UPDATE James Alison Talk on Reconciliation

Since posting this I have found the full transcript of James Alison's talk in the video below so click here for the link.

This comes on the heel of yesterday's feast of the conversion of St Paul, but I discovered it too late to include it in my post here.
It is a video talk on Reconciliation by James Alison is from a series of talks at Trinity Institute Wall Street New York delivered in 2006, titled "The Anatomy of Reconciliation."  It is 45 minutes long but well worth spending the time on it.

The excellent introduction by Rev Dr Mark Richardson spells out the vital urgent and important work that needs to be done on reconciliation in our divided world, whether it is about polarisation in politics,  the Middle East, moral conflicts between individuals and in our church and community- and intractable problems that can sometimes seem overwhelming even in our personal lives.

James Alison is an original and engaging speaker, but needs a lot of my concentration to keep up with him,so intense and wide ranging is his imagination.
It is something I will need to replay a few times as there is just so much to take in.


It is in the middle and later parts of his talk where he explains the full significance of a personal encounter with God that I found particularly thought provoking and full of inspiration.


He opens up the story of the conversion of St Paul with fresh and profound insights that bring it to life in the here and now and how that can impact on our own lives and how we deal with and respond to conflict.

Click here for other videos from site from other speakers in the series: Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, Miroslav Volf, and Sister Helen Prejean. I haven't looked at their talks yet but I have included a couple of videos of panel discussions where they join James Alison for question answer sessions.

 

James Alison is a Catholic theologian, priest, and author. Having lived with the Dominican Order between 1981 and 1995, he currently travels the world as a self-described itinerant preacher, lecturer, and retreat giver.

He studied at Oxford University and earned his bachelors and master’s degrees and doctorate in theology from the Jesuit Theology Faculty in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

He has lived and worked in México, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, and the United States as well as his native England. Alison is the author of "Knowing Jesus, Raising Abel: The Recovery of the Eschatological Imagination", "The Joy of Being Wrong: Original Sin through Easter Eyes", "Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay", and most recently, "On Being Liked."


This is the video of the panel discussion Part 1



Reconciliation Video Panel Discussion Part 2 


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