Stretching my human being-ness -2nd day

Whaaaw! What a morning was this!

The theme of the congress, in a short version ‘Resolutions for conflicts’, is working on me and in me.
We started this morning at 7.30u with our little groups sitting in silence. After half an hour or so, people started to share little, personal stories. I felt myself sitting with some constraining, but soft pressure in my chest. It didn’t feel like my ‘own’, but as a tension, a push for some kind of stretching within our group or the larger conference. Someone told of her indigenous ancestors, and how they are all dying on the planet. This somehow touched my pain and it released a little bit in a kind of firm commitment to do ‘whatever I could’ to restore life-affirming living in the world.

No wonder the first presentation of the day, by Eva Mozes-Kor - ‘From Dr. Mengele’s Labs to forgiveness and Peace’ - went on with the same theme. This 72-year old lady told in a firm voice her story of being in a concentration camp as a 10-year old girl. The first lesson she offered to the audience was “Never give up!” Although you don’t see the solution, keep looking for it and it will show itself sooner or later. Everybody was deeply impressed how she went through her process of contacting one of the doctors who conducted the medical experiments in the camps and how she came to forgive him, because he showed himself as a human being. After her lecture she got a stand-up applause. She insisted on going beyond justice, but instead go for reconciliation; to really look and acknowledging what was/is.

I talked with my neighbour on how it is easier to find the persecutors of war crimes than the ones who are guilty of the dying indigenous people. As if it is a side-effect of capitalism of what was not intended to be bad. However; by now we all know it is bad and it can be our personal choice to step out of the system, and really look at it. Then we are able to act in a different way. It reminded me of a shocking experience yesterday noon, seeing that so many people at my table left sometimes a lot of food on their plates, even if they picked it up themselves. It shocked me as the basic act in capitalism ‘taking more than you need’.

The next lecture was more spiritual and not so easy to grasp, but what I understood for myself was the message to go beyond the battle, beyond the fight and ‘to feed’ your demon. The image offered was of really looking at your demon – whatever it is – and ‘to offer’ your self and to let your self blend with your demon; then there is no more battle and the demon becomes your ‘daimon’; your unique inspiration.

Next came Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, a lady from South-Africa who was helping with the reconciliation process. Her presentation made a lot of impression! She told her own story of connecting with the ‘head of evil’ of the South-African police. She called it a re-humanisation; connecting with the human being that this man was, humanizing our enemies. Forgiveness is possible when the perpetrators show remorse; and after that people can live without the urge to enact out the trauma and the revenge again. She said it is a slow process and in demands the difficult work of dialogue, but her stories gave a lot of hope what is possible within humanity.

I have to admit that I had to stretch myself throughout this whole morning. What these three women brought on the stage was immensely touching in many, many ways. I have to dive deep in my own humanity to be able to hold it and integrate it. But I feel called to do it and I feel it is working in my cells and bones.

Right now the party is starting and I will be happy to use the gift of moving and dancing to integrate all this in a deeper way in my body.