One of my favorite job titles was “Spiritual Elder” for a UN NGO – Children of the Earth (COE), a United Nations (UN) Non-governmental organization (NGO). Founded by a visionary educator, Nina Meyerhof, PhD, COE networked young leaders who were committed to positive global change. The UN defines youth as between 15 and 24 years of age, so COE was comprised of young adults leading peace movements in their own countries.
I joined Nina and her youth group at a conference in Arosa, Switzerland when it partnered with a corresponding consciousness conference that included attendees like Jane Goodall. Seventeen youth attended from 14 countries, ranging from Lawrence from Africa, who was born and raised in a refugee camp, to a young man from Thailand, who was in hiding from the military, to Japanese sisters involved in their mother’s Peace Pole manufacturing company.
The years I was involved, Nina was developing / delivering multicultural, spiritual and global workshop models to support spiritual growth and sacred activism. She enlisted me to create the Spiritual Leadership workshop and trainer manuals she piloted in Jordan to a group of Jewish and Muslim peace activists
Nina never mentioned / discussed her personal life – her family, culture, religion… Her communication was focused on the vision in the present and future. Through direct questioning, she reluctantly shared that her upper class family left Germany for Switzerland in the 1930’s. Most likely of Jewish heritage, she transcended all individual / cultural identities and definitions to connect to a universal spirit, embody interfaith leadership, and lead a global mission.
An intense, spirited, relentless whirlwind for multicultural and interfaith understanding, Nina has been personally active in over a dozen countries, She has received numerous awards including the Mother Teresa Award and the Seeds of Peace Award.
REFLECT:
How do you identify / define yourself?
How does your self-definition support / limit your conscious leadership?
Would you be comfortable defining yourself differently? If so, how?
In complete contrast, Taysir (Tass) Abu Saada relies on his personal and cultural identity to create a peace mission. He carries his past into his present on a mythical journey — from being a Palestinian (PLO) sniper with a mission to kill a jews, to being a conscious peace maker for his own people.
When the state of Israel was founded in 1948, Tass’ father was an orange grove manager in partnership with a Jewish landowner.Neighboring Arab nations’ leaders ordered Palestinians to “step aside” – to leave Israel – so the Arabs could annihilate the Jews without harming their own people. The Jewish grove owner counseled Tass’s father not to act hastily, and offered his family protection. But the father chose to temporarily vacate for the Arab victory, after which he would return. That victory never came.
After living in a squalid Gaza refugee camp for three years, Tass’ family was moved by the UN to Saudi Arabia. They had a modest three bedroom house and extended family nearby, and the family men opened an auto garage. Tass’s father’s skills with auto body repair earned King Saud’s business. So they prospered.
Nonetheless, Tass suffered discrimination. His father’s advice was, “Even when they beat us, we must bear it without revolting against them”. Under this directive, Tass’s rage smoldered, and he became a constant “bad boy” who joined Fatah, Yasser Arafat’s rebel movement. He became a sniper and soldier of destruction, joining the mission to kill all Jews.
With his political connections, Tass’s father manipulated him out of the Fatah, and Tass emigrated to America. He learned English, married to get a green card, learned the fine-dining restaurant business, and became the head of the Los Angeles Westin Century Plaza restaurant. After a major setback, an acquaintance began telling him of a connection to God, and if he wanted to experience lack of fear, he would have to love a Jew.
Understandably, Tass was resistant to the message
As his friend read from the Bible that “the word was God,” Tass began to shake, as it said the same in the Qur’an. Falling to his knees, he saw and heard a talking light which spoke scripture to him. Believing Jesus was speaking to him, he cried out for forgiveness, and “a heavy load went flying off my shoulders. A sense of peace and joy rushed into my heart”.
Tass became guided by the Christian principle to love your enemies. He put all his trust in his new Christian Lord, and prayed for the Jews. He toured the US, speaking at Mosques and asking for forgiveness at Jewish Synagogues and Christian Churches. His ministry led him back to the war zone of Gaza, his birthplace and site of many military experiences. He and his wife established Hope Kindergarten to plant seeds of hope and neutralize hatred to teach Muslim children to love Jews.
His recommendations for peace are:
- We must understand that the house of Ishmael has a Divine purpose And God has a plan for our common good – Jews and Arabs.
- We must understand that the real bone of contention is not land: it is Arabs are still trying to get recognition.
- We need to see Jesus is the Living Word for all
- We need to begin to feel each other’s
While Nina works globally and expansively, Tass works locally and specifically.
Both feel spiritually guided: both feel compelled to act. And both have been honored for their effective humanitarian leadership.
APPLY:
List the pros and cons of having a global identity as a leader and a regional identity as a leader.
Then define yourself as a leader – global, regional, cultural, specific to a cause…
List the pros and cons of your leadership definition.
Conscious Education, Nina Meyerhof, Children of the Earth.
Pioneering Spiritual Activism, Nina Meyerhof, Children of the Earth.
Once An Arafat Man, Tass Saada, Tyndale House Publishers, 2008.
