Trustee
Current
Friends Of Anfield
Liverpool
BEACON OF RECONCILIATION FOR LIVERPOOLOur history in Liverpool is culturally unique, born of world conflict, struggle and survival. The headstones in Anfield Cemetery are the book spines for this library of collected local, national and international stories. Laid in our soil is a record of pain and triumph, love and destruction, hope and reconciliation. This sacred ground represents ‘Mans Search for Meaning’, a journey well described by Viktor Frankl in his seminal book of this title. Frankl, a survivor of the Nazi holocaust, spent his career as a psychologist in pursuit of this question of meaning. Satisfying basic need is the foundation to life; creating ‘meaning’ is the foundation to humanity. In Frankl’s words:"Freedom, however, is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast."A Responsibility Foundation has been established to deliver Frankl’s dream, and a 300-foot national monument, the Statue of Responsibility, will be erected within the next ten years.In Liverpool we propose a Beacon of Reconciliation of similar scale to the Statues of Liberty and Responsibility, but as a living exploratory that is more than a single statement or memorial. It will be a place, a neighbourhood, a district, a city, a reconciled, liberated and responsible community. It will be embodied in the fabric and the people of Liverpool. The concept of reconciliation is wide and can be considered at every level from the scale of international conflict, imperialist empire building, slavery, to the lingering issues of discrimination, impoverishment and misunderstanding.