Conversations may be healthy life giving experiences with others. On occasion they can result in frantic frustration. I just spent a bit of time on the phone with a friend. We talked philosophy and theology. Occasionally we both needed to clarify exactly what we meant by this word or that phrase. The give and take was healthy and in the end we may not have entirely found the same conclusion but we did find the exchange healthy. And, since I tend to be a verbal processor, it gave me a safe space to give voice to some things I have been thinking of late.
Just off the phone I took a quick look at my Google Reader and read Richard Mouw‘s recent piece. Mouw is President of Fuller Seminary. Seems as though a reader (mis)interpreted something he wrote in a Newsweek article. So with great care and grace he replied opening the door to conversation. He wrote,
On both sides of the current angry exchanges over same-sex marriage, there are real people with genuine hopes and fears. It would be a good beginning in working for the common good if we could at least hear each other in talking together about our concerns. The responses to my Newsweek column have convinced me even more that such a conversation is extremely difficult. I for one, however, will struggle against the temptation to retreat into a functional solipsism on the subject. And if Jake is willing to talk calmly, I will even ignore his previous use of the â??aâ? word!
Read the entire post here.