Fall as the world's financial giant Lehman Brothers. Morgan Stanley and Merril Lynch is the cover story of the economic recession that may still going on. Stock index in almost all over the world collaps; Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Nikkei sink sharply, even Indonesian Derivative (BEI) were closed because of the domino effect of global recession. This kind the world economy foreshadow will enter a time Wikileaks such as the Great Depression in 1929?
The world is never quiet from the crisis. This time the recession is in the center of the financial market explosion occurred after U.S. sub-prime mortgage began in July 2007. After signing of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, the rescue package of U.S. $ 700 billion in the Troubled Asset Recovery Program (TARP) official work. This incident reminds us in the 1997/1998 crisis is a Southeast Asian economy. In Indonesia, most of the crisis, The Board of Banking Rescue (BPPN) was formed.
Why the world has never escape from the crisis? And is there a pattern of similarity of each crisis? Then what kind of mutation crisis that will occur in the future?
A. Writing Book Prasetyantoko entitled "Financial Disaster: As the Stability of Public Goods" review the various phenomena of this world crisis. Start from the crisis "Tulip Mania" (1636-1637). The Great Depression (1929), Crisis in Asia (1998), to the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the U.S. recently.
The investors, bankers, public depositors, financial institutions and practitioners need to read this book to understand the global phenomenon and what to do. This book is written to help students economics and business, undergraduate and postgraduate, particularly the demand that the financial economy developed rapidly recently, in understanding the dynamics of the global financial system.
Kamis, 30 Oktober 2008
Global Financial Crisis calls for Voluntary Poverty
In these days, the world is experiencing the global financial crisis. The heterogeneous reaction emerged, and the most dominant one is the fear and the concerned feeling because let us hope not what happened in the last 10 years again will destroy our economic system. Meanwhile the government in various countries efficiently took the policy and important steps that could rescue his economy from the global attack crisis.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhono, in his office (09/10) state that “the Indonesian government at least determined two focuses of the security. First, give priority to protect the basic needs of the people, such as consumer goods, the educational cost, the health, and the public's service. Secondly, that is connected with the control program and the increase in welfare of the community. Ascertained by us that the financing of the government in accordance with the change of APBN 2008, is really needed to stimulate the growth and the increase in welfare, continued to flow and to be channeled especially to finance the development activity.”
Is it enough to cope the economic crisis by practicing these two solutions? However, the answer is “Not enough”. Everyone must take the concrete action, at list in the state of the existence of the change in the attitude and the way of life. One of the living attitudes that agree with the situation now is that courage to practice volunteer poverty and reinforced the solidarity action with the other.
Voluntary poverty
If our efforts to reduce global poverty nuclear-warhead from the humanity point of view, then efforts improved the life of poverty of the other person was – borrow a paraphrase of Emanuel Levinas (the French Philosopher, the Jewish descendants) — as “pay attention to, addressed and nudged the other person who was poor as our own appearance”. These action does not stop only in the sense of expression or concerned merely sympathy, but more must be a revolutionary personal action, namely, the practice of simplicity of life, or in the religious context called it as “Volunteer Poverty”. Aloysius Pieris, an Asian theologian mentioned that voluntary poverty was as a spiritual struggle strategy “to” (to be) and “for” (for the sake) the life of poor people. He formed the revolutionary protest fought to oppose the greed of people, who worshiped money, the wealth and the hedonist, that were formed in forcing important to lack.
Therefore, the first dimension that wanted to be celebrated from this voluntary poverty is to invite the person to “live in poverty”. This mean that the person must be able to oppose the greed or her/his desire which always wanted more against material objects. In addition, indeed since from the beginning till now the greatest enemy of every religion in fact not the person's other religion, but mammon (the strength of material). Mammon not only as possessions, but also kind of subversive collusion between the authority and ownership/the wealth. Ownership not only limited in the problem of money and valuable objects but also could widen to education, the balance of knowledge, intelligence politics, the status or the high social position, the dogma, the rite, the law and everything that could become the accumulation implement of the authority. Therefore, mammon could be put forward in many faces, in the form of a country, the religious institution, and the other social agency, or in the form of capital of the tyranny authority. Atheist countries with the government totalitarian, the capitalist system “Darwinist Antithesis” caused a poverty that is forced (Force poverty).
From this point of view it is necessary for humankind to control his/herself from material influence or the wish himself not to be mounted by objects matters, and treated the wealth or material objects not as the aim of the life but as the implement or means that could be used in reached meaningful lived.
Meaningful life for anyone certainly could be interpreted in a different manner, but generally, people understand it as state of being together between two experiences, that is immanent experience (worldly things) and transcendent (religious experience). The synthesis of these two experiences could be expressed through the ascetic attitude, doing fasting, lived adequate (not wasteful and not possessed by the glory of worldly things), and could classify between the requirement and the wish.
This kind of way of life not only addressed to the ascetics or as the aspirations of spirituality monastic Buddhism, Christian, or the mystic life from Muslim mystics but also was the foundation of spirituality of all the religions. Therefore, in the context of “to be poor” is a universal dogma of all the religions. To be poor voluntary, everyone believed towards cohesive opposed mammon (the authority of material). Voluntary poverty could be regarded as the religious experience that was the liberation road towards the fulfillment of life but at the same time as beginning ammunition in producing the high social solidarity attitude.
Reinforced social solidarity action
The social solidarity action always has educative’ and ‘freedom’ aspect, therefore it must be distinguished from caritative actions. It has educative dimension, because this action taught unluckier to think about with thoughts personally, working with the strength personally and produced something for their life personally. As result, they can liberate themselves from poverty situation.
Meanwhile the dimension of the liberation happened in efforts to scatter and produce the independent attitude that is creative and productive from the poor people personally. On the other hand, Ignas Kleden word says that, Social solidarity is the attitude that bore the commitment to pay attention to the situation and the person is other fate or the other group. The social solidarity is carried out because of the feeling of the obligation that emerged to pay attention to the weak group from his socio-economic position, because of the awareness that prosperity that a group enjoyed more has “pay” by lack of prosperity of other group. The social solidarity also (usually) not born from the feeling of the cheapness and kindness, but from the feeling of justice. It is also emerging from a doubt that is moral hazard: what is my right to live in an abundant manner while the other person is in the lack?
In short, the social solidarity action was translation of social justice in the community. Now the caritative action, still referred to Ignas Kleden, was attention of the very weak group from his socio-economic position, without the commitment to change the structure of the disparity (was compared with the attitude a person throw away some amount of money from his car in the pocket of a beggar). In the caritative attitude, someone wanted to carry out goodness how far that disrupted or damaged his social position that is luckier (this analysis could be read in "Indonesia sebagai Utopia……" Kleden 2001, page. 67-69). The most important difference between two concepts was located in as far the willingness made a sacrifice from the person who will help that.
The caritative attitude negate the person's reluctance that helped to lose the safe and prosperous position that was enjoyed by him, while the social solidarity action announced the willingness helped while at the same moment was prepared to make a sacrifice more to help the unluckier, including the possibility of the disturbance of the security and prosperity himself. This meant the solidarity not only has the shape of the awareness about the structure of the disparity, but also was related to the commitment to take part in changing the structure of the disparity into the community's more just composition. The commitment will be far more difficult from only a demand of the caritative attitude. In addition, the commitment always supposed the attendance of a real action from personal every time to practice something that have been planned and agreed to, both individually and communally.
In addition, whenever we brave to do this, all (reinforced the social and brave solidarity road to become poverty volunteer); it meant that we carried out our two natural obligations. First as human being (the social dimension of human life), our very obligation is to help each other, maintained and helped created a living civilization that loved the life. For this strengthened commitment, the founders of this country legalized that value in basic regulations of our Country that is in UUD 1945: “the poor and the neglected are maintained by government” (the Article 34 articles 1). Afterwards was reinforced again by ratifying Covenant International about economic rights, Social, and the Culture in regulations Number 11, 2005.
Secondly, as the religious creature, we are practicing the awareness towards goodness that was accepted from God personally (if still trusted the Lord) that gave us lived free of charge. Therefore, we share it freely to other people through good deeds.
In other word, in order to reduce global poverty that was resulted by the financial, energy food crisis in these days, there is no other solution method apart from must be begun from our own self, that is being able to live out the ‘volunteer poverty’ and thickened ‘social solidarity action.***
President Susilo Bambang Yudhono, in his office (09/10) state that “the Indonesian government at least determined two focuses of the security. First, give priority to protect the basic needs of the people, such as consumer goods, the educational cost, the health, and the public's service. Secondly, that is connected with the control program and the increase in welfare of the community. Ascertained by us that the financing of the government in accordance with the change of APBN 2008, is really needed to stimulate the growth and the increase in welfare, continued to flow and to be channeled especially to finance the development activity.”
Is it enough to cope the economic crisis by practicing these two solutions? However, the answer is “Not enough”. Everyone must take the concrete action, at list in the state of the existence of the change in the attitude and the way of life. One of the living attitudes that agree with the situation now is that courage to practice volunteer poverty and reinforced the solidarity action with the other.
