Comments on: An Unexpected Gift

By: Lin Preiss NA-22

Lin Preiss NA-22 — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 20:08:25 +0000

Jan, what a rich telling of this immense and personal story. I could almost taste the quiet joy of being hosted in “their” home, and therefore the immense loss of that home, that hope-filled space, and gosh, the specificity of the community’s loss of the bread oven.
All the more, how you carried from that witnessed trauma, the desire and ability to grow your heart to hold the pain, but keep room to learn how to “replace justifiable anger with the sincere desire for reconciliation” with the perpetrators. What does has this learning looked like for you in your own context, as you have returned home? And, what does this look like for you as you continue to follow the generations long story in that place of your friend?

By: Andrea Hug, NA-22

Andrea Hug, NA-22 — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 01:32:25 +0000

Jan, My heart celebrated with you as you met your friend after so long, drank tea and enjoyed her baby and home…then the crushing loss and pain of her devastating reality…then their powerful and brave choice to seek to raise their children with peace in their hearts, to have open hearts…wow. I cannot imagine the range of emotion and the strength to process harm in a way that doesn’t exacerbate it, but opens to healing. A difficult path, to be sure. I wonder where they are now and how they are finding their ways through such unnecessary destruction? What a challenge for us in our abundance. Thank you for sharing.

By: Jer Swigart

Jer Swigart — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 17:45:58 +0000

Jan. Thank you for this story. While I imagine your origins of the life, love, and leadership of reconciliation predate this catastrophe, I can also imagine how this particular moment galvanized your commitment to peace. Whenever I’m with those whom Howard Thurman called the “disinherited,” I’m struck with both their realism connected to the present injustice and their hope and concern about the future generation. While they have so much reason to hate, I’m consistently stunned by their passion to see their children grow up with tough skin and soft hearts. I wonder how what those women shared with you then impacts how you embody reconciliation today.