Synopsis
Author sees wounds in the perpetrator as the source of violence. This essay describes the nature and healing of trauma and offers view of health which can move us to listening, forgiveness, compassion and reconciliation.
About the Author(s)
Gene Knudsen Hoffman had careers in theatre, radio, writing, psychology and peace. She joined the Religious Society of Friends in 1950 at Orange Grove Meeting, Pasadena (CA) and later became a member of the Santa Barbara Meeting. She had seven sons and daughters.
Gene worked with the Fellowship of Reconciliation for decades after joining in 1951. From 1983-89 she worked to improve US-USSR relations, seeking to put a human face on the Soviets for Americans. From 1989 her peacemaking efforts involved the Middle East.
Gene wrote Ways Out: The Book of Changes for Peace (John Daniel & Company, 1988), All Possible Surprises (Parallex Press, 1991), and Mideast Puzzle (Pax Christi, 1991) — all of which were forerunners to her Pendle Hill pamphlet No Royal Road to Reconciliation (1995). She helped to arrange Compassionate Listening sessions between Alaskan hunters and fishers and indigenous people through the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). She published over a hundred articles as well as books, poems and pamphlets and gave innumerable workshops and talks about peacemaking.
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #321