Voluntary poverty
If our efforts to reduce global poverty nuclear-warhead from the humanity point of view, then efforts improved the life of poverty of the other person was – borrow a paraphrase of Emanuel Levinas (the French Philosopher, the Jewish descendants) — as “pay attention to, addressed and nudged the other person who was poor as our own appearance”. These action does not stop only in the sense of expression or concerned merely sympathy, but more must be a revolutionary personal action, namely, the practice of simplicity of life, or in the religious context called it as “Volunteer Poverty”. Aloysius Pieris, an Asian theologian mentioned that voluntary poverty was as a spiritual struggle strategy “to” (to be) and “for” (for the sake) the life of poor people. He formed the revolutionary protest fought to oppose the greed of people, who worshiped money, the wealth and the hedonist, that were formed in forcing important to lack.
Therefore, the first dimension that wanted to be celebrated from this voluntary poverty is to invite the person to “live in poverty”. This mean that the person must be able to oppose the greed or her/his desire which always wanted more against material objects. In addition, indeed since from the beginning till now the greatest enemy of every religion in fact not the person's other religion, but mammon (the strength of material). Mammon not only as possessions, but also kind of subversive collusion between the authority and ownership/the wealth. Ownership not only limited in the problem of money and valuable objects but also could widen to education, the balance of knowledge, intelligence politics, the status or the high social position, the dogma, the rite, the law and everything that could become the accumulation implement of the authority. Therefore, mammon could be put forward in many faces, in the form of a country, the religious institution, and the other social agency, or in the form of capital of the tyranny authority. Atheist countries with the government totalitarian, the capitalist system “Darwinist Antithesis” caused a poverty that is forced (Force poverty).
From this point of view it is necessary for humankind to control his/herself from material influence or the wish himself not to be mounted by objects matters, and treated the wealth or material objects not as the aim of the life but as the implement or means that could be used in reached meaningful lived.
Meaningful life for anyone certainly could be interpreted in a different manner, but generally, people understand it as state of being together between two experiences, that is immanent experience (worldly things) and transcendent (religious experience). The synthesis of these two experiences could be expressed through the ascetic attitude, doing fasting, lived adequate (not wasteful and not possessed by the glory of worldly things), and could classify between the requirement and the wish.
This kind of way of life not only addressed to the ascetics or as the aspirations of spirituality monastic Buddhism, Christian, or the mystic life from Muslim mystics but also was the foundation of spirituality of all the religions. Therefore, in the context of “to be poor” is a universal dogma of all the religions. To be poor voluntary, everyone believed towards cohesive opposed mammon (the authority of material). Voluntary poverty could be regarded as the religious experience that was the liberation road towards the fulfillment of life but at the same time as beginning ammunition in producing the high social solidarity attitude.
Reinforced social solidarity action
The social solidarity action always has educative’ and ‘freedom’ aspect, therefore it must be distinguished from caritative actions. It has educative dimension, because this action taught unluckier to think about with thoughts personally, working with the strength personally and produced something for their life personally. As result, they can liberate themselves from poverty situation.
Meanwhile the dimension of the liberation happened in efforts to scatter and produce the independent attitude that is creative and productive from the poor people personally. On the other hand, Ignas Kleden word says that, Social solidarity is the attitude that bore the commitment to pay attention to the situation and the person is other fate or the other group. The social solidarity is carried out because of the feeling of the obligation that emerged to pay attention to the weak group from his socio-economic position, because of the awareness that prosperity that a group enjoyed more has “pay” by lack of prosperity of other group. The social solidarity also (usually) not born from the feeling of the cheapness and kindness, but from the feeling of justice. It is also emerging from a doubt that is moral hazard: what is my right to live in an abundant manner while the other person is in the lack?
In short, the social solidarity action was translation of social justice in the community. Now the caritative action, still referred to Ignas Kleden, was attention of the very weak group from his socio-economic position, without the commitment to change the structure of the disparity (was compared with the attitude a person throw away some amount of money from his car in the pocket of a beggar). In the caritative attitude, someone wanted to carry out goodness how far that disrupted or damaged his social position that is luckier (this analysis could be read in "Indonesia sebagai Utopia……" Kleden 2001, page. 67-69). The most important difference between two concepts was located in as far the willingness made a sacrifice from the person who will help that.
The caritative attitude negate the person's reluctance that helped to lose the safe and prosperous position that was enjoyed by him, while the social solidarity action announced the willingness helped while at the same moment was prepared to make a sacrifice more to help the unluckier, including the possibility of the disturbance of the security and prosperity himself. This meant the solidarity not only has the shape of the awareness about the structure of the disparity, but also was related to the commitment to take part in changing the structure of the disparity into the community's more just composition. The commitment will be far more difficult from only a demand of the caritative attitude. In addition, the commitment always supposed the attendance of a real action from personal every time to practice something that have been planned and agreed to, both individually and communally.
In addition, whenever we brave to do this, all (reinforced the social and brave solidarity road to become poverty volunteer); it meant that we carried out our two natural obligations. First as human being (the social dimension of human life), our very obligation is to help each other, maintained and helped created a living civilization that loved the life. For this strengthened commitment, the founders of this country legalized that value in basic regulations of our Country that is in UUD 1945: “the poor and the neglected are maintained by government” (the Article 34 articles 1). Afterwards was reinforced again by ratifying Covenant International about economic rights, Social, and the Culture in regulations Number 11, 2005.
Secondly, as the religious creature, we are practicing the awareness towards goodness that was accepted from God personally (if still trusted the Lord) that gave us lived free of charge. Therefore, we share it freely to other people through good deeds.
In other word, in order to reduce global poverty that was resulted by the financial, energy food crisis in these days, there is no other solution method apart from must be begun from our own self, that is being able to live out the ‘volunteer poverty’ and thickened ‘social solidarity action.***
Unconditional Love
Reflection of the Day
This story is a kind of living witness of unconditional love.
Saya adalah ibu dari seorang anak dan baru saja menyelesaikan kuliah
saya.Kelas terakhir yang harus saya ambil adalah Sosiologi. Sang Dosen sangat inspiratif, dengan kualitas yang saya harapkan setiap orang memilikinya.
Tugas terakhir yang diberikan ke para siswanya diberi nama "Smiling".
Seluruh siswa diminta untuk pergi ke luar dan memberikan senyumnya kepada tiga orang asing yang ditemuinya dan mendokumentasikan reaksi mereka. Setelah itu setiap siswa diminta untuk mempresentasikan di depan kelas. Saya adalah seorang yang periang, mudah bersahabat dan selalu tersenyum pada setiap orang. Jadi, saya pikir,tugas ini sangatlah mudah.
Setelah menerima tugas tsb, saya bergegas menemui suami saya dan anak bungsu saya yang menunggu di taman di halaman kampus, untuk pergi ke restoran McDonald's yang berada di sekitar kampus...
Pagi itu udaranya sangat dingin dan kering...! Sewaktu suami saya akan masuk dalam antrian, saya menyela dan meminta agar dia saja yang menemani si Bungsu sambil mencari tempat duduk yang masih kosong. Ketika saya sedang dalam antrian, menunggu untuk dilayani, mendadak setiap orang di sekitar kami bergerak menyingkir, dan bahkan orang yang semula antri dibelakang saya ikut menyingkir keluar dari antrian.
Suatu perasaan panik menguasai diri saya, ketika berbalik dan melihat mengapa mereka semua pada menyingkir ? Saat berbalik itulah saya membaui suatu "bau badan kotor" yang cukup menyengat, dan... tepat di belakang saya berdiri dua orang lelaki tunawisma yang sangat dekil...!
Saya bingung, dan tidak mampu bergerak sama sekali.....Ketika saya menunduk, tanpa sengaja mata saya menatap laki-laki yang lebih pendek, yang berdiri lebih dekat dengan saya, dan ia sedang "tersenyum"kearah saya.... Lelaki ini bermata biru, sorot matanya tajam... tapi juga memancarkan kasih sayang...! Ia menatap ke arah saya, seolah ia meminta agar saya dapat menerima 'kehadirannya' di tempat itu... Ia menyapa "Good day..!" Sambil tetap tersenyum dan sembari menghitung beberapa koin yang disiapkan untuk membayar makanan yang akan dipesan.. Secara spontan saya membalas senyumnya, dan seketika teringat oleh saya 'tugas' yang diberikan oleh dosen saya.
Lelaki kedua sedang memainkan tangannya dengan gerakan aneh berdiri di belakang temannya. Saya segera menyadari bahwa lelaki kedua itu menderita defisiensi mental, dan lelaki dengan mata biru itu adalah "penolong"nya. Saya merasa sangat prihatin.. setelah mengetahui bahwa ternyata dalam antrian itu kini hanya tinggal saya bersama mereka..., dan kami bertiga tiba-2 saja sudah sampai di depan counter.
Ketika wanita muda di counter menanyakan kepada saya apa yang ingin saya pesan, saya persilahkan kedua lelaki ini untuk memesan duluan...Lelaki bermata biru segera memesan "Kopi saja, satu cangkir... Nona !" Ternyata dari koin yang terkumpul hanya itulah yang mampu dibeli oleh mereka (sudah menjadi aturan di restoran ini, jika ingin duduk di dalam restoran dan menghangatkan tubuh, maka orang harus membeli sesuatu). Dan tampaknya kedua orang ini hanya ingin menghangatkan badan. Tiba-2 saja saya diserang oleh rasa iba... membuat saya sempat terpaku beberapa saat, sambil berkata saya mengikuti langkah mereka mencari tempat duduk yang jauh terpisah dari tamu-2 lainnya, yang hampir semuanya...sedang mengamati mereka. Pada saat yang bersamaan, saya baru menyadari bahwa saat itu semua mata di restoran itu juga sedang tertuju ke diri saya..., dan pasti juga melihat semua 'tindakan' saya...
