Ruth Krall, "Bearing Witness, Part Two — Speaking Truthfully" (2)

Vincent van Gogh, "The Good Samaritan," original in the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo, The Netherlands, uploaded to Wikimedia Commons for online sharing.

The posting that follows is the second half of Ruth Krall's essay "Bearing Witness, Part Two — Speaking Truthfully." The first part of this essay is here. As that previous posting indicates, this is the fourth in a set of essays Ruth has published discussing what it means to bear witness as one engages in the work of compassionate peacemaking. In this second half of her essay about speaking truthfully as one bears witness, she probes questions about how clinicians and others both safeguard the privacy and integrity of those who have entrusted their stories to them, and, at the same time, handle the professional and moral obligation to prevent harm. Ruth's essay follows:

Ruth Krall, "Bearing Witness, Part Two — Speaking Truthfully"

Vincent van Gogh, "The Good Samaritan," original in the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo, The Netherlands, uploaded to Wikimedia Commons for online sharing.

With this posting, we're nearing the end of Ruth Krall's invaluable, thought-provoking essay series entitled "Compassionate Peacemaking: Healing the World's Wounds One at a Time," with the first part of the series comprised of four essays under the title "Part One: Bearing Witness." This is the fourth essay in the "Bearing Witness" set of essays, and is entitled "Bearing Witness, Part Two —Speaking Truthfully."

I'm posting this final essay in Ruth's essay series in two pieces. The first half of "Bearing Witness, Part Two — Speaking Truthfully." Endnotes begin with xliii because this essay is a continuation of previous essays in the series, the previous one in the series being here and here. Ruth's essay follows:

Ruth Krall, "Bearing Witness: Part One — Paying Attention" (2)

Vincent van Gogh, "The Good Samaritan," original in the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo, The Netherlands, uploaded to Wikimedia Commons for online sharing.

The following posting is a continuation of Ruth Krall's essay "Bearing Witness: Part One — Paying Attention." The first half of this essay appeared in this previous posting. As that posting and others preceding it have noted, this essay is one in a series of essays Ruth has entitled "Compassionate Peacemaking: Healing the World's Wounds One at a Time." Clicking from one preceding essay to the next will show you the entire series posted on Bilgrimage thus far. 

Ruth Krall, "Bearing Witness: Part One — Paying Attention"

 Vincent van Gogh, "The Good Samaritan," original in the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo, The Netherlands, uploaded to Wikimedia Commons for online sharing.

This is the third essay in Ruth Krall's series of essays entitled "Compassionate Peacemaking: Healing the World's Wounds One at a Time." It argues persuasively for an understanding of faithful witness that is based on being fully present inside our life situation and carefully observant of our surroundings. Because this essay is rather long and rich, I'm going to post it in two pieces. What follows is the first half of the essay, whose title is "Bearing Witness: Part One — Paying Attention." (Note numbers begin at xxix because this essay is a continuation of two that preceded it.)

Ruth Krall, "Bearing Witness: The First Step in Reconciliation" (2)

Vincent van Gogh, "The Good Samaritan," original in the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo, The Netherlands, uploaded to Wikimedia Commons for online sharing.

The essay below is the second half of Ruth Krall's essay "Bearing Witness: The First Step in Reconciliation." The first half of this essay is here. This essay is one in a series of essays by Ruth Krall entitled "Compassionate Peacemaking: Healing the World's Wounds One at a Time." Part one of the series, which has the series title "Bearing Witness," consists of four essays. When I introduced you to this series of essays (see the preceding link), I noted that they seem to me very important statements for those who observe the Christian liturgical season of Advent.

In this essay, Ruth writes, "To accept the mission of reconciliation as our vocation means stepping into the politicized position of the margins rather than the more imposing and secure position inside the centers of power." And what does this statement mean, if it does not sum up the logic of God's choice to take flesh in Jesus: what Ruth says about the mission of reconciliation is in key respects a summary of the gospel stories about the birth of Christ. Ruth's essay follows:

Ruth Krall, "Bearing Witness: The First Step in Reconciliation"

Vincent van Gogh, "The Good Samaritan," original in the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo, The Netherlands, uploaded to Wikimedia Commons for online sharing.

As my previous posting stated, I'm privileged to offer another set of essays by Ruth Krall, entitled "Compassionate Peacemaking: Healing the World's Wounds One at a Time." Part one of the series, which has the series title "Bearing Witness," consists of four essays. The essay you'll find below is the first part of Ruth's second essay in the "Bearing Witness" series, entitled "Bearing Witness: The First Step in Reconciliation." The second half of the essay will appear in a day or so after this.

As Ruth's footnote appended to the title of this essay states, she first presented this essay as an invited faculty presentation at the annual faculty retreat of her alma mater Goshen College in 2001. Please note that the footnotes to this essay begin with the number vi because the number sequence begins where notes in the previous essay ended. The first part of Ruth's essay "Bearing Witness: The First Step in Reconciliation" follows. Ruth has dedicated this essay series to her friend and mentor Nelle Morton.