too simple. But during Duncan’s presentation there would also be plenty of laughs, the laughter of recognition, an acknowledgement of the way we are. It describes pretty well for me the story we have received in Northern Ireland, and the story which many individuals and communities live by.
So I return to Ben Okri for a second another quote
‘Stories, are the secret reservoir of values: change the stories individuals and nations live by and tell themselves and you change the individuals and nations.’
I want to tell you what a girl said during a short act of worship at Corrymeela. She said, ‘I would like you to pray for a man who is in prison tonight. He is worried and his wife and children are worried to, because tomorrow he returns to court to receive his sentence. And so the group of Catholics and Protestants prayed in silence for that man. Afterwards a Corrymeela staff member asked her, if you don’t mind telling me who is it that you asked us to pray for? He is the man who murdered my Father.’
Somehow, somewhere, she had learnt a different story to live by. A story of which opens a path towards Reconciliation, a story which refuses to allow the bitterness of victimhood, dominate her choices, a story which dares to love the enemy. Some story, as profound and as difficult as that is needed if we are to find healing and hope for the future in Northern Ireland. Reconciliation
David Stevens was no mean theologian, reading widely and distilling essential concepts which apply directly to peace making in Northern Ireland. Reconciliation is an example. Reconciliation is fundamentally a theological word. But its a word that has been diluted so that it sounds good but means little. Reconciliation is not a comfortable word. It is demanding work. Reconciliation is not about downgrading difference, it is the energetic commitment to pay to price of living with difference. It is not papering over the cracks in the search for a happy solution. It is the struggle to persevere through the pain in the knowledge that on the other side, the rewards of peace are worth it.
Reconciliation is the process through which former enemies are brought back into a positive relationship. It involves an inter-relationship of forgiveness, repentance, truth and justice. It is a place where conflicting parties meet and face together the claims and tensions between truth, mercy, justice and peace. It is a commitment to fair interactions for members of different groups, a commitment to address divisions and find a common purpose, it is persistence, dogged persistence to keep going, to keep coming back, no matter what, to continuing the relationship, the conversation and building the peace building.
Reconciliation and a Shared Future
No Vision less than Reconciliation will be comprehensive enough and strong enough to deliver what we need here. It is interesting that one of the latest political battles is over a programme towards a Shared Future. Proving once again we can fight about anything at all. Proving once again the problem is not so much about content, but relationship. Putting a Shared Future on the political Agenda is an advance. I remember that in the first draft of the Programme for Government the SF words weren’t mentioned at all. They had been air-brushed out. It took a strong lobby to get the words ‘Shared Future’ inserted again. But are the words Shared Future adequate for what we want to achieve? They represent a step in the right direction because by using the word ‘Shared’ we are at least recognising that the others exist, and have to be taken into account. But the concept is too slipy. A ‘something for you and something else for me’ shared future is not a sufficient goal for our future. It could mean little better than benign apartheid and it also possible we could settle for a lot worse. We need a vision that will transform relationships not just contain them. We need a vision that embraces diversity as a creative gift not a potential threat.
A political programme for a shared future will always be contentious. Politics is adversarial. It always faces the temptation to become yet another expression of the battle between ‘us’ and ‘them’, ‘winning’ and ‘losing’, and above all gaining or retaining power and influence for our political constituency. Politics makes legislation and distributes resources, and much besides, and I am not belittling the importance of politics, what I am saying is that it may be able to divide up a shared future, but on its own it won’t be able to deliver reconciliation, where former enemies can live positively and creatively in community.
Reconciliation is a process not a destination. It is a way of living not just a project. It is a Vision not a political programme. We need to strengthen commitment and nurture hope. We need to name and celebrate steps that people are taking on the path of reconciliation. They will inevitably be small steps. Sectarianism, prejudice, anger, hurt and hate are ingrained realities that have to be faced on the path of reconciliation. To pretend that we have left them behind in a New Northern Ireland is to ignore the elephant in the room. But how do you eat an elephant. One bite at a time. We need to resist the impulse to say an initiative is not enough, insignificant and irrelevant. Small steps on the path of reconciliation must be noted, celebrated and shared. There are many obstacles and challenges on the path to Reconciliation that can only be overcome by taking small steps. We need to celebrate all progress no matter how small.
