There are countries that have walls. And we think, Well we don’t have walls in our country.

And we see militaristic writing on those walls. And we think, Well we don’t have hurtful or hateful messages in our country.

Or we see streets draped in offensive flags. And, once again, we think, Well we don’t have racist or sectarianist flags in our country.

The beautiful thing about the peace and transformation process is that we all need it. Every country. And every person.

In the U.S., we, too, have walls, words, images, flags that cause pain.

We all need to navigate conflict better, to build a longer-lasting peace.

“My life’s work has been trying to make a difference,” said Rev. Dr. Gary Mason who is building a peace and conflict transformation organization after completing his work with the East Belfast Mission and Skainos, a community center in East Belfast. He…