Cherish Your Enemy’s Story

From I Know We’re All Welcome at the Table, but Do I Have to Sit Next to You?

Listening in an open-hearted way does not mean that you agree with the position that the other is putting forth. You will have opportunities to state your differing convictions at another time. But if we are interested in furthering peace, we can begin by learning to listen to our enemies and our loved ones in such a way that we genuinely cherish their story. That means we encounter the other, not as an opponent to overpower, but as a human being who hurts and hopes just as we do.

Janice Springer, I Know We’re All Welcome at the Table, but Do I Have to Sit Next to You?, p. 45

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