Common Ground

We all view objects similarly. A cube appears to all as a cube. A ball appears to all as a ball. When we look up during the day we see the sky and what is in it, our sun, clouds, clearness, birds and planes in flight. When we look up during the night we see the stars and the moon. When we look down we see the earth we are standing on. Our view while walking is what is before us and as we turn looking back, we see where we have traveled from. This is all Common Ground! That which we agree on.

Where is it that we part in our view of things? Is it from what we are taught? Is it from how we are raise from childhood? Is it from our piers and associations? Is it from time and our personal experience traveling through it?

No matter what the influence, we grow to see things differently more and more. It is like launching two rockets into space simultaneously, one from one point and another from a foot away. By their distance from one another and the curvature of the earth, they begin to gain in distance from one another as they advance in their trajectory.  

We might hold our views to be right while others do not. Does this mean we are in fact right and others are wrong in what they believe? No! It means that by virtue of our individual nature we travel different trajectories or paths moving forward. Some of us veer left, some veer right and some continue straight ahead, all moving forward overall.

We should consider listening to each other and engage in dialog to learn the others view. No one view is perfect. No one view is totally correct. No one view is absolute in wisdom and understanding. Individuals willing to try and understand the others view are responsible and reasonable.

We are in a battle for our soul today. Evil is real and is clouding our minds with distractions and distrust. Many today reject reason and openness to those holding opposing views. This closes minds to further develop while moving forward. A closed mind is a static mind and cannot engage in meaningful and fruitful dialog. 

Dialog and the willingness to engage in it without losing ones control to listen, is holding us from what God intended for us, to live, to love, to laugh and to learn with and from one another.