Saya baru tersadar setelah petugas di counter itu menyapa saya untuk ketiga kalinya menanyakan apa yang ingin saya pesan. Saya tersenyum... dan minta diberikan dua paket makan pagi (diluar pesanan saya) dalam nampan terpisah. Setelah membayar semua pesanan, saya minta bantuan petugas lain yang ada di counter itu untuk mengantarkan nampan pesanan saya ke meja/tempat duduk suami dan anak saya.
Sementara saya membawa nampan lainnya berjalan melingkari sudut ke arah meja yang telah dipilih kedua lelaki itu untuk beristirahat. .. saya letakkan nampan berisi makanan itu di atas mejanya, dan meletakkan tangan saya di atas punggung telapak tangan dingin lelaki bemata biru itu, sambil saya berucap.. "makanan ini
telah saya pesan untuk kalian berdua...."
Kembali mata biru itu menatap dalam ke arah saya, kini mata itu mulai basah ber-kaca2... dan dia hanya mampu berkata "Terima kasih banyak, nyonya...." Saya mencoba tetap menguasai diri saya, sambil menepuk bahunya saya berkata... Sesungguhnya bukan saya yang melakukan ini untuk kalian, Tuhan juga berada di sekitar sini dan telah membisikkan sesuatu ke telinga saya untuk menyampaikan makanan ini kepada kalian...." Mendengar ucapan saya, si Mata Biru tidak kuasa menahan haru dan memeluk lelaki kedua sambil terisak-isak. Saat itu ingin sekali saya merengkuh kedua lelaki itu....
Ketika kami sedang menyantap makanan, dimulai dari tamu yang akan meninggalkan restoran dan disusul oleh beberapa tamu lainnya... mereka satu persatu menghampiri meja kami, untuk sekedar ingin 'berjabat tangan'dengan kami... Salah satu diantaranya, seorang bapak, memegangi tangan saya, dan berucap.. "tanganmu ini telah memberikan pelajaran yang mahal bagi kami semua yang berada di sini...., jika suatu saat saya diberi kesempatan oleh-NYA, saya akan lakukan seperti yang telah kamu contohkan tadi kepada kami..." Saya hanya bisa berucap "terimakasih" sambil tersenyum.
Sebelum beranjak meninggalkan restoran saya sempatkan untuk melihat ke arah kedua
lelaki itu, dan seolah ada 'magnit' yang menghubungkan batin kami, mereka langsung menoleh ke arah kami sambil tersenyum, lalu melambai-2kan tangannya ke arah kami...! Dalam perjalanan pulang saya merenungkan kembali apa yang telah saya lakukan terhadap kedua orang tunawisma tadi, itu benar2 'tindakan' yang tidak pernah terpikir oleh saya dan sekaligus merupakan 'berkat' bagi saya..., maupun bagi orang-2 yang ada di sekitar saya saat itu.
Pengalaman hari itu menunjukkan kepada saya betapa 'kasih sayang' Allah" itu sangat HANGAT dan INDAH sekali...!
Saya kembali ke kampus, pada hari terakhir kuliah dengan 'cerita' ini
di tangan saya. Saya menyerahkan 'paper' saya kepada dosen saya. Dan keesokan
harinya, sebelum memulai kuliahnya saya dipanggil dosen saya ke depan kelas, ia melihat kepada saya dan berkata, "Bolehkah saya membagikan ceritamu ini kepada yang lain?" Dengan senang hati saya mengiyakan.
Ketika akan memulai kuliahnya dia meminta perhatian dari kelas untuk membacakan
paper saya. Ia mulai membaca.... para siswapun mendengarkan dengan seksama cerita sang dosen, dan ruangan kuliah menjadi sunyi... Dengan cara dan gaya yang dimiliki sang dosen dalam membawakan ceritanya... membuat para siswa yang hadir di ruang kuliah itu seolah ikut melihat bagaimana sesungguhnya kejadian itu berlangsung,
sehingga para siswi yang duduk di deretan belakang di dekat saya di antaranya
datang memeluk saya untuk mengungkapkan perasaan harunya.
Di akhir pembacaan paper tersebut, sang dosen sengaja menutup ceritanya dengan mengutip salah satu kalimat yang saya tulis di akhir paper saya...
"Tersenyumlah dengan 'HATImu', dan kau akan mengetahui betapa 'dahsyat'
dampak yang ditimbulkan oleh senyummu itu..."
Dengan cara-NYA sendiri, Allah telah 'menggunakan' diri saya untuk menyentuh
orang-orang yang ada di McDonald's, suamiku, anakku, guruku, dan setiap siswa yang menghadiri kuliah di malam terakhir saya sebagai mahasiswi. Saya lulus... dengan 1 pelajaran terbesar yang tidak pernah saya dapatkan di bangku kuliah manapun, yaitu : "PENERIMAAN TANPA SYARAT".
Banyak cerita tentang kasih sayang yang ditulis untuk bisa diresapi oleh para pembacanya, namun bagi siapa saja yang sempat membaca dan memaknai cerita ini diharapkan dapat mengambil pelajaran bagaimana cara....
MENCINTAI SESAMA, DENGAN MEMANFAATKAN SEDIKIT HARTA-BENDA YANG KITA
MILIKI...., bukannya...MENCINTA I HARTA-BENDA YANG BUKAN MILIK
KITA,...DENGAN MEMANFAATKAN SESAMA...!
Jika anda berpikir bahwa cerita ini telah menyentuh hati anda, jadikanlah kisah ini menjadi bagian dari hidup anda. Di sini ada 'malaikat' yang akan menyertai anda, agar setidaknya orang yang membaca cerita ini akan tergerak hatinya untuk bisa terbuat sesuatu (sekecil apapun) bagi sesama... yang sedang membutuhkan uluran tangannya... !
Orang bijak mengatakan :
- Banyak orang yang datang dan pergi dari kehidupanmu. .., tetapi hanya
'sahabat yang bijak'yang akan meninggalkan JEJAK di dalam hatimu.
- Untuk berinteraksi dengan dirimu, gunakan nalarmu... Tetapi untuk
berinteraksi dengan orang lain, gunakan HATImu...! - Orang yang kehilangan uang, akan kehilangan banyak; Orang yang kehilangan teman, akan kehilangan lebih banyak...! Tapi orang yang kehilangan keyakinan, akan kehilangan semuanya..!
-Tuhan menjamin akan memberikan kepada setiap hewan makanan bagi mereka, tetapi DIA tidak melemparkan makanan itu ke dalam sarang mereka,... hewan itu tetap harus BERIKHTIAR untuk bisa mendapatkannya.
-Orang-orang muda yang 'cantik' adalah hasil kerja alam, tetapi orang-orang tua yang 'cantik' adalah hasil karya seni.... Belajarlah dari PENGALAMAN MEREKA, karena engkau tidak dapat hidup cukup lama untuk bisa mendapatkan semua itu dari pengalaman dirimu sendiri.
This story is a kind of living witness of unconditional love.
Saya adalah ibu dari seorang anak dan baru saja menyelesaikan kuliah
saya.Kelas terakhir yang harus saya ambil adalah Sosiologi. Sang Dosen sangat inspiratif, dengan kualitas yang saya harapkan setiap orang memilikinya.
Tugas terakhir yang diberikan ke para siswanya diberi nama "Smiling".
Seluruh siswa diminta untuk pergi ke luar dan memberikan senyumnya kepada tiga orang asing yang ditemuinya dan mendokumentasikan reaksi mereka. Setelah itu setiap siswa diminta untuk mempresentasikan di depan kelas. Saya adalah seorang yang periang, mudah bersahabat dan selalu tersenyum pada setiap orang. Jadi, saya pikir,tugas ini sangatlah mudah.
Setelah menerima tugas tsb, saya bergegas menemui suami saya dan anak bungsu saya yang menunggu di taman di halaman kampus, untuk pergi ke restoran McDonald's yang berada di sekitar kampus...
Pagi itu udaranya sangat dingin dan kering...! Sewaktu suami saya akan masuk dalam antrian, saya menyela dan meminta agar dia saja yang menemani si Bungsu sambil mencari tempat duduk yang masih kosong. Ketika saya sedang dalam antrian, menunggu untuk dilayani, mendadak setiap orang di sekitar kami bergerak menyingkir, dan bahkan orang yang semula antri dibelakang saya ikut menyingkir keluar dari antrian.
Suatu perasaan panik menguasai diri saya, ketika berbalik dan melihat mengapa mereka semua pada menyingkir ? Saat berbalik itulah saya membaui suatu "bau badan kotor" yang cukup menyengat, dan... tepat di belakang saya berdiri dua orang lelaki tunawisma yang sangat dekil...!
Saya bingung, dan tidak mampu bergerak sama sekali.....Ketika saya menunduk, tanpa sengaja mata saya menatap laki-laki yang lebih pendek, yang berdiri lebih dekat dengan saya, dan ia sedang "tersenyum"kearah saya.... Lelaki ini bermata biru, sorot matanya tajam... tapi juga memancarkan kasih sayang...! Ia menatap ke arah saya, seolah ia meminta agar saya dapat menerima 'kehadirannya' di tempat itu... Ia menyapa "Good day..!" Sambil tetap tersenyum dan sembari menghitung beberapa koin yang disiapkan untuk membayar makanan yang akan dipesan.. Secara spontan saya membalas senyumnya, dan seketika teringat oleh saya 'tugas' yang diberikan oleh dosen saya.
