Peace Making Monday

This technology of ours--email, Facebook, Twitter, etc--is both a blessing and a curse. Do you agree?

It's a blessing when all is working well. It's a curse when glitches occur.

It's a blessing when it saves me time. It's a curse when it sucks up all my time . (Hmmm....is it the technology or me? That's another post for another day.)

It's a blessing to communicate with loved ones. It's a curse to communicate with loved ones.

Huh?

As I was reviewing the notes from week 7's video of Peace Making Women which covered gently restoring, I came across this element of effective communication for conflict, "Talk in person whenever possible."

There's nothing more devastating than receiving a nasty-gram via mail or email. There's also nothing worse than the sinking feeling of post-"send" regret. I've been the recipient of both of those feelings.

Peace Maker Ministries encourages us not only to first recognize our own sin in a conflict but to gently restore those whose sin has fueled a conflict. Whew!

That's a tough one and a place where I wonder if I'll ever get it right. When I thought back through conflicts in my past, I seem to either have erred on the side of being too harsh and judgemental or on the side of denial and avoidance.

Finding the healthy middle is challenging! Communicating face-to-face is one way to soften our words and project grace.