The Sound of Peace

Peace comes from empathy, empathy from understanding, and understanding from listening to another. Think about it; if you really listen to someone and see that person’s heart, it’s simply harder to hate. At least that’s my take on it, and it’s also the vision behind a podcast called “Stories of Our City.”

Peace comes from empathy, empathy from understanding, and understanding from listening to another. Think about it; if you really listen to someone and see that person’s heart, it’s simply harder to hate. At least that’s my take on it, and it’s also the vision behind a podcast called “Stories of Our City.”

The basic premise is that people in Beirut, Lebanon are recorded telling their stories and then put on the Internet for us all to hear. The vision behind it all is simply peace. Something so hard to find in the war torn Middle East, yet not something to give up on.

As they put it: “Here at Stories of Our City, we believe that it is in the sharing of stories that the labels that divide can be erased and the commonalities of humanity can be celebrated.” Begin to listen to these podcasts, and it’s true that differences begin to dissolve. There are stories of life, family, friends, culture, art.

There are stories you can relate to and stories you can’t even imagine having happened to a real person. Not just some picture that they news slides up as they talk about tragedy, but a real person with a real voice that really experienced that tragedy.

But is it working? Well, I heard an interview with one of the co-founders, Katy Gilbert, and she told of how encouraged the  people were that Americans want to know who they are, that they have a voice. So often the people she speaks with feel that their voice is diminished by government or their families. By just asking them to share, Stories of Our City is helping a voice be heard and changing things just a little bit.

And we are hearing and changing as well. I’ve been listening to this podcast since it’s inception and have found my own understanding, empathy, and prayers for peace elevated with each story I hear.

So, I highly recommend listening to “Stories of Our City,” and beyond that I highly recommend just listening in general. If peace can come from listening, then wouldn’t it be worth it to spend just a few minutes a day really opening our ears, our eyes, our hearts?

There are so many people from so many places with so many stories in our lives. Let’s work towards peace and start asking others, “Will you tell me your story?”.

 Note: Pray for Haiti and listen to the stories there, not just the overwhelming story of tragedy, but the individual stories of the people.