Lelaki kedua sedang memainkan tangannya dengan gerakan aneh berdiri di belakang temannya. Saya segera menyadari bahwa lelaki kedua itu menderita defisiensi mental, dan lelaki dengan mata biru itu adalah "penolong"nya. Saya merasa sangat prihatin.. setelah mengetahui bahwa ternyata dalam antrian itu kini hanya tinggal saya bersama mereka..., dan kami bertiga tiba-2 saja sudah sampai di depan counter.
Ketika wanita muda di counter menanyakan kepada saya apa yang ingin saya pesan, saya persilahkan kedua lelaki ini untuk memesan duluan...Lelaki bermata biru segera memesan "Kopi saja, satu cangkir... Nona !" Ternyata dari koin yang terkumpul hanya itulah yang mampu dibeli oleh mereka (sudah menjadi aturan di restoran ini, jika ingin duduk di dalam restoran dan menghangatkan tubuh, maka orang harus membeli sesuatu). Dan tampaknya kedua orang ini hanya ingin menghangatkan badan. Tiba-2 saja saya diserang oleh rasa iba... membuat saya sempat terpaku beberapa saat, sambil berkata saya mengikuti langkah mereka mencari tempat duduk yang jauh terpisah dari tamu-2 lainnya, yang hampir semuanya...sedang mengamati mereka. Pada saat yang bersamaan, saya baru menyadari bahwa saat itu semua mata di restoran itu juga sedang tertuju ke diri saya..., dan pasti juga melihat semua 'tindakan' saya...
Saya baru tersadar setelah petugas di counter itu menyapa saya untuk ketiga kalinya menanyakan apa yang ingin saya pesan. Saya tersenyum... dan minta diberikan dua paket makan pagi (diluar pesanan saya) dalam nampan terpisah. Setelah membayar semua pesanan, saya minta bantuan petugas lain yang ada di counter itu untuk mengantarkan nampan pesanan saya ke meja/tempat duduk suami dan anak saya.
Sementara saya membawa nampan lainnya berjalan melingkari sudut ke arah meja yang telah dipilih kedua lelaki itu untuk beristirahat. .. saya letakkan nampan berisi makanan itu di atas mejanya, dan meletakkan tangan saya di atas punggung telapak tangan dingin lelaki bemata biru itu, sambil saya berucap.. "makanan ini
telah saya pesan untuk kalian berdua...."
Kembali mata biru itu menatap dalam ke arah saya, kini mata itu mulai basah ber-kaca2... dan dia hanya mampu berkata "Terima kasih banyak, nyonya...." Saya mencoba tetap menguasai diri saya, sambil menepuk bahunya saya berkata... Sesungguhnya bukan saya yang melakukan ini untuk kalian, Tuhan juga berada di sekitar sini dan telah membisikkan sesuatu ke telinga saya untuk menyampaikan makanan ini kepada kalian...." Mendengar ucapan saya, si Mata Biru tidak kuasa menahan haru dan memeluk lelaki kedua sambil terisak-isak. Saat itu ingin sekali saya merengkuh kedua lelaki itu....
Ketika kami sedang menyantap makanan, dimulai dari tamu yang akan meninggalkan restoran dan disusul oleh beberapa tamu lainnya... mereka satu persatu menghampiri meja kami, untuk sekedar ingin 'berjabat tangan'dengan kami... Salah satu diantaranya, seorang bapak, memegangi tangan saya, dan berucap.. "tanganmu ini telah memberikan pelajaran yang mahal bagi kami semua yang berada di sini...., jika suatu saat saya diberi kesempatan oleh-NYA, saya akan lakukan seperti yang telah kamu contohkan tadi kepada kami..." Saya hanya bisa berucap "terimakasih" sambil tersenyum.
Sebelum beranjak meninggalkan restoran saya sempatkan untuk melihat ke arah kedua
lelaki itu, dan seolah ada 'magnit' yang menghubungkan batin kami, mereka langsung menoleh ke arah kami sambil tersenyum, lalu melambai-2kan tangannya ke arah kami...! Dalam perjalanan pulang saya merenungkan kembali apa yang telah saya lakukan terhadap kedua orang tunawisma tadi, itu benar2 'tindakan' yang tidak pernah terpikir oleh saya dan sekaligus merupakan 'berkat' bagi saya..., maupun bagi orang-2 yang ada di sekitar saya saat itu.
Pengalaman hari itu menunjukkan kepada saya betapa 'kasih sayang' Allah" itu sangat HANGAT dan INDAH sekali...!
Saya kembali ke kampus, pada hari terakhir kuliah dengan 'cerita' ini
di tangan saya. Saya menyerahkan 'paper' saya kepada dosen saya. Dan keesokan
harinya, sebelum memulai kuliahnya saya dipanggil dosen saya ke depan kelas, ia melihat kepada saya dan berkata, "Bolehkah saya membagikan ceritamu ini kepada yang lain?" Dengan senang hati saya mengiyakan.
Ketika akan memulai kuliahnya dia meminta perhatian dari kelas untuk membacakan
paper saya. Ia mulai membaca.... para siswapun mendengarkan dengan seksama cerita sang dosen, dan ruangan kuliah menjadi sunyi... Dengan cara dan gaya yang dimiliki sang dosen dalam membawakan ceritanya... membuat para siswa yang hadir di ruang kuliah itu seolah ikut melihat bagaimana sesungguhnya kejadian itu berlangsung,
sehingga para siswi yang duduk di deretan belakang di dekat saya di antaranya
datang memeluk saya untuk mengungkapkan perasaan harunya.
Di akhir pembacaan paper tersebut, sang dosen sengaja menutup ceritanya dengan mengutip salah satu kalimat yang saya tulis di akhir paper saya...
"Tersenyumlah dengan 'HATImu', dan kau akan mengetahui betapa 'dahsyat'
dampak yang ditimbulkan oleh senyummu itu..."
Dengan cara-NYA sendiri, Allah telah 'menggunakan' diri saya untuk menyentuh
orang-orang yang ada di McDonald's, suamiku, anakku, guruku, dan setiap siswa yang menghadiri kuliah di malam terakhir saya sebagai mahasiswi. Saya lulus... dengan 1 pelajaran terbesar yang tidak pernah saya dapatkan di bangku kuliah manapun, yaitu : "PENERIMAAN TANPA SYARAT".
Banyak cerita tentang kasih sayang yang ditulis untuk bisa diresapi oleh para pembacanya, namun bagi siapa saja yang sempat membaca dan memaknai cerita ini diharapkan dapat mengambil pelajaran bagaimana cara....
MENCINTAI SESAMA, DENGAN MEMANFAATKAN SEDIKIT HARTA-BENDA YANG KITA
MILIKI...., bukannya...MENCINTA I HARTA-BENDA YANG BUKAN MILIK
KITA,...DENGAN MEMANFAATKAN SESAMA...!
Jika anda berpikir bahwa cerita ini telah menyentuh hati anda, jadikanlah kisah ini menjadi bagian dari hidup anda. Di sini ada 'malaikat' yang akan menyertai anda, agar setidaknya orang yang membaca cerita ini akan tergerak hatinya untuk bisa terbuat sesuatu (sekecil apapun) bagi sesama... yang sedang membutuhkan uluran tangannya... !
Orang bijak mengatakan :
- Banyak orang yang datang dan pergi dari kehidupanmu. .., tetapi hanya
'sahabat yang bijak'yang akan meninggalkan JEJAK di dalam hatimu.
- Untuk berinteraksi dengan dirimu, gunakan nalarmu... Tetapi untuk
berinteraksi dengan orang lain, gunakan HATImu...! - Orang yang kehilangan uang, akan kehilangan banyak; Orang yang kehilangan teman, akan kehilangan lebih banyak...! Tapi orang yang kehilangan keyakinan, akan kehilangan semuanya..!
-Tuhan menjamin akan memberikan kepada setiap hewan makanan bagi mereka, tetapi DIA tidak melemparkan makanan itu ke dalam sarang mereka,... hewan itu tetap harus BERIKHTIAR untuk bisa mendapatkannya.
-Orang-orang muda yang 'cantik' adalah hasil kerja alam, tetapi orang-orang tua yang 'cantik' adalah hasil karya seni.... Belajarlah dari PENGALAMAN MEREKA, karena engkau tidak dapat hidup cukup lama untuk bisa mendapatkan semua itu dari pengalaman dirimu sendiri.
Passionate Friend
When I opened my email after the week-long Idul Fitri holidays, I was mesmerized by my friend's email.I could hardly believe that she could write it down all she feels along our friendship. It is unbelievable, yet very tendentious poetry, though no tittle at all, but you can feel and drive your passion to the core massage.
Sometimes it takes rain
To make the flowers grow
Sometimes it takes real pain
Before real joy one knows
Sometimes it takes tomorrows
To understand days gone by
Sometimes before the laughter
There comes heavy sigh
Sometimes it takes the longest mile
Before things come insight
Sometimes I often wonder
How I could live my life happier
And then U came by
And fill my loneliness inside
All I wanna do
Is to be always here for U
I wanted you to know
That I don't want U to go
Sometimes when I think
This has been the greatest thing
That ever happen to me
My dear can U see?
