J
ohn Paul Lederach is a mediator and negotiator who draws on real world
experience to inform his academic work as a professor of international
peacebuilding. The combination of deep reflection and artistry grounded
in pragmatism gives John Paul’s writing and practice far-reaching impact.
His approach cuts to the heart of a matter, restoring the severed relationships
between conflicting groups through ongoing dialogue and reconciliation.
My first exposure to John Paul was through an interview with Krista Tippett
for her podcast, On Being. He struck me as a natural storyteller—an endlessly
curious collector of experiences, memories, ideas, theories and metaphor, with
a poet’s knack for weaving it all together into “the simplicity on the other side
of complexity.” When he spoke of bringing poetry, music, community and soul
into the dry, bureaucratic arena of peacebuilding, my ears pricked up. As a
songwriter, conflict coach and co-founder of community-based organisation,
The Weekly Service, I was moved to discover someone else—someone incredibly
established in the field—weaving these diverse threads together. He affirmed
my intuition that working with conflict is a deeply creative, relational and ongoing
process that must be more than a one-off, paint-by-numbers process.
I also discovered John Paul has a fascination with the insect world, which is
unsurprising given he is the quintessential honey bee: flying around the world,
picking up, depositing and recombining ideas, approaches, stories and ways
of being from a variety of communities, sectors and disciplines. His work has
taken him to the frontline of peace processes in war-torn countries including
Northern Ireland, Colombia, Somalia and Nicaragua—places where violence
has been at the foreground of everyday life for decades. I expected someone
who had seen the worst of humanity to be a hardened, world-weary cynic, but
my experience of John Paul was quite the opposite. I found him to be light-
hearted, open and, above all else, hopeful, but in a manner that was deeply
grounded in reality. Speaking with him felt like the thaw after a long winter. I was
surprised to come away from our conversation feeling lighter and reinvigorated
to patiently contribute my “humble nudges” in the direction of peace.
John Paul was awarded the Niwano Peace Prize earlier this year in recognition of his
lifelong contribution to global peace. His acceptance speech is a call to belonging
that bridges national borders, beliefs and ideologies, uniting humanity in our
darkest hour: “Only in recognition of our common humanity and shared belonging
can we unleash the creativity and social courage necessary to bridge our deepest
divides. This planetary moment reveals that no nation on its own can assure the
wellbeing of people within its borders without equal concern for the wellbeing of
the most vulnerable beyond those borders. To rise to our challenge, we need a
wholeness of compassionate presence and social courage. We must tenaciously
weave a deep inner strength with equity and dignity across diverse relationships
that truly bind our wounds, embody the right to belong and unite humanity.”