Sweet Fruit from the Bitter Tree
61 Stories of Creative & Compassionate Ways out of Conflict
Enjoy these fascinating stories of how real people dealt with conflict situations in unusual and creative ways. Many bring tears to the eyes as they open our hearts and bring us a deeper appreciation for what is possible. The solutions each person finds are unique — no two are exactly the same — so they keep us on the edge of our seats through the last story. There are no recipes, no set of steps — just raw experience as it unfolded, how each person came face-to-face with a challenge and found a way to meet it.
Some of the stories are intensely moving, some funny, some startling or surprising. Some are in ordinary circumstances much like we all face — a ranch, a local restaurant, or a back yard. Others take place between people in dark alleys, on a psych ward, in a jail, or in the midst of international conflict or war. Includes stories from Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, Marshall Rosenberg (founder of Nonviolent Communication), Colonel Christopher Hughes, and Milton H. Erickson, plus people like you and I.
“As a sage once said, ‘God invented men and women, because God loves stories.’ The stories compiled by Mark Andreas in Sweet Fruit from the Bitter Tree, tasted one by one, each morning or evening, can transmit real-world reminders about how changing our behavior can change the behavior of others — and that the right words, used skillfully and with heart, can turn
a life around.”
— Dan Millman, author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior and The Journeys of Socrates
“In the immortal words of songwriter Nick Lowe: What’s so funny ’bout peace, love and understanding? This book is a charming and moving book about peace, love, creativity and understanding. I predict that you will be inspired by the stories in this book. One of them may even save your life someday.”
— Bill O’Hanlon, featured Oprah guest and author of Do One Thing Different
“What a wonderful book this is — truly exceptional. The stories are so varied, so profound, so fun and surprising. The result is a sense of possibility awakened. If these ‘ordinary people’ can turn a tense or scary situation into harmony and peace, couldn’t the rest of us do that too? Sweet Fruit from the Bitter Tree subtly instructs us in the fine arts of possibility and peacemaking, as we savor its beauty and grace.”
— Dr. Pamela Gerloff, Founder of The Global Possibility Project, co-author of Dignity for All: How to Create a World without Rankism (Berrett-Koehler)
“There’s an old saying that some conflicts are so difficult that only a story can heal them. Mark Andreas has done us a great service with this collection of extraordinary stories that have this inspirational quality.”
— William Ury, co-author of Getting to Yes, author of The Power of a Positive No
“The stories in this book can teach you more than any academic course or workshop. They are not ‘case studies;’ they are life itself.”
— Mark Gerzon, President of Mediators Foundation, author of Leading Through Conflict (Harvard Business School Press)
Introduction
Closing
Afterword
About Mark Andreas
Index
Mark has been gathering these stories of peaceful conflict resolution for the past 7 years, interviewing people with a story to tell, recording these interviews and and then writing up these stories for the book. To this he’s added a number of wonderful stories others have written, but which in most cases have not been accessible or well-known, to create this unique and meaningful book.
Mark received his undergraduate degree in Peace and Global Studies at Earlham College, after which he got two years of hands-on experience in conflict mediation and leadership as a counselor/trip-leader for the Monarch Center for Family Healing. He was in charge of facilitating groups of “troubled” youth on a round-the-clock basis both in individual therapy and group process during three-week-long backpacking expeditions throughout the western United States.
Mark currently offers individual sessions assisting people in achieving life-goals and resolving limitations using NLP and other methods for personal transformation and development: www.markandreas.com. He also continues to explore the realms of conflict and community through his Science Fiction and Fantasy writing. His first novel, Storysong, is due to be published early in 2012: www.storysongandreas.com. Mark lives in Boulder CO.
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Order now in paperback through Amazon.com or direct from the publisher Real People Press.
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Coming soon for Amazon Kindle and other eBook readers. Expected publication date: December 7th, 2011. Please check back for details.