Conversation

I am all about conversation, finding out what someone else thinks and feels, sharing what I think and feel, growing from each other's perspectives and finding reality somewhere in the midst of it all. Jesus dialogued with people, speaking with them more often than preaching to them. He asked questions, told stories, shared insights. People who were genuinely trying to live rightly and get to know Him, He welcomed into the conversation. Those folks with harsh answers and solidified legalisms were chastised, even beating off with whips those who were trying to make a buck on the interaction between God and man. He had his limits - but when someone wanted Him, really went after Him, He stopped, and they talked.

But today, so many times, we close ourselves off to anyone who disagrees. Get shut off and belittled enough, and you don't want to talk anymore. "Agree to disagree" means more than "I agree to let you be wrong" - it means that I can understand that I might not have the whole picture here, that we are better together than apart. And the conversation is necessary to the process and to the journey. It's what we're made for.