A poetic reflection on the state of our national, political non-discourse…
Whenever
we humans talk past one another
(when speech, with cruelest errancy, takes flight from lips
ungoverned by the charity of civility),
whatever
the topic
(whatever
the relationship),
for, myopic,
we cannot
and will not
see beyond of our points of view
(our opinions being
our beginnings
and our endings)
to acknowledge that others (e’en, especially our opponents) have views,
too;
then we will not
and cannot
see
“the other”
as we see
ourselves;
as human,
but rather as demons.
Whenever this happens
all lose
and none is safe.
occasional observations of mind and heart, soul and spirit 
Thank you Paul for this reminder to look at the “other” as ourselves and not as demons. I believe in order to do that, we have to listen with our “whole heart”… it’s the only way to feel our way to a different perspective.
Much love!
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Paul, your gentle request that we truly and fully see “the other” is welcome in its timeliness. I am often looking outward at those who differ from me in opinion and finding that it is easier to see Black and white instead of shades of grey or humans as flawed and variable as I am. Pray for me and my ability to see others as fully human.
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“Whole-hearted” listening, yes, that’s it; which I will define as seeing you first as not “the other” (though you, whoever you are, as one different from me, always, in some sense or senses embodies “otherness” to me), but rather as “another” human, just as I am, which encourages me to accept your point of view as not something strange, foreign, alien, but rather, well, human…
Once I arrive at this place of acceptance, then I am encouraged to listen until I understanding why and how you arrived at the position you hold and, thus, to understand you. This takes work…constant work. Nevertheless, I’ve learned that the alternative of keeping you at arm’s length may seem the safe course, but often ends up as life-defeating, for I confine myself to a small prison of security absent of the challenge of change and growth.
Love
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