In The Broken Connection, Robert Jay Lifton described "psychic numbing," explaining that when a threat is too overwhelming to us, we block it out and go on about business as usual. One of the most important pastoral tasks we can undertake is to help people name their fears, tell their stories, and find community.

In Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age, Joanna Rogers Macy suggested that we must go through a process of grieving akin to what Dr. Elizabeth Kubler Ross described in her work on death and dying. We need to do our own grief work, to move from despair to "empowerment" (or, to use a Christian term, "hope"). Macy said that this work is "the psychological and spiritual work of dealing with our knowledge and feelings about the present planetary crisis in ways that release energy and vision for creative response."

As we listen to the stories of those who differ from us, we better understand and appreciate them and the experiences that inform their views. This "story-telling" exercise is not a time to argue about those views or the political conclusions people may have drawn from their experiences. Rather this is a time to sit close, listen attentively, and hear the stories of what it has been like for others to live in a time of terror.

• We have found this most effective in groups of three sitting face-to-face.
  
• All of the groups can meet in the same room, pulling their chairs around.
  
• The leader can give directions at ten minute intervals, ensuring that each person gets to speak.
  
• Before the groups are formed and directions given, some of the leader's own story should be shared as a model.
  
• Obviously the content of the stories will vary depending on the topic to be discussed. We might share our life experiences with terror, or with strangers, or with violence, or with a loss of security.
  
• Invite people to also share how they cope with what they know or choose not to think about. The key is to create a safe environment for people to speak about experiences everyone knows but seldom utters.

At the close of the story telling we suggest a bit of "de-briefing," sharing a few insights gained or questions raised with the whole group.