http://www.negotiationlawblog.com/2009/07/articles/mediation/the-cop-the-president-the-professor-and-civil-harassment-mediation/

It was a (nice?) coincidence that the Skip Gates/Officer Crowley/Barack Obama dust-up occurred during the same week in which I mediated civil harassment petitions for the first time. My experience gave me even greater hope than I otherwise might have had that the "beer with the President" would have a positive result AND prove a beneficial "teaching moment" for the nation.

I was taught a few simple bedrock principles more than fifteen years ago upon which my mediation practice (and all other aspects of my life today) is built.

1. I don't have to believe in the existence of a higher power to appeal to my own higher angels.

2. It is enough to PRETEND to have faith - to act "as if" I do - to be the surprised recipient of faith's considerable benefits.

3. Because all of reality is co-created, you only need one person infused with hope to carry everyone else along.

4. If I'm thinking it, I'm praying for it.

So I err on the side of optimism, ask my higher power to allow me to be of service to others, and act "as if" I have faith in a beneficient power with which I can align myself to my own betterment and that of my fellows.

Because I am human and terribly fallible, I do not always live up to these principles but I nevertheless strive to act on them every day. Every day I succeed. And every day I fail. In a dual world, I believe it is enough to transform our experience of one another if enough of us simply lean toward the light.

Whatever else it might be, that is what this whole blog enterprise is actually about. Thank you so much for being a loyal and appreciative reader. You have no idea how important that is for those of us who put ourselves out here in public everyday with little acknowledgement.