Circular and Linear

The first time I read an article by John Paul Lederach for one of my classes last semester, I think I stopped in the middle and said out loud, "I love this guy!"  As I have read more by him and learned about his work in peacebuilding and reconciliation around the world, he has shaped my vision of who I aspire to be as a peacemaker.  I'm always enthusiastic when I see his name on a syllabus for class.

A few weeks ago in Comparative Peace Processes, we read an article in which he criticized the concepts of 'ripeness' and what is known in the field of mediation as a 'Mutually Hurting Stalemate.'  For Lederach, these concepts imply that a peace process is linear, moving constantly toward the ripe moment a mediator must be ready to 'seize.'  He argued instead that a peace process is both circular and linear, kind of like the loops of the roller coaster pictured above (repeated on indefinitely).  At any isolated point in time, a peace process may appear to be moving forwards, backwards, up, down--or in any number of seemingly random directions--while at the same time also moving in sustained direction.  The key for him is creating what he calls a 'transformational platform' of sustained relationship and engagement that allows the parties to experience the loops while still moving 'forward.'  Seeing the big picture is important.  Looking at the circumstances on the ground at just one point in time tells you nothing about the state of the peace process.

I like this visual and have been thinking about it in relation to our spiritual journeys.  I think our journeys are circular and linear, too.  We don't just move in a straight line--either backwards or forwards, growing or 'falling away.'  At any point, we could be moving in any number of directions, not appearing to ourselves and/or to others to be making 'progress' or moving in the 'right' direction.  But it's just not that simple.  Spiritual journeys are complex. They aren't just linear, and they aren't just circular (moving constantly over the same ground over and over again), but they are both.  Sometimes it looks like we're making progress and sometimes it doesn't, but when God is at work, we trust that if we could step back and see the big picture, we would see movement in a sustained direction, despite the loops we make along the way.