Sharing our story
One way to do this is by sharing stories of reconciliation. Anyone working in Community Relations has their stories of small steps. Stories of how a person comes to devote their life to the costly work of Reconciliation. One of David Steven’s mentors was Ray Davey, the founder of the Corrymeela Community. Ray’s commitment to Reconciliation came from the traumatic experience of watching the bombing of Dresden by allied forces during the second world war, from his prisoner of war cell above the city. That experience shook him to the core, disturbed normal expectations and priorities, and formed a commitment to explore a different way, a path of Peace. His founding of Corrymeela with students from Queen’s University Belfast came out of that experience and his legacy lives on.
It was also in the prison camp that Ray discovered a way of working which was to influence profoundly the programmes of the Corrymeela Community. He discovered a way of building community. Some of his fellow prisoners were succumbing to depression and taking to bed. It wasn’t torture, or fear, it was the boredom which had eaten away at them. Ray gathered together a group of prisoners to meet every evening. Soon all the jokes had been told, and songs had been sung and there was nothing to do. Then the prisoners began talking about home, what it was they missed and who they missed. Memories were shared, the ups and downs, the people, the places. As people shared their stories together, they noticed that their depression was lifting. Then someone said they should think about those fellow prisoners who were taking to staying all day in bed. So a bed patrol was organised and those who were feeling down were invited to join the group.
That principle of creating a safe place where people from different traditions and backgrounds can share their story is at the heart of much that Corrymeela does. When I was leader of the community we organised a weekend for people who were thinking about becoming members of the Community. Each person was given a sheet of paper as asked to draw the life line, from earliest memory to now, and to mark on that line the events, experiences and people that stand out in your memory for good or bad. The rest of the weekend was spent sharing our stories without interruption but with attention. I remember the comment at the end of the weekend from on participant. She said ‘This has been a unique weekend for me. The group listened carefully to me for 20 minutes. Never before in my life have I had the opportunity to tell people who I am.
This simple exercise remains a powerful tool for building community. People meet on the level, regardless of social, educational, religious or personal differences. The trust and vulnerability entailed in sharing who you are with others, invites an empathy which can transcend deep divides.
During a bad period of the troubles Corrymeela’s community worker met a group of women who lived in the shadow of a peace wall. Our Community worker met with them to hear what they wanted. In the course of conversation she told them about a similar group of mothers, a very short distance away but on the other side of wall. Immediately the group was suspicious. What did you tell them about us?’ ‘Nothing,’ the community worker said. ‘I just thought you may be interested to know that I have met with them. What are they like? Well if you have questions you would like to ask them, I will ask them the next time I visit. Then I’ll come and tell you what they said. So began a process of shuttling questions and responses across the wall. The more they knew the more curious they became, until both the Protestant and Catholic group couldn’t resist the opportunity to meet together at a Residential programme in Corrymeela’s centre on the North Antrim coast.
During the residential, as the mums spent time together, chatted about their children, and their community, the barriers began to come down. They found they had so much in common. In fact they wanted the same thing. Somewhere safe for their children to play and better amenities for their community. So these two groups of mums from two communities living side by side, but separated by a peace wall, more a symbol of fear than peace, came together, talked, listened and decided to work together. They called themselves the ‘over the wall gang’.
Some time later as each group looked for funding for the projects they wanted to develop, they thought of the other group. Quite remarkable each group decided that they wouldn’t accept funding from any source, unless the other group also received the same funding.
From antagonism and fear, to working together for mutual benefit.
Meanwhile the children were meeting. They watched a clown as he came into the room, dressed in an outlandish costume. The more the children laughed at him, the sadder he got. Until he was crumpled up on the ground sobbing. They recognised that feeling, being laughed at because you were different, and both sides talked about their experiences of bullying, in school. They then began talking about their favourite pastime throwing bricks over the Peace Wall. Since they met a day ago on arriving at Corrymeela, Paddy and William, a Catholic and Protestant had become the best of mates. Paddy was the best shot in the district.
“Paddy what if you hit William”.
“Oh I wouldn’t hit him”
“How is that.”
“I’m a good shot. I wouldn’t aim at Paddy.”
“But sometimes you can’t see who you will hit, the wall is too high.
Paddy thought, long and hard. “Yea you’re right. I’m going to have to climb up to the top of the ruined house where I can get a really good aim.”
“But Paddy, last weekend you could have injured Billy with a stone, because then you didn’t know him. How would you feel about that now.”
“Bad!” said Paddy.
Eventually Paddy and the rest of the group decided that they would stop throwing stones.
The person who led that programme was passing through the area where they lived a couple of weeks later and saw some of the children hanging around opposite the one place where you could see through the wall. She was curious as to what was going on. So she stopped. The children said they wait there everyday on the way back from school, to wave to their new friends on the Protestant side. Its the way they keep in touch with their new friends.
This isn’t rocket science. I tell the story because it is totally unremarkable. But also totally unusual. It’s the kind of small step we need to celebrate. Because here there was a chance to reshape the normal. Normal is the way things are. Normal is knowing what you can expect and what is predictable. Steps towards reconciliation are made when new unexpected and creative opportunities are provided which challenge and broaden what is held to be normal.
In my mind this work is often most effective when led by volunteers who have travelled a distance of the journey themselves. It is best done in the context of a welcoming, non judgemental community which provides and models the reality of living with difference in a mutually enhancing way. To be deprived of such experiences is to be denied the natural ingredients that build social cohesion and resilient communities. Finding ways of addressing this deprivation of diversity, will be taking a step on the path of reconciliation.
Conditions for Trust and Reconciliation
David often quoted Hannah Arendt, the German-American political theorist. She summed up the task we face if we are to live together. First she said we must be willing to be bound together by promises and agreements and keep them. Second we must be willing to set aside the past and start anew. It is as clear and as difficult as that.
To maintain and deepen trust there must be a commitment to the exclusive use of peaceful means. There needs to be an acknowledgment of the other sides pain and suffering, their fears and their sense of threat. Each side must adopt consistent commitment to act in a way which alleviates the others’ sensitivities, treating the others with respect and avoiding humiliation. It requires a commitment of time to carry on the conversation, to take seriously the agenda from the other community. These actions and commitments build trust and open possibilities of dealing with the past, the second of Arendt’s requirement for people to live together. Its as clear and as difficult as that.
Vision for the future
But perhaps the most important work to done in community relations is for cross community groups throughout Northern Ireland to be creating a vision of the future worth working for. This Vision building can only be done together, with those who at present seem to oppose us and undermine us. We can’t wait for politicians to create such a vision. And even if by some miracle politicians were able to describe in practical terms what a reconciled community might look like, it could inspire their politics, and that would be great, but it wouldn’t necessarily reconcile communities. Local communities need to be empowered to create together a vision which is their vision, and which will call them forward in commitment and action.
The part politicians play
What can politicians do? They can model the attitudes and relationships that will transform the communities they represent. That may be their greatest contribution. Politicians also allocate resources. The work of community building does take money. It is about facilitating communities to meet and create together a vision for their future, to create a story which embraces all.
Investment in the arts can assist this process. The arts can help us to replace our negative stories about the other, and discover the reality of our interdependence. Theatre, film, music, song and literature and art are story telling of the highest order. These are the media for building a sense of what it means to be human. Investment in the arts is essential if we are to be part of the story of what it means to be a human being and a community.
Social Capital and Reconciliation
Robert Putnam in Bowling Alone exploring social capital found that the success of a town was not dependent upon its geography, history, economic base, cultural inheritance or financial resources. Community well-being had to do with the quality of the relationships, the cohesion that exists among its citizens. Building on this idea Peter Block in “Community, The Structure of Belonging” writes:
‘Geography, history, great leadership, fine programmes, economic advantage or other success criteria make only a marginal difference in the health of a community. It has to do with the quality of relationships, the cohesion that exists among its citizens. It is social capital. It is about valuing our interdependence and sense of mutual belonging. It is the extent to which we extend hospitality and affection to one another. We need to create a community where each citizen has the experience of being connected to those around them and knows that their safety and success are dependent on the success of all others.
Community building is complex because it occurs in an infinite number of small steps. The key to creating or transforming community then is to see the power in the small but important elements of being with others. The shift we seek needs to be embodied in each invitation we make, each relationship we encounter, and each meeting we attend. How are we going to be when we gather together, is the important question.’
The big task for the future well-being of this community is recognising and valuing the importance of small, incremental steps towards reconciliation. We need to share stories that reflect our truth, as Ben Okri puts it: “if we are to free our histories for future flowering”. And I leave the last word to the same author who says:
‘Stories, are the secret reservoir of values: change the stories individuals and nations live by and tell themselves and you change the individuals and nations.’
The Northern Ireland project is creating a vision which captures all that is of value in our diverse community, if we live by that vision, and create that story we will change individuals and communities.
Quotes from A way of being Free by Ben Okri (Page 112) ISBN 0753801418