College campuses across the country are filled with strife over the present war in the Middle East. One side sees the horrific conditions of relatives, those with whom they share religious and ethic heritage and those who support them. On the other side are those who experienced or watched the terror of October 7th when the country of their religious and ethic heritage was ravaged. Many live in fear in this country of being attacked. And the two sides cannot find a workable resolution.
The war in the Middle East rages on every day. Millions of people’s lives continue to be severely impacted. The skies are filled with bombs, the ground is filled with tanks, rockets and snipers. Hostages are held in deplorable conditions, people are starving and the injured go unattended. And the two sides cannot find a workable resolution.
The conflict between these two is historic, devastating and very complex. And after countless attempts, meaningful resolution always seems fleeting.
The Middle East of course is not the only part of the world, or group of people or individuals, who seem to be caught in the snare of interminable conflict. Conflict is clearly a part of the human condition. Yet there are proven intentional steps and perspective that can foster a way forward through the quagmire of conflict.
Educator, author and expert conflict consultant, Speed Leas, has worked across a wide spectrum of contexts from the race riots of Watts to conflicted small and large organizations. He frames the escalation of conflict in his seminal work, Five Levels of Conflict:
1: “Problems to Solve” where people try to solve their problems
2: “Disagreement” in which people focus more on self-protection and saving face
3: “Contest” where a person’s main goal is to “win” the argument and see life only in black-and-white terms
4: “Fight/Flight” in which people become unforgiving and coldly self-righteous
5: “Intractable Situation” where the object is destroy the “other”
Leas believes before any movement toward resolution can occur intentional assessment of the level of conflict is critical. With this awareness resolution is possible if the conflicted parties are willing to do the hard work of self examination, openness to another’s perspective, and a willingness to commit to and believe the conflict can be resolved – Level 1 Problem to Solve.
I pray for those engaged at all levels of the conflict in the Middle East, that they will work to bring an end to this historic conflict…enough life has been lost.
“In his own day Jesus was immersed in a violent culture, a culture of conflict and anxiety. But he also knew of the deeper truth hidden beneath the surface of human judgment, namely that this broken, anxious world is oozing with God. He asked us to have faith, to believe that the reign of God is among us and within us.”- Ilia Delio
BP