Conflict Resolution!

Recent events in society, such as the conflict surrounding the Trayvon Martin case, along with the events in my own life, culminating in a 04-21-12 deadline where I am looking for some resolution and what is set to be yet another trial of my life on 05-02-12, lead me to write this blog today. Considering what many around the world have just finished celebrating (and should, by the way, continue to celebrate every day), where the greatest enemy of all was defeated nearly 2,000 years ago, I am writing about this subject today. What am I talking about here? Well, this is a VERY IMPORTANT subject for you to consider and learn to be better at as best you can: Conflict Resolution!

Do you ever have conflict? Well, unless you are a hermit or simply have little to no human interaction (aside from any self conflict), you are going to have problems; you are going to have conflict that needs resolution! That is just the way life goes. We all cannot be in charge of everything. We all have our own ideas and opinions and when we interact with others, there will be disagreements; there will be conflict. So, what do you do when you find yourself at odds with another? How do you resolve what is happening in a way that brings peace? Oh, if we only learned how to resolve conflict in a peaceful and helpful manner, we could prevent so many more tragedies and heal so many broken relationships!

What do you do when you disagree with someone? Are you civil in your conversation? Do you find that you tend to increase your tone and volume to insist on a particular thing? Perhaps, instead, you just clam up or whisper under your breath in your mind and heart or even to others around you? Maybe you resort to subtle sarcasm and name calling or other such forms of condemnation? What is going on? Conflict is knocking at your door and how you answer will reveal so much more! You may choose to simply ignore the person, but you must realize that the disagreement will not magically go away. Ignoring still has a real impact (often anger and even bitterness stewing in the heart and mind of the one being ignored)! You may also choose to resort to attacking the person, but remember that attacking does not build friendship or work toward resolution. Attacking simply forces your will or way!

The goal of all of our human interactions should be to work through any conflict toward some amiable resolution or sense of mutual agreement. Working to resolve conflict makes it easier on everyone, leading to more positive relationships and greater productivity. Peaceful living is normally the desired state. Peacemaking should be our goal in all human interaction! Ignoring any differences is essentially peace-faking. Attacking when there are differences is peace-breaking. Do you see how important all of this is? When we are not actively involved in resolving conflict, problems will most certainly follow.

What do you think most of these shootings are all about?! What happened in the life of One Goh, who just sent seven lives into eternity, hurting many more? What happened in the life of Seung-Hui Cho (still largely being ignored by many, especially in my own tragedy torn community :-{ ), who acted out with such rage and violence to take 33 souls (32 and then his own)? Was there not unresolved conflict in the lives of these shooters? Is that not a common theme in all such tragedies? Where do you see the resolution? Where are the examples of people who were peacemaking or themselves trying to help resolve conflict (not merely passing the responsibility on) in and around the lives of these and others who have acted out in such violence? Do you not see just how important resolving conflict is?

Friend, there is a problem in your own life if you are not working toward resolution of any conflict. If you are in some position of authority, should you not be the first in setting the example here? Perhaps you need to resolve the conflict in your own soul? Perhaps you need to turn to the ONE Who resolved that greatest conflict between life and death? If you are a religious leader, you have an even greater responsibility to be living out and working toward conflict resolution! How far are you willing to go to help others resolve conflict? How much are you willing to suffer personal injustices and love people enough to help them see their faults? Indeed, we all must learn to practice conflict resolution!