Thank U for everything
That you have done for me
What should i write
What could it be
Just three words
I LOVE YOU
Sometimes it takes rain
To make the flowers grow
Sometimes it takes real pain
Before real joy one knows
Sometimes it takes tomorrows
To understand days gone by
Sometimes before the laughter
There comes heavy sigh
Sometimes it takes the longest mile
Before things come insight
Sometimes I often wonder
How I could live my life happier
And then U came by
And fill my loneliness inside
All I wanna do
Is to be always here for U
I wanted you to know
That I don't want U to go
Sometimes when I think
This has been the greatest thing
That ever happen to me
My dear can U see?
Thank U for everything
That you have done for me
What should i write
What could it be
Just three words
I LOVE YOU
The Mountain Story
There are many ways to achieve the happiness in life. One can learn from the story about the young boy and his father which I posted it here, and for me it is part of golden rule of life. So just enjoy the reading and find yourself inside the story.
A son and his father were walking on the mountains. Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself and screams: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain:
"AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Curious, he yells: "Who are you?"
He receives the answer: "Who are you?"
Angered at the response, he screams: "Coward!"
He receives the answer: "Coward!"
He looks to his father and asks: "What's going on?"
The father smiles and says: "My son, pay attention."
And then he screams to the mountain: "I admire you!"
The voice answers: "I admire you!"
Again the man screams: "You are a champion!"
The voice answers: "You are a champion!"
The boy is surprised, but does not understand.
Then the father explains: "People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.
If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart.
If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence.This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life; Life will give you back everything you have given to it."
YOUR LIFE IS NOT A COINCIDENCE. IT'S A REFLECTION OF YOU!
A son and his father were walking on the mountains. Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself and screams: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain:
"AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Curious, he yells: "Who are you?"
He receives the answer: "Who are you?"
Angered at the response, he screams: "Coward!"
He receives the answer: "Coward!"
He looks to his father and asks: "What's going on?"
The father smiles and says: "My son, pay attention."
And then he screams to the mountain: "I admire you!"
The voice answers: "I admire you!"
Again the man screams: "You are a champion!"
The voice answers: "You are a champion!"
The boy is surprised, but does not understand.
Then the father explains: "People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.
If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart.
If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence.This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life; Life will give you back everything you have given to it."
YOUR LIFE IS NOT A COINCIDENCE. IT'S A REFLECTION OF YOU!
What is the Essence of Life?
If someone ask you a question, what is the meaning of your life and how you’ll live your life in meaningful way? Well, everybody has own a point of view about what life is all about. And it is not an easy question to write down or convey our ideas into specific word.
We may say that to answer these such question is not so much on how correct or brilliant our answer is but rather on how much we understand every single moment that happen to our daily life. When it comes to the state of ‘understanding’, means that various element involve, such as, full consciousness good senses, reasonable, passions, and anything that related to ourselves.
What happen if our consciousness is not working well. We are no longer to be part of the life, of the cosmic, and people around us. And yet, the loneliness finely will say “welcome to our world”. Yes I believe that once we put ourselves first to many things in life, sooner or later our lives will begin to be infected by “social autism” even will end to schizofrenic. Then in this case, can we say that this is the essence of real life? Or can we say that does life have meaning in the midst of complicated world? It is up to us to answer which one is the best for our own sake and the people around us. The choice is ours…..we have right to choose what is the best things for each one of us.
We may say that to answer these such question is not so much on how correct or brilliant our answer is but rather on how much we understand every single moment that happen to our daily life. When it comes to the state of ‘understanding’, means that various element involve, such as, full consciousness good senses, reasonable, passions, and anything that related to ourselves.
What happen if our consciousness is not working well. We are no longer to be part of the life, of the cosmic, and people around us. And yet, the loneliness finely will say “welcome to our world”. Yes I believe that once we put ourselves first to many things in life, sooner or later our lives will begin to be infected by “social autism” even will end to schizofrenic. Then in this case, can we say that this is the essence of real life? Or can we say that does life have meaning in the midst of complicated world? It is up to us to answer which one is the best for our own sake and the people around us. The choice is ours…..we have right to choose what is the best things for each one of us.
TOWARD REVITALIZED RECONCILIATION IN HORIZONTAL CONFLICT
In one occasion a friend of mine asked the provocative question “ if you are belong to one community where violence / war is taking place, and all your family are killed, leaving no one, what would you do in this situation?” Would you be willing to forgive or to be reconciled with them? My spontaneous reaction was so offensive: I would have to kill them; not allow them to exist in this world. And absolutely I could not forgive and be reconciled with them. Then my friend responded “ Oh…. God how horrible life can be… I cannot imagine what would be happen to our world if we always put into practice the most popular philosophy of uncivilized people “an eye for an eye”. The world might be filled with fresh blood”. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind and brings humanity to the brink of self-destruction. A moment later I came to realize that violence always absurd, we have to go against violence with nonviolence: nonviolence maintains that violence only leads to further violence, that violence never ever solves anything.
However thinking about that question moved me deeply to reflect more and more about the fate and life of those who have to come face to face with real conflict, and above all to re-think or redefine the process of reconciliation. Does reconciliation have meaning at all to our social conflicts? Or is it important to have a reconciliation in the midst of conflict, if than What kind of reconciliation do we practice?
In fact the recent situation shows us that the feeling of insecurity, indignation, and deep revenge still remain in the mind and the heart of the victims or even the wrongdoers. Despite that they have been reconciled to each other and they seem to live a normal life, we cannot deny that the tragedy and irony of so many conflicts, whether formerly in Ambon, in East Timor, in Afghanistan or now in Iraq, Israel and Palestine, cause reasonable and peace loving people to flee their homes and become refugees, often abandoning their possessions to the looters and the scavengers. In such conflicts, it is not the meek who inherit the land, but the violent. Therefore it is not surprising that in every society, there are some courageous individuals who refuse, even in times of crisis and conflict, to abandon the path of reconciliation through dialogue. The reasons for their rejection of reconciliation in one way could be a result of their experience of dialogue for reconciliation as an inter-religious tea–party where everyone says nice things but avoids difficult issues. But, for other reasons, people refuse to have dialogue because they experience deep pain which eventually draws life itself into a paralyzed world.
Nevertheless reconciliation may not always be possible. As long as the oppressor / the wrongdoer has power over the victims, it may be necessary simply to establish whatever distance is possible in order to prevent further pain. But removal may be only a temporary expedient with an eye to eventual reconciliation, if such be possible.
Thus we have many ways of bringing reconciliation to the conflict situation. If our recent reconciliation practice is not working well, it means that we need to find other ways of dealing with reconciliation. Therefore, through this paper I propose a different approach in dealing with reconciliaiton. This approach might seem very ordinary but it lies more in philosophical thought than in a practical approach. The reason is that sometimes we neglect this approach in dealing with reconciliation, and we tend to emphasize the practical dimensions of reconciliation. And what are those approach to bring up here?
Genuine Dialogue Is A Way Of Reconciliation
People ask today, “How is dialogue possible in today’s social climate? And how can you engage in dialogue with people who are burning your churches, raping your sisters, massacring your villagers and killing your clergy? These questions are actually common, especially for those of us who really are engaged in conflict. It is basically our human spontaneous reaction to conflict. But what are the answers to this question. We presume the simplest answer would be to say, “You don’t”. Just as Paul did not dialogue with the fanatics and the murderers of Ephesus, you don’t dialogue with violent criminals, with people who have given themselves over to hatred,. Dialogue presumes good will and a certain level of openness to others. You don’t dialogue with an angry mob that often has forgotten the cause of its grievance. You try to avoid them as Paul avoided the mob by staying out of the city center in Ephesus.
However in order not to obstruct the dialogue process in times of crisis or conflict, there must be some effort made towards a genuine dialogue. Genuine dialogue here does not just mean conversation between two or more persons with differing views, but rather has as its primary purpose that each participant learn from the other so that he or she can change and grow. Genuine dialogue takes place through encounter and common action among the wrongdoers, the victims, and those of different persuasions leading them to build an enriching relationship. In their interaction they learn not only to understand the other but also to respect and appreciate the “otherness” of the other. This is grounded in two basic facts: firstly, the realization of our existence as a “Homo Socius” who constantly related with other human beings, with all creation and with the creator (God) itself. In this sense, the human being lives always in the context of a self-network: creating mutual relations with others. And secondly, the implication of being human – acceptance of being interconnected. In this case it highlights several dimensions of being interconnected such as trust, mutual acceptance, respect for the convictions and integrity of the other which lead us to safeguard the right of individual to follow the way of life of one’s choice. Thus dialogue calls for great tolerance in promoting friendliness in building bridges of reconciliation. We need to be open and accessible, willing to be challenged and ready for creative transformation in our common human search for fulfillment. As Martin Buber said in his writing about dialogue - genuine dialogue is at once a confirmation of otherness and togetherness. The key to Martin Buber as peacemaker is found in his own conception about dialogue – the meeting with the other person, the other group, the other people which confirms it in its otherness yet does not deny oneself and the ground on which one stands. In other words Martin Buber understood the genuine dialogue embodied in the relational aspect of “person”: person is relation. Furthermore one of the basic elements of Buberian dialogue is that in such an encounter we do not try to manipulate each other or the conversation. Rather there is an openness, a willingness to listen, to learn, to confront the other and to confront issues, and most importantly, to give oneself wholly to the other. In genuine dialogue one is not striving to make an impression, but rather one is always attempting to speak straightforwardly, to share one’s entire being. Empathy, Buber stressed, is not dialogue, for empathy is not confronting the other, it is not a giving of oneself wholly to the other. In dialogue one does not identify with the other, one relates fully to the other.
