Global Viewpoints Forum: RECONCILIATION: What is it to be reconciled within one’s self, one’s community, and one’s world?

In this forum, Lorraine “Dr. Rain” Warren, PhD will engage an inquiry into reconciliation as a space of being from which one discovers the work there is for them to do within themselves, their community, and the world. She will share the depth of her experiences as an African American woman, as one who participates in diverse communities, and as a world-citizen which lead to her commitment to Creating A World that Listens (see description below). Dr. Rain says that the willingness to listen is the first step in the reconciliation process.

In this forum, you will experience:

• A new way to look at reconciliation
• An active engagement in a conversation for reconciliation
• A prospective and a charge to listen, in perhaps, a way that you never have before
• BONUS:  A discovery of Life as your classroom

You do not want to miss this opportunity!

Lorraine “Dr. Rain” Warren, PhD  Dr. Rain’s career as a facilitator, educator, and trainer in peace-building, dialogue, and conflict mediation has spanned over 20 years and has taken her to over 100 countries around the world, which include the continents of Africa, Asia, North America, South America, and Europe  Recently, she was honored with the Legacy International Humanitarian Award in acknowledgement of having directly impacted the lives of over 34,000 youth and the Josephine “Scout” Wollman Fuller Award, by Psychologists for Social Responsibility, recognizing her outstanding contributions to the advancement of peace and social justice. 

Dr. Rain is currently developing a project called, “Creating a World that Listens”, in which she takes red chairs to public places and provides a peaceful space in which she simply listens to the issues and concerns of everyday people. Often, she asks them to respond to the question, “What would you say if you knew the world would listen?” She has had profound conversations with all races and ages of people from 6 to 93 years of age. This project was inspired by her research in Rwanda interviewing survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Many of the survivors stated that “over 800, 000 lives could have been saved if the world had listened.”

She believes that the solutions to any community’s problems lay within that community. In other words, “it’s all in the circle.” What will ultimately save us is our ability to capitalize on our collective wisdom. She believes our words are very powerful and asks, what would be possible if we chanted, “YES, Justice! YES, Peace! I Breathe! You Breathe! We Breathe!” Ultimately, that is what every human being on the planet wants for themselves. She is working on several book projects which include one inspired by her work in Rwanda and her life experiences.

Dr. Rain holds a MA/PhD in Community, Liberation, Eco Psychologies, Masters degrees in Spiritual Psychology and Higher Education Administration. She completed her undergraduate degree at one of the nation’s first HBCUs Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. She began her work and relationship with the Global Youth Village in 1996 and has served as the Peace-building and Dialogue instructor for several years. Legacy International and the Global Youth Village will always remain near and dear to her heart.

“Creating A World That Listens” aka “The Red Chair Project”

In 2017,  Dr. Rain had a dream in which she saw a beautiful green field and in the middle of the field was a circle of five bright red chairs. Somehow she knew that she was to sit in one of the chairs and invite others to join her, and she was to listen to whatever they wanted or needed to say. She likened the field she saw in the dream to that mentioned in the often referred to and translated poem by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (a 13th-century Persian poet, faqih, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic). The following is the middle verse taken from the poem called “A Great Wagon,” 

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”
doesn’t make any sense.
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.”

This verse highlights a call for humanity to listen without judgment, explore our oneness, and appreciate and acknowledge the realm of Spirit.

Dr. Rain has taken her red chairs to her local farmer’s market and other public places and listened to the words of people from the ages of 6 to 93. Creating A World that Listens was also inspired by Dr. Rain’s research in Rwanda, listening to the stories of survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in which many of those interviewed stated that over 800, 000 lives could have been saved had the world listened.