The compass

There was a very good man who lived in a place where neighboring towns didn't like each other. He was kind to the people of his town and to outsiders too.

• The foreigner who helped. He told the story of a man who fell hurt on a road. Two very important men from his town walked by and kept going. The one who stopped to help him was a foreigner, from a town nobody liked! He took care of him.
• The woman at the well. One day, very thirsty, he asked for water from a woman from a town his own didn't talk to. She was very surprised. He stayed and talked with her, like with any friend.
• The town that wouldn't let him in. Once, in a neighboring town, they wouldn't welcome him because he was «from the other side». His friends got angry and wanted to get back at them. He told them no, and they went somewhere else.

He didn't care where each person was from. He looked at the person. And he didn't answer mean things with more mean things.

The compass

There was a man who lived in a land full of hatred between peoples. He didn't play that game.

• The foreigner who stopped. He told the story of a man wounded on a road. The respected men of his own people walked on by. The one who healed him was a foreigner everyone despised.
• The village that wouldn't welcome him. A village of the enemy people wouldn't let him in. His friends wanted revenge. He stopped them.
• The foreign officer. An officer of the army occupying his land asked him for help. He didn't ask which side he was on, and he said publicly that he admired his trust.
• The woman at the well. He asked for water from a woman of a people his own didn't speak to. She was surprised. He talked with her for a long time, as with anyone.
• The ear of the man who came to arrest him. One of his friends wounded one of the men who came to arrest him. He said «enough» and healed the wounded man.

He never stopped belonging to his people. But he never let the group hide the person: he talked with those nobody talked to, recognized the good in the «enemy», and stopped violence, even his own side's.

«Us» can be bigger. Fans of a team helped an injured runner far more if he wore their team's shirt than the rival's. But when they thought of themselves as «soccer fans», they also helped the rival. (Levine et al., 2005)

The compass

There was a man who lived in a land full of hatred between peoples, occupied by a foreign army. He didn't play that game.

1. 1

   The foreigner who stopped

   He was asked whom one should treat as a brother. He answered with a story. A man was robbed of everything and left wounded by the road. Two respected men from his own people passed by and kept going. The one who stopped, tended his wounds, took him somewhere safe and paid for his care was a foreigner, from a people his listeners despised. At the end he asked: which of the three acted like a brother?

2. 2

   The village that wouldn't welcome him

   He was traveling and sent ahead to ask for lodging in a village of a people hostile to his own. They wouldn't take him in because he came «from the other side». Two of his friends, furious, wanted to destroy the village. He turned to them, rebuked them, and they went to sleep somewhere else.

3. 3

   The foreign officer

   An officer of the foreign army occupying his land, the enemy for many, asked him for help for a very sick servant. He didn't ask which side he was on: he said he would come. The officer replied there was no need, that his word was enough. He was amazed, and said in front of everyone that he hadn't found such trust even among his own people.

4. 4

   The woman at the well

   Tired from the road, he sat by a well at midday. A woman came to draw water. She was from a people his own didn't speak to. He asked her for a drink. She was surprised: «You, being from over there, are asking me for water?». He didn't leave. He talked with her for a long time, about her life and what mattered to her, as with anyone. She ran back to her town to tell them someone had listened to her.

5. 5

   The ear of the man who came to arrest him

   One night armed men came to arrest him. One of his friends drew a sword and wounded one of them in the ear. He stopped his friend: «Enough». He went to the wounded man, touched his ear and healed him. Even with those who came against him, he didn't let the violence continue.

1. 1

   What they have in common

   He never stopped belonging to his people. He didn't think like everyone else. But he never let the group hide the person.

   • He held up the despised one as the example. In his story, the good one was the foreigner.
   • He didn't return contempt. When he was rejected for being «from the other side», he stopped those who wanted revenge.
   • He recognized the good in the «enemy». He said publicly what he admired in an officer of the army occupying his land.
   • He talked with those nobody talked to. He asked for water and gave his time to a woman from the rival people.
   • He stopped violence, even his own side's. And he healed the man who came against him.
2. 2

   Making «us» bigger can be practiced

   In one experiment, soccer fans helped an injured runner far more if he wore their team's shirt than if he wore the rival's. But when they first thought of themselves as «soccer fans» in general, they also helped the one in the rival shirt. (Levine, Prosser, Evans and Reicher, 2005)

   It was a small group of people, but the idea is powerful: «us» can be bigger than we think. That's what he did.