But in contrast modern man has lost his trust in his existence, writes Buber, and the most acute symptom of it is that a genuine word cannot arise between conflicting camps in the so called Cold War. The reason is that in our time the ancient mistrust between man has become existential. “The human world”, wrote Buber in 1952, “is today, as never before, split into two camps, each of which understands the other as the embodiment of falsehood and itself as the embodiment of the truth”.
This is not to say that modern man who has lost his trust in existence will block the way to build a genuine relationship in dialogue with others especially with those who are in conflict. We can overcome this existential mistrust by the good will of those who come together out of the camps and talk with one another, despite their criticism of the opposing system and their loyalty to their own. In this sense people realize that we human beings can be fully human when we acknowledge and have a sense of openness to the presence of other fellow human beings in our concrete life.
Moreover genuine dialogue can take place in what Naim Stefan Ateek called four basic ingredients or principles for any dialogue such as: (a). Respect, (b). Fairness, Honesty, and fidelity to truth, (c). Sincerity, and (d). Humility. These four principles are important as follows: The First ingredient is Respect, which consists of two dimensions. The first dimension is that the participants must be mature, knowledgeable, have self-respect and integrity. The second dimension is that the participants must also respect the integrity of the other party. This implies obedience to the Golden rule, “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you” (Mat 7:12). Respect keeps the other party’s interest in mind. It should lead to mutual respect and mutual respect should lead to mutual acceptance of the personhood of the other. Thus respect and acceptance do not rule out one party’s challenging the other, but respect should lead each party to changes its attitude toward the other.
The second ingredient is Fairness, Honesty, and Fidelity to Truth. In times of crisis and conflict, it is important to emphazise the needs for the vicitms and the wrongdoers to confront each other with truth. To tell the truth requires openness, and openness allows them to speak fraknly, yet sensitively. Fidelity to truth also involves addresing the core issues without wasting unnecessary time on the periphery, and with a minimum of wrangling on the questions of format, structure, and shape. Fairness implies a commitment to the demands of security and justice for both people. Meanwhile honesty is a correct assessment of the past. Honesty neither shrinks from, nor becomes obsessed with, the past. It assesses and evaluates, learns and moves ahead. Honesty does not use past injustice to shackle the interlocutor nor does it exploit the past in order to impose unnecessary demands on the other.
The third ingredient is sincerity. Sincerity in dialogue means that the interlocutors move as quickly as possible because they realize that the level of suffering among the common folk, who usually bear the brunt of a conflict, is reduced when a conflict is quickly resolved. At the same time, sincerity means a commitment to details so that no aspects of injustice are left out and no issues relating to the conflict are left unclarified. Everything is done in order to prevent the germination of any new seeds of enmity between the parties.
And finally Humility is one of the most essential ingredients in dialogue and negotiation, and genuine dialogue cannot exist without humility. It ensures that the interlocutors approach each other with openness to the different possibilities that will present themselves along the way. In fact one cannot approach dialogue with the feeling of arrogance or superiority over the other, a sense of a higher morality or even a feeling of self-sufficiency. That kind of arrogance or superiority has no place where genuine dialogue is pursued and where people are working toward reaching a peaceful settlement between enemies.
What I have mentioned above are essential if genuine dialogue is to succeed. By realizing these aspects, we create a new space and good atmospher for genuine dialogue - inherently a genuine dialogue itself can produce a true reconciliation. Hence genuine dialogue is a bridge to true reconciliation. It is a bridge to fulfill the needs of the victims and the wrongdoers and at the same time to be open to new input from the diversity of otherness.
Promote the Culture of Peace
When we encounter conflicts in our lives we spontaniously recite this prayer “ Dona Nobis Pacem”:Give Us Peace. Certainly this prayer has great influence for us who live in an age of compounded crises, an age of fear and terrorist attack and the constant threat of total annihilation by the weapons that we ourselves have perfected. It is an age more and more bereft of authentic human existence, and even the image of such existence increasingly deserts us.
In the midst of these kinds of situations, peace has become a powerful symbol for our times and it is obvious that peace is naturally a human desire: we need to live life in an harmonious and peacfull way. But we know well that there can be no peace or peace cannot be restored in a world ravaged by violence without involvement from all the significant sectors of society both civil and government. In short, all clans must be involved in bringing about the culture of peace.
However when we are thinking in terms of a peace culture, many other elements come into play as well. It helps to think of the peace culture as a mosaic, made up of varied ingredients: historical memories of peacefulness, compassion, forgiveness, and the inward disciplines of reflection and prayer; the way families care for one another and nurture the next generation; economic behaviour that deals carefully with the earth’s resources and is oriented towards human need and human sharing; forms of governance that ensure justice for all; and means of dealing with conflicts, differences, strangers – with those who are “other” – in a problem-solving, reconciling manner.
This peace culture as a mosaic occurs at various levels of our lives and it is rooted in every human action. However religion or other social forces play a crucial role in building the culture of peace. This role always begins locally in the setting in which members of faith or of society find themselves. The presence of the church, temple, mosque, synagogue or other places of worship is in a profound sense a zone of peace, a special type of space dedicated to the embodiment of a culture of peace in human togetherness. Developing deeper awareness of this aspect of peace building is important for every local place of worship. We can see this from the witnesses of the life of Jesus who taught his followers that “ an eye for an eye” only makes the whole world blind and brings humanity to the brink of self-destruction. We have to against violence with nonviolence: nonviolence maintains that violence only leads to further violence, that violence never ever solves anything. In fact this greatly inspired Mahatma Gandhi to actualize the word of Jesus in the Indian context. He popularized the term nonviolence, taking it from the Sanskrit word ahimsa (non-harm) to express the peaceful, loving means of proclaiming the truth. Likewise Martin Luther King, Jr., declared the night before he was assassinated. “It is nonviolence or nonexistence”. Gospel nonviolence offers us the only way out of the global catastrophe of violence. These three greatest figures of all time understood nonviolence as way of active peacemaking that both resists evil without doing evil and insists on truth and justice through love. From Jesus – Gandhi to King and the movement of peaceful transformation around the world, nonviolence refers to active peacemaking and persistent reconciliation.
Beside the influence of the power of religion in building a peace culture, the individual initiative is profoundly important. It can start from our daily attitude or our way of thinking about the other person. Having positive thoughts in the mind and in the heart about the other person and putting aside all the prejudices is one dimension in creating and maintaining the peace culture in our society. After thinking positively of others, people are able to go to the further dimension of forgiveness. But forgiveness will not occur if each one has no concern for the life of other people. Nourishing selfishness, or the inner ego, or putting self-interest before the relationship to other people, endangers the support of a culture of peace. Forgiveness can take place if we put aside these motivations above, because forgiveness means going beyond our ego. It is therefore linked to what I have already mentioned in regard to genuine dialogue which is the “self-realization” of our existence as Homo socius who is always in relationship. In other words, this stage in the art of forgiveness by internalizing the values of being human we enhance the culture of peace.
Animate the Network of Initiative
Globalization, as we know, is a recent phenomenon in the economic history of humanity, even though its roots are to be found in the distant past when trade and commerce moved out of one territory to another, transcending the natural barriers of sea and mountains. But globalization is not merely an economical phenomenon, it is widely spread in various level of our lives. Globalization extends the effect of modernity throughout the entire world via the communication technologies that create the information network. This communication revolution of the second half of the twentieth century has reshaped how we perceive time and space. The communication technologies make possible a networking that increasingly eludes hierarchical control: network has replaced hierarchy as a social model for communication. Travel possibilities allow for the movement of peoples in such a way as to reconfigure societies, allowing for migrations on a massive scale. These are creating societies where cultures come into contact with each other and result both in conflict and in new possibilities.
Mirroring this reality, we may say that new high-technology communications in this - 21 century offer us much opportunity to be creative in building a culture of peace in society. We use them as tools to maintain the peace process. Hence in high-tech communication the term “web” is always a starting point in understanding the world. However in the light of high-tech communication, there are some possibilities which can sustain the peace through creating a network and cooperating with other groups in society. We expand our network by sharing the news, visions, or other things that support the process of reconciliation. A number of groups in society such as church can join hands with other christian communities or other religions within a country as well as in other parts of the world for the sake of peace. The various initiatives in the recent past, for instance the peace efforts of Muslim and Christian in Ambon, providing a peace road map for Israel-Palestine in Middle East, etc- these are a few examples which show how a local and international community can tap the support of others to tackle the problem of violence.
Certainly only such a network of initiative at micro level could bring lasting peace for a country as well as for the global community. The remedy for the culture of death and cuthroat competition due to economic globalization lies in the globalization of humanitarian initiatives for peace, cultivating a “civilization of love”. And Pope John Paul II is greatly concerned about this. He pointed out that the “Remedy for the escalation of violence due to economic globalization is the “globalization of solidarity”. It is time for people now to join hands tightly to eliminate dehumanizing actions that are rampant in our lives. And yet reflected in humanitarian works there is a glimmer of hope from the peacemaker or the number of groups in society who are already in a civilization of love. They give new possibilities to the world, so that there is always a way to find peace. The important thing here is the initiative of many individuals, who dare to stand apart and explore new ways for peace. We would initiate a lasting transformation at local as well as at global level.
