I recently discovered a trailer for a 2018 documentary that looked sensational. THE PEACEMAKER follows mediator Padraig O’Malley as he moves from one troubled country to another while simultaneously dealing with the agony of his alcoholism. It is a deeply moving and revealing portrait of a man trying to promote peace among others while trying to find it in himself. Unfortunately, I cannot find the actual film.
At one point in the discussion video I found between the subject, the filmmaker, and a moderator, he mentions the word ‘trust’ as the most essential element to foster during his mediations. We have a brief glimpse of him convening a mediation with such a gentle, resonating, Irish authority that all present seem to hang on his every word. I certainly did and I trusted him immediately.
Trust is such an emotive word and yet it is the cornerstone of every successful relationship. We observe in our mediations as the rubble of a ruptured trust is strewn before us. The parties appear only as victims shaped by that broken trust. Their personalities have become warped and re-shaped by its perpetual presence, affecting all aspects of a life previously functioning and productive.
Our goal as mediators is to insert a figurative mesh over the wounds that are laid bare before us as a surgeon does to a hernia in their attempt to bring both sides together and eventually heal while we, in our ongoing attempt to build rapport with our clients, try to help them to establish trust in us as a first step toward rebuilding trust in each other. Such is the interconnectedness of mediation.
After watching Padraig O’Malley in the trailer and discussion which can be viewed here:
I know that I was in the presence of true greatness, and I trust that he will forever be a hero for me to live up to as a mediator and a human being.