October 15, 2025
This email series highlights voices of peace from around the world, to help you find yours.
This month’s Voice of Peace is Dan McMaster, a Search for Common Ground donor. For the last four years, he has participated in one of Search’s virtual Common Ground Gatherings, which bring together diverse groups for discussion and trust-building.
In various countries in which I’ve worked and volunteered, I’ve witnessed the real impact of conflict in people’s lives. As an American, I’m now watching our political divide grow deeper by the day, creating enormous tensions within communities. As a peacebuilder, I’m seeking to be mindful of how I engage these conflicts in relationships with others.
It was that desire that led me to create and lead a six-week discussion group for my church this summer called “Cultivating a Healthy Spiritual Political Identity.” The title is a mouthful, but I wanted to highlight how our spiritual life should drive our politics. We explored how politics is impacting our “health” across six categories: civics, emotions, media/social media, relationships, church, and spirituality. Given the state of political discourse, we wanted to discuss how to be healthy in our relationships and within ourselves in the areas of life that politics can impact.
Our discussions sought to center on the how of politics—how our spiritual values are the foundation for our relationships and relational practices—rather than the what of politics—where ideology is the foundation of our political party and policy choices. Rather than letting politics drive our relationships, we want to flip the script and prioritize relationships over politics.
Our conversations were rich and robust. People were open to share their experiences, their hurts, their questions, their ideas, and their struggles. But they also came to listen to different perspectives on each week’s topic. It provided a space where we could slow down and reflect on our thoughts and actions, and maybe through that decide to make some changes. In our discussion group last year called The After Party, most of us had categorized ourselves politically as either cynical or exhausted. The discussions this year gave a place for the cynics to find hope and the exhausted to find rest in relationships.
One participant, Lori, shared about how being part of the group impacted her:
“When I feel a need to discuss news of the day, I can grab likeminded colleagues or friends and commiserate. We are angry! We are right! (We are better than them?!) This can be quite satisfying. Often, though, I fear I’ve traded my short-term needs in return for sending more angst into a world that doesn’t need it. The discussion group gave me the space and structure to have quality discussions with kind people on complex topics. Commiseration and disagreements happened, sure, but so did a lot of laughter and learning from each other. Built into everything was our shared faith. We could help ground each other in those truths, especially whenever the discussion felt too overwhelming. Everyone needs these types of spaces.”
The discussions impacted me too. When I find myself at the end of an emotionally charged political discussion, I ask the person if they felt that I had listened to them and if any of my words or attitude had caused offense. I care about politics and have strong opinions on political issues, but I want to put my faith—and therefore care for the other person—ahead of my political perspective.
In various cultures and faiths, “shalom” and “salaam” are ways to both start and end a conversation. Even in the English language, “peace” can be a greeting and “peace out” a way to say goodbye. I see peace as a through line for a conversation—placing value on seeking relationship and understanding, and deescalating tension in a conversation even when you’re on different pages. Like all of us, I’m still learning how to do that, but these are a few guidelines I’m trying to live by:
- Ask questions and seek to learn. Be genuinely curious.
- Practice humility and own the possibility that your perspective may be missing something or may even be wrong.
- Value relationships over convincing someone that you are right.
- Be open to changing your views, but don’t feel like you need to concede your convictions in order to be a peacebuilder.
- Value diversity. The more you prioritize being with people not like yourself, the more the lines between “us” and “them” become increasingly blurred.
- Even if you can’t find a point of commonality with another person’s politicians, party, or policies, look for common values and reset the conversation from there.
- Accept that one-size-fits-all doesn’t work for relationships when it comes to challenging conversations. Tailor your conversations to the individual and your relationship with them.
- Don’t stereotype “them” as all being the same or all being the extreme opposite of you. Everyone is on a broad spectrum and even at different places on that spectrum based on the issue.
- Limit media and social media consumption. And when engaging in media and social media, search for respected voices across the spectrum.
As I seek to follow these guidelines, I hope that they shape my heart, mind, and actions towards those who think differently than I do. My relationships depend on it.