In sum, our efforts to revitalize reconciliation in horizontal conflict which is supported by genuine dialogue, a culture of peace, and the animation of the network initiative, can enhance the value of life. It is an endless effort of going deep down to the real reconciliation that enables us to boldly assert that true reconciliation appears to us only when we dare to separate the self from the mask: the mask of hatred, the mask of arrogance, the mask of hyprocracy etc., leading towards the real self – the real identity of me, of you, and of all us in this globe. Indeed this real self ensures that we are connected with the otherness of the other. As Martin Buber, has pointed out again and again, genuine reconciliation which begins with a fully realistic recognition of real differences and points of conflict, and then moves to the task of discovering the viewpoint from which some real meeting may take place which includes both perspectives.
Moreover this world of ours calls for coordinated action based on commonly recognized values. Moral commitment has become simply unavoidable. It should not be only individual but also communal. There is a vast common ground on which we can make common reconciliation decisions. Reconciliation is not only matter of healing memories and receiving forgiveness, it is also about changing the structures in the society that provoked, promoted, and sustained violence. The situation of the world demands a common responsibility of all religious. Christianity or Islam for example with its “cosmological faith” has, as we shall see, some specific insights to offer in this respect.
An encouraging fact in our present situation is the growing awareness of many people that religious identity must be closely related to the common human experience of suffering. This applies also to the unbeliever. The great and noble aspiration of our time-whether we believe in God or not, whether are Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim – is to build a more human world for all its inhabitants. Because conflict exists without compromising the human situation. It is unavoidable and sometimes surprising or shocking for us to the other side of our lives. (Sebastian)
Reference:
Dialogue: Resource Manual For Chatolics In Asia (FABC), Bangkok, FABC-OEIA, 2001.
Walter Wink (Editor), Peace Is The Way: Writing On Nonviolence From The fellowship Of Reconciliation, New York, Orbis Books.
Hain Gordon & Rivca Gordon (Edit), Israel/Palestine: The Quest For Dialogue, Maryknol, New York, Orbis Books.
Robert Herr & Judy Zimmerman Herr (Edit), Transforming Violence: Linking Local & Global Peacemaking, U.S., A Pandora Press U. S. Book & Herald Press, 1998.
Robert J. Schreiter, The New Catholicity; Theology between the Global and the Local, Maryknoll-New York, Orbis Books, 1997.
Felix Wilfred (Edit), Minority Rights In The Age of Globalization, Jeevadhara (A Journal of Socio-Religious Research), Vol. XXXIV NO. 199, Kerla, India, 2004.
However thinking about that question moved me deeply to reflect more and more about the fate and life of those who have to come face to face with real conflict, and above all to re-think or redefine the process of reconciliation. Does reconciliation have meaning at all to our social conflicts? Or is it important to have a reconciliation in the midst of conflict, if than What kind of reconciliation do we practice?
In fact the recent situation shows us that the feeling of insecurity, indignation, and deep revenge still remain in the mind and the heart of the victims or even the wrongdoers. Despite that they have been reconciled to each other and they seem to live a normal life, we cannot deny that the tragedy and irony of so many conflicts, whether formerly in Ambon, in East Timor, in Afghanistan or now in Iraq, Israel and Palestine, cause reasonable and peace loving people to flee their homes and become refugees, often abandoning their possessions to the looters and the scavengers. In such conflicts, it is not the meek who inherit the land, but the violent. Therefore it is not surprising that in every society, there are some courageous individuals who refuse, even in times of crisis and conflict, to abandon the path of reconciliation through dialogue. The reasons for their rejection of reconciliation in one way could be a result of their experience of dialogue for reconciliation as an inter-religious tea–party where everyone says nice things but avoids difficult issues. But, for other reasons, people refuse to have dialogue because they experience deep pain which eventually draws life itself into a paralyzed world.
Nevertheless reconciliation may not always be possible. As long as the oppressor / the wrongdoer has power over the victims, it may be necessary simply to establish whatever distance is possible in order to prevent further pain. But removal may be only a temporary expedient with an eye to eventual reconciliation, if such be possible.
Thus we have many ways of bringing reconciliation to the conflict situation. If our recent reconciliation practice is not working well, it means that we need to find other ways of dealing with reconciliation. Therefore, through this paper I propose a different approach in dealing with reconciliaiton. This approach might seem very ordinary but it lies more in philosophical thought than in a practical approach. The reason is that sometimes we neglect this approach in dealing with reconciliation, and we tend to emphasize the practical dimensions of reconciliation. And what are those approach to bring up here?
Genuine Dialogue Is A Way Of Reconciliation
People ask today, “How is dialogue possible in today’s social climate? And how can you engage in dialogue with people who are burning your churches, raping your sisters, massacring your villagers and killing your clergy? These questions are actually common, especially for those of us who really are engaged in conflict. It is basically our human spontaneous reaction to conflict. But what are the answers to this question. We presume the simplest answer would be to say, “You don’t”. Just as Paul did not dialogue with the fanatics and the murderers of Ephesus, you don’t dialogue with violent criminals, with people who have given themselves over to hatred,. Dialogue presumes good will and a certain level of openness to others. You don’t dialogue with an angry mob that often has forgotten the cause of its grievance. You try to avoid them as Paul avoided the mob by staying out of the city center in Ephesus.
However in order not to obstruct the dialogue process in times of crisis or conflict, there must be some effort made towards a genuine dialogue. Genuine dialogue here does not just mean conversation between two or more persons with differing views, but rather has as its primary purpose that each participant learn from the other so that he or she can change and grow. Genuine dialogue takes place through encounter and common action among the wrongdoers, the victims, and those of different persuasions leading them to build an enriching relationship. In their interaction they learn not only to understand the other but also to respect and appreciate the “otherness” of the other. This is grounded in two basic facts: firstly, the realization of our existence as a “Homo Socius” who constantly related with other human beings, with all creation and with the creator (God) itself. In this sense, the human being lives always in the context of a self-network: creating mutual relations with others. And secondly, the implication of being human – acceptance of being interconnected. In this case it highlights several dimensions of being interconnected such as trust, mutual acceptance, respect for the convictions and integrity of the other which lead us to safeguard the right of individual to follow the way of life of one’s choice. Thus dialogue calls for great tolerance in promoting friendliness in building bridges of reconciliation. We need to be open and accessible, willing to be challenged and ready for creative transformation in our common human search for fulfillment. As Martin Buber said in his writing about dialogue - genuine dialogue is at once a confirmation of otherness and togetherness. The key to Martin Buber as peacemaker is found in his own conception about dialogue – the meeting with the other person, the other group, the other people which confirms it in its otherness yet does not deny oneself and the ground on which one stands. In other words Martin Buber understood the genuine dialogue embodied in the relational aspect of “person”: person is relation. Furthermore one of the basic elements of Buberian dialogue is that in such an encounter we do not try to manipulate each other or the conversation. Rather there is an openness, a willingness to listen, to learn, to confront the other and to confront issues, and most importantly, to give oneself wholly to the other. In genuine dialogue one is not striving to make an impression, but rather one is always attempting to speak straightforwardly, to share one’s entire being. Empathy, Buber stressed, is not dialogue, for empathy is not confronting the other, it is not a giving of oneself wholly to the other. In dialogue one does not identify with the other, one relates fully to the other.
But in contrast modern man has lost his trust in his existence, writes Buber, and the most acute symptom of it is that a genuine word cannot arise between conflicting camps in the so called Cold War. The reason is that in our time the ancient mistrust between man has become existential. “The human world”, wrote Buber in 1952, “is today, as never before, split into two camps, each of which understands the other as the embodiment of falsehood and itself as the embodiment of the truth”.
This is not to say that modern man who has lost his trust in existence will block the way to build a genuine relationship in dialogue with others especially with those who are in conflict. We can overcome this existential mistrust by the good will of those who come together out of the camps and talk with one another, despite their criticism of the opposing system and their loyalty to their own. In this sense people realize that we human beings can be fully human when we acknowledge and have a sense of openness to the presence of other fellow human beings in our concrete life.
Moreover genuine dialogue can take place in what Naim Stefan Ateek called four basic ingredients or principles for any dialogue such as: (a). Respect, (b). Fairness, Honesty, and fidelity to truth, (c). Sincerity, and (d). Humility. These four principles are important as follows: The First ingredient is Respect, which consists of two dimensions. The first dimension is that the participants must be mature, knowledgeable, have self-respect and integrity. The second dimension is that the participants must also respect the integrity of the other party. This implies obedience to the Golden rule, “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you” (Mat 7:12). Respect keeps the other party’s interest in mind. It should lead to mutual respect and mutual respect should lead to mutual acceptance of the personhood of the other. Thus respect and acceptance do not rule out one party’s challenging the other, but respect should lead each party to changes its attitude toward the other.
The second ingredient is Fairness, Honesty, and Fidelity to Truth. In times of crisis and conflict, it is important to emphazise the needs for the vicitms and the wrongdoers to confront each other with truth. To tell the truth requires openness, and openness allows them to speak fraknly, yet sensitively. Fidelity to truth also involves addresing the core issues without wasting unnecessary time on the periphery, and with a minimum of wrangling on the questions of format, structure, and shape. Fairness implies a commitment to the demands of security and justice for both people. Meanwhile honesty is a correct assessment of the past. Honesty neither shrinks from, nor becomes obsessed with, the past. It assesses and evaluates, learns and moves ahead. Honesty does not use past injustice to shackle the interlocutor nor does it exploit the past in order to impose unnecessary demands on the other.
