Letter from the Publisher

Peace, practically.

IT’S NO SECRET THAT WE LIVE IN A RATHER POLARIZED society these days. Differences in politics, wealth, ethnicity and you name it, seem to divide people to a far greater degree than in the recent past. Conflict seems inevitable as opposing ideas clash around us constantly. Unfortunately, most of the time conflict arises it is met simply with violence, either physical or verbal. There’s an organization in Ocala now that hopes to make conflict resolution one that falls under the purview of peacebuilding instead of retribution: Circle Up. This month’s Charity Spotlight feature, the Circle Up Center for Practical Peacebuilding is perhaps the most unique organization we have been able to publicize in this magazine. I also hope it turns into one of the more successful ones.

Cindy Grimes and Karin Dean are two local women who obviously care about their community, but even more so I think care about the human condition as it pertains to human interactions and relationship building. The two share an instinct that even people who are diametrically opposed to one another on a vital idea may find common ground leading to a peaceful and just outcome.

As is noted in the story, peaceful conflict resolution is especially vital for our youth who too often get in trouble and are thrown into a system that does not solve any issues, but more than likely exacerbates them. When our first reaction to a student getting in trouble is suspension or even expulsion, we have started the wheels rolling down a path of delinquency that only grows into a far bigger problem ahead.

With the Circle Up methodology, there is a chance real communication among perpetrators and victims can yield some positive fruit and stave off what Graves calls the “school-to-prison” pipeline. The method of the “Talking Circle” has been around since humans lived in caves, but its utility has been lost on modern man. Circle Up is reviving it and offers an alternative to a way that seems to yield little positive results. Why not give it a shot, then?

WITH THE MONTH OF MAY UPON US, it is time to honor mothers. I am grateful for my mother, Sharon Glassman, for not only giving me life but also for setting me down a proper life path. Mother’s Day is set aside to honor each individual mother, but I also think we should celebrate the institution of motherhood as well.

To give birth, nurture, teach, discipline and eventually send one off into the world is among the most special and demanding things a human can do, and only women can do it. I will never know the feeling of giving birth to a child and have only a slight notion of what the bond between mother and child is. I am not a woman, and as such I can never truly know.

In nature, we have countless examples of the selflessness of mothers in the animal kingdom. Mothers sacrificing themselves to protect their young is the norm, not the exception. It may look a little different, but the same is true among humans. The very act of being a mother is selfless by definition – one has to relinquish so many other things in order to do it well, and the reward is unconditional and unending love. Every mother deserves it; every mother has earned it.

Until next month,

Circle Up Center for Practical Peacebuilding

PHILIP GLASSMAN, PUBLISHER