We have set out on what many would consider to be an arduous journey.In the midst of heated political and cultural polarization, can we say anything about the world today – political questions, economic structures, and what should be our guiding sources of orientation – without hunkering down into ideological camps?
Our Beginnings
The Focolare Movement emerged during an intense global crisis – the ruins of World War II.
Within her own family, with a socialist father, a partigiano brother, and a traditional Catholic mother, Focolare founder Chiara Lubich learned to navigate sharp political differences. Huddled in the shelters, she and her friends understood that a lifestyle based on the gospel value of love could guide their response to the concrete needs of their neighbors.
We may all agree that love is the answer, and, within the Focolare Movement, we are even more deeply committed to living love in our daily lives. But we still find ourselves struggling with different views on politics, economics, environment, within the movement, and with our friends, relatives and colleagues.
We looked to propose a method for holding and working through our disagreements and a shared vision of the unity of the human family – the unity that Jesus prayed for, the unity for which Chiara Lubich gave her life, her every breath.
Thus, in 2020, the Focolare Forum of Dialogue and Culture was born.
The Forum for Dialogue and Culture: Our Goals
Listen Deeply
Create conditions so that we can slow down enough to listen deeply to each other. While we are together, let’s practice the art of listening to understand, rather than to debate, or even just to get our own point across.
Share a Vision
Bring together those who work on a grassroots level with those engaged in academic reflection and business and economic life. Unlock the transformative power of letting our insights be nourished by the dynamic interaction between the dimensions of concrete live experience and in depth reflection on that experience.
Work Together
Create and nurture spaces where we can work together on shared projects for the good, even across our political differences – and the Economy of Communion is one shining example of this.
Be Young
Let the questions of the young, their urgency, way of working and seeing be a driving creative force in what we do together. Let them design the conversations and interactions that will be most fruitful for creating the world that will, in a very short time, be very much in their hands.
How do you create a shared vision?
But how about the ideas? How do we get some traction on a shared vision for what kinds of ideas and values will inform our political, social and economic structures?
Our recommendation is to go slow, in order to get beyond the superficial, with the patience that lets ideas simmer for a bit. But at the same time, let’s also keep our eyes peeled for the transformative power of some big ideas that the spirituality of unity offers.
Use the lens of the Spirituality of Unity
The Forum: Creating a Hearth for the Human Family
We hope that all of this adds up to a hearth – Focolare means hearth – a family fireside, a space to come together for warmth, joy, support, insight into the world and relationships around us.
To get us started on the journey, each year we invite people from around the nations to our workshop, ‘A Hearth For The Human Family’, to share their ideas and effort to work for healing over cultural challenges, divisions and injustice in our world.
Our hope is that each of us can experience a true hearth at these workshops and beyond them, where we welcome and listen to each other with open hearts, and where we can give value to the contribution that each person brings.
How Can I Learn More
- Register for the 2021 Hearth for the Human Family Virtual Workshop
- Read ‘The Power of Practice: 2020 Hearth for the Family Workshop in The Living City Magazine
- Contact us at hearthhumanfamily@focolare.us
We welcome the chance to further world unity, one relationship at a time!