The third ingredient is sincerity. Sincerity in dialogue means that the interlocutors move as quickly as possible because they realize that the level of suffering among the common folk, who usually bear the brunt of a conflict, is reduced when a conflict is quickly resolved. At the same time, sincerity means a commitment to details so that no aspects of injustice are left out and no issues relating to the conflict are left unclarified. Everything is done in order to prevent the germination of any new seeds of enmity between the parties.
And finally Humility is one of the most essential ingredients in dialogue and negotiation, and genuine dialogue cannot exist without humility. It ensures that the interlocutors approach each other with openness to the different possibilities that will present themselves along the way. In fact one cannot approach dialogue with the feeling of arrogance or superiority over the other, a sense of a higher morality or even a feeling of self-sufficiency. That kind of arrogance or superiority has no place where genuine dialogue is pursued and where people are working toward reaching a peaceful settlement between enemies.
What I have mentioned above are essential if genuine dialogue is to succeed. By realizing these aspects, we create a new space and good atmospher for genuine dialogue - inherently a genuine dialogue itself can produce a true reconciliation. Hence genuine dialogue is a bridge to true reconciliation. It is a bridge to fulfill the needs of the victims and the wrongdoers and at the same time to be open to new input from the diversity of otherness.
Promote the Culture of Peace
When we encounter conflicts in our lives we spontaniously recite this prayer “ Dona Nobis Pacem”:Give Us Peace. Certainly this prayer has great influence for us who live in an age of compounded crises, an age of fear and terrorist attack and the constant threat of total annihilation by the weapons that we ourselves have perfected. It is an age more and more bereft of authentic human existence, and even the image of such existence increasingly deserts us.
In the midst of these kinds of situations, peace has become a powerful symbol for our times and it is obvious that peace is naturally a human desire: we need to live life in an harmonious and peacfull way. But we know well that there can be no peace or peace cannot be restored in a world ravaged by violence without involvement from all the significant sectors of society both civil and government. In short, all clans must be involved in bringing about the culture of peace.
However when we are thinking in terms of a peace culture, many other elements come into play as well. It helps to think of the peace culture as a mosaic, made up of varied ingredients: historical memories of peacefulness, compassion, forgiveness, and the inward disciplines of reflection and prayer; the way families care for one another and nurture the next generation; economic behaviour that deals carefully with the earth’s resources and is oriented towards human need and human sharing; forms of governance that ensure justice for all; and means of dealing with conflicts, differences, strangers – with those who are “other” – in a problem-solving, reconciling manner.
This peace culture as a mosaic occurs at various levels of our lives and it is rooted in every human action. However religion or other social forces play a crucial role in building the culture of peace. This role always begins locally in the setting in which members of faith or of society find themselves. The presence of the church, temple, mosque, synagogue or other places of worship is in a profound sense a zone of peace, a special type of space dedicated to the embodiment of a culture of peace in human togetherness. Developing deeper awareness of this aspect of peace building is important for every local place of worship. We can see this from the witnesses of the life of Jesus who taught his followers that “ an eye for an eye” only makes the whole world blind and brings humanity to the brink of self-destruction. We have to against violence with nonviolence: nonviolence maintains that violence only leads to further violence, that violence never ever solves anything. In fact this greatly inspired Mahatma Gandhi to actualize the word of Jesus in the Indian context. He popularized the term nonviolence, taking it from the Sanskrit word ahimsa (non-harm) to express the peaceful, loving means of proclaiming the truth. Likewise Martin Luther King, Jr., declared the night before he was assassinated. “It is nonviolence or nonexistence”. Gospel nonviolence offers us the only way out of the global catastrophe of violence. These three greatest figures of all time understood nonviolence as way of active peacemaking that both resists evil without doing evil and insists on truth and justice through love. From Jesus – Gandhi to King and the movement of peaceful transformation around the world, nonviolence refers to active peacemaking and persistent reconciliation.
Beside the influence of the power of religion in building a peace culture, the individual initiative is profoundly important. It can start from our daily attitude or our way of thinking about the other person. Having positive thoughts in the mind and in the heart about the other person and putting aside all the prejudices is one dimension in creating and maintaining the peace culture in our society. After thinking positively of others, people are able to go to the further dimension of forgiveness. But forgiveness will not occur if each one has no concern for the life of other people. Nourishing selfishness, or the inner ego, or putting self-interest before the relationship to other people, endangers the support of a culture of peace. Forgiveness can take place if we put aside these motivations above, because forgiveness means going beyond our ego. It is therefore linked to what I have already mentioned in regard to genuine dialogue which is the “self-realization” of our existence as Homo socius who is always in relationship. In other words, this stage in the art of forgiveness by internalizing the values of being human we enhance the culture of peace.
Animate the Network of Initiative
Globalization, as we know, is a recent phenomenon in the economic history of humanity, even though its roots are to be found in the distant past when trade and commerce moved out of one territory to another, transcending the natural barriers of sea and mountains. But globalization is not merely an economical phenomenon, it is widely spread in various level of our lives. Globalization extends the effect of modernity throughout the entire world via the communication technologies that create the information network. This communication revolution of the second half of the twentieth century has reshaped how we perceive time and space. The communication technologies make possible a networking that increasingly eludes hierarchical control: network has replaced hierarchy as a social model for communication. Travel possibilities allow for the movement of peoples in such a way as to reconfigure societies, allowing for migrations on a massive scale. These are creating societies where cultures come into contact with each other and result both in conflict and in new possibilities.
Mirroring this reality, we may say that new high-technology communications in this - 21 century offer us much opportunity to be creative in building a culture of peace in society. We use them as tools to maintain the peace process. Hence in high-tech communication the term “web” is always a starting point in understanding the world. However in the light of high-tech communication, there are some possibilities which can sustain the peace through creating a network and cooperating with other groups in society. We expand our network by sharing the news, visions, or other things that support the process of reconciliation. A number of groups in society such as church can join hands with other christian communities or other religions within a country as well as in other parts of the world for the sake of peace. The various initiatives in the recent past, for instance the peace efforts of Muslim and Christian in Ambon, providing a peace road map for Israel-Palestine in Middle East, etc- these are a few examples which show how a local and international community can tap the support of others to tackle the problem of violence.
Certainly only such a network of initiative at micro level could bring lasting peace for a country as well as for the global community. The remedy for the culture of death and cuthroat competition due to economic globalization lies in the globalization of humanitarian initiatives for peace, cultivating a “civilization of love”. And Pope John Paul II is greatly concerned about this. He pointed out that the “Remedy for the escalation of violence due to economic globalization is the “globalization of solidarity”. It is time for people now to join hands tightly to eliminate dehumanizing actions that are rampant in our lives. And yet reflected in humanitarian works there is a glimmer of hope from the peacemaker or the number of groups in society who are already in a civilization of love. They give new possibilities to the world, so that there is always a way to find peace. The important thing here is the initiative of many individuals, who dare to stand apart and explore new ways for peace. We would initiate a lasting transformation at local as well as at global level.
In sum, our efforts to revitalize reconciliation in horizontal conflict which is supported by genuine dialogue, a culture of peace, and the animation of the network initiative, can enhance the value of life. It is an endless effort of going deep down to the real reconciliation that enables us to boldly assert that true reconciliation appears to us only when we dare to separate the self from the mask: the mask of hatred, the mask of arrogance, the mask of hyprocracy etc., leading towards the real self – the real identity of me, of you, and of all us in this globe. Indeed this real self ensures that we are connected with the otherness of the other. As Martin Buber, has pointed out again and again, genuine reconciliation which begins with a fully realistic recognition of real differences and points of conflict, and then moves to the task of discovering the viewpoint from which some real meeting may take place which includes both perspectives.
Moreover this world of ours calls for coordinated action based on commonly recognized values. Moral commitment has become simply unavoidable. It should not be only individual but also communal. There is a vast common ground on which we can make common reconciliation decisions. Reconciliation is not only matter of healing memories and receiving forgiveness, it is also about changing the structures in the society that provoked, promoted, and sustained violence. The situation of the world demands a common responsibility of all religious. Christianity or Islam for example with its “cosmological faith” has, as we shall see, some specific insights to offer in this respect.
An encouraging fact in our present situation is the growing awareness of many people that religious identity must be closely related to the common human experience of suffering. This applies also to the unbeliever. The great and noble aspiration of our time-whether we believe in God or not, whether are Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim – is to build a more human world for all its inhabitants. Because conflict exists without compromising the human situation. It is unavoidable and sometimes surprising or shocking for us to the other side of our lives. (Sebastian)
Reference:
Dialogue: Resource Manual For Chatolics In Asia (FABC), Bangkok, FABC-OEIA, 2001.
Walter Wink (Editor), Peace Is The Way: Writing On Nonviolence From The fellowship Of Reconciliation, New York, Orbis Books.
Hain Gordon & Rivca Gordon (Edit), Israel/Palestine: The Quest For Dialogue, Maryknol, New York, Orbis Books.
Robert Herr & Judy Zimmerman Herr (Edit), Transforming Violence: Linking Local & Global Peacemaking, U.S., A Pandora Press U. S. Book & Herald Press, 1998.
Robert J. Schreiter, The New Catholicity; Theology between the Global and the Local, Maryknoll-New York, Orbis Books, 1997.
Felix Wilfred (Edit), Minority Rights In The Age of Globalization, Jeevadhara (A Journal of Socio-Religious Research), Vol. XXXIV NO. 199, Kerla, India, 2004.
Langganan:
Postingan (Atom)