{"id":12903,"date":"2022-09-04T00:24:42","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T04:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=12903"},"modified":"2022-09-04T09:18:14","modified_gmt":"2022-09-04T13:18:14","slug":"im-back-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=12903","title":{"rendered":"I’m back!!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Once again, we have concluded our annual, superb Guest Writer Series. Thank you first to our articulate writers for sharing their experience and expertise. Thank you, also, to each of you, for reading and pondering their perspective. Remember that we never suggest here that we must all agree. In fact, it\u2019s quite the contrary. We believe we are sharpened by the words and wisdom of other people. And most definitely, by the un-<\/em>likemindedness \u2014 or at least by those who run in different circles than self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve witnessed some troubling things during my time away. Don\u2019t get me wrong \u2014 it\u2019s no doubt been a refreshing, life-giving necessary respite. Intentional rest is a prudent practice, friends, one I\u2019m afraid our culture doesn\u2019t encourage or celebrate nearly enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But one of the more solidifying observations in my time away as we watched multiple current events unfold, was the growing number of people who no longer recognize that they can gain wisdom from the person who believes differently than they. In fact, sadly, with some of the more contentious decisions as of late, I\u2019ve heard some really loud voices ostentatiously declare that, \u201cIf they think that way, then they are @^%#$!#&*^#!!\u201d (insert derogatory character judgment of choice there).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s it, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If someone thinks opposite of us, their character is off\u2026 as if only one of us ever has the ability to err in our reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We allow ourselves to conclude that because another person believes as they do, that they are either (a) inhumane, (b) stupid, or (c) something worse. And once we can conclude they are \u201cworse\u201d \u2014 meaning really, \u201cworse than me\u201d<\/em> \u2014 we can justify not only not listening to them but also demonstrably squelching their voice\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t deserve to have a voice!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And just like that we\u2019ve become arrogant\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judgmental\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And maybe also worse\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friends, we can\u2019t encourage enough how important it is to listen to other people. Sit with them. Be fully present. Hear their story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years I\u2019ve taken advantage of the opportunity to sit down with various ends of various perceived spectrums \u2014 from the most Covid protectionists to the anti-vaxxers\u2026 those who support Roe\/those who don\u2019t\u2026 those who love Trump\/those who hate him\u2026 those who support Biden\/those who are convinced he has definite dementia\u2026 etc. etc. etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I walk into those conversations, my desire is to seek to understand. \u201cTell me your story,\u201d we say\u2026 \u201dSincerely share the unfolding of your perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We each have a story. There\u2019s a reason we think like we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we are present long enough to listen to the story of another, it\u2019s not that the goal is to change one of the respective opinions we each already possess; that\u2019s not it. Listening to another doesn\u2019t need to change our opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But sitting down and showing respect to another by sincerely listening gives us opportunity to grow in our compassion. Compassion for the heart of someone other than self is a beautiful, moral, and ethical response. It is clearly wiser than any arrogance, judgment or something worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence, as the Intramuralist graciously surges forward this fall in our continued respectful dialogue, let us each be known to be a person marked by their compassion, especially for the un-likeminded. Remember: we don\u2019t have to all agree; such would be a ludicrous expectation. But there is no wisdom in treating any select one poorly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So grateful to be back. We\u2019ve got things to talk about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once again, we have concluded our annual, superb Guest Writer Series. Thank you first to our articulate writers for sharing their experience and expertise. Thank you, also, to each of you, for reading and pondering their perspective. Remember that we never suggest here that we must all agree. In fact, it\u2019s quite the contrary. We … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “I’m back!!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12903"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12926,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12903\/revisions\/12926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}