In this era of "cancel" culture and "unfriending" I'd like to advocate for keeping in touch with people who think differently than we do. How often do we listen actively to understand another's POV? Not to find holes in the argument, but to try to see the world from their perspective? How can we use that conversation to measure the distance between our different positions and find a middle ground, a North Star, or a common landmark?
This is not the work of winning a momentary debate, even a series of them. It is trust-building respect. It is temporarily suspending disbelief in order to connect with another. A recent series in The Christian Science Monitor has given me hope, and pause, to build back this trust and respect, one dialogue at a time.
"Haven't I destroyed my enemy when I have made him my friend?" said once our 16th president. His work to stitch back our ruptured Union was left unfinished, and almost undone by his immediate predecessor. But like the field that lays fallow until the nutrients have been restored, progress gone dormant isn't erased. It just waits for the right moment and hands to continue the work.
This is not the work of winning a momentary debate, even a series of them. It is trust-building respect. It is temporarily suspending disbelief in order to connect with another. A recent series in The Christian Science Monitor has given me hope, and pause, to build back this trust and respect, one dialogue at a time.
"Haven't I destroyed my enemy when I have made him my friend?" said once our 16th president. His work to stitch back our ruptured Union was left unfinished, and almost undone by his immediate predecessor. But like the field that lays fallow until the nutrients have been restored, progress gone dormant isn't erased. It just waits for the right moment and hands to continue the work.