Beyond right and wrong - with Jo Berry

I met Jo Berry and Pat Magee when i was taking part in Edventure, they told us their story, it is incredibly moving story of forgiveness and reconciliation. You can read about it on their website.
Jo and Sophie put on a film showing stories from around the world where people have found some kind of forgiveness. The film was followed by a discussion, it was incredibly rich and beautiful, and happened soon after the EU referendum. We spent a lot of time dicussing the 'us and them' predicament, how to listen to stories from the 'other' and how to see the humanness, to understand how others see the world to bring about peace.
During the discussion I told a story of a conversation I had with of a friend of my dads, we were eating dinner and the subject of immigrantion came up, he started to get very angry, his wife tried to quieten him and said 'you can't talk about it in public'. I said that i was happy to talk about it, and i listened to him, he had worked in the police force his whole life, he had spend his life working for his country, paying taxes, paying into his country, and he was angry that people could simply arrive and receive money that he had worked so hard to make. He found it hard to see the humanity in these people, some who are struggling to keep their families alive. As I listened and listened, his anger settled, he had simply needed someone to hear him. Not to tell him he was right or wrong, just to listen. I felt so honored to have had that conversation with him. And it brought up a lot of things for other people in the discussion, it was incredibly moving to listen to others talk about their own lives, their sadness and joys. I really hope to get involved in more peace work in the future, and i hope that i can find the inner strength to really listen when others are telling me their story, whatever their truth.