Happy Friday,

Love is the only force capable of 
transforming