In May 13 and 14 I gave two presentations on “Pathways in Reconciliation” for the Collegiate Peaks Forum in Buena Vista, Colorado. Located in the valley east of the Collegiate Peaks (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia), the Forum brings people together to reflect on a wide range of issues in philosophy, science and religion. You can check out their impressive web site at CollegiatePeaksForum.org.
I led them through the way stories of journey (Great Trek and Trail of Tears as examples) create both challenges to reconciliation and pathways into it. I then showed how stories of journey conflict with stories of place. The former are typical of people raised in Biblical traditions of Exodus and Muslim stories of Hejira. The latter reflect the lives of settled indigenous peoples everywhere.
Reconciling the two – and the people who tell these stories – requires the kind of dialogue with Earth that I explored in Red Clay, Blood River. The conversation in response was elevated (8,000 ft) and spirited. My thanks to my hosts Marty and Barb Chambless and the marvelously hospitable board members who underwrite this exceptional cultural initiative.