11/01/2025
A Peace of Advice
Perspective
There is a chair sitting in the middle of the room. I'm standing at the front of it. You're standing at the back of it. Right now, from my perspective, what I am seeing is absolutely true. Likewise, what you're seeing from your perspective is absolutely true. But if we both took one step toward each other, those two perspectives would change, ever so slightly. And if we took another step toward each other, our perspectives would change a little more. Right now, neither of us is willing to budge. We've forgotten that the chair is made from the same wood and fabric-the same material, held together by the same glue, if you will. But taking steps toward each other gives us an opportunity to see the perspective of the other. It gives us the opportunity to see what we've missed, by showing the things the chair has in common. Like four legs instead of two, or part of the front and back that each of us saw at first. And though our .perspectives and beliefs may still differ, we can at least begin to see and try to understand what the other side sees. We can at least see some things we both see in common. We might begin to see that we don't have to give up our core beliefs to find common ground. If we would step toward one another on purpose rather than walking away on purpose, perhaps we would be able to work together from that common ground and not further dived ourselves and break the chair apart in the process. I have been as guilty as anyone at looking at only the front of the chair. But there is a whole chair. It was beautifully crafted to withstand differences. But it cannot survive if we can't all see it from a perspective that includes the whole chair. I believe that is still possible if we would all swallow our pride and suffer a little humility. We are all wrong sometimes. We are all guilty sometimes. Blaming each other is not the answer. Finding and working from the common ground is. I have allowed myself to become so offended at some of the things I see on social media. I have actually forgotten that I liked you just fine before I knew your politics and/or religion. And though I still don't agree with a lot of what you believe, I still like you just fine. We really all just want the same things. That by itself should be common enough ground to try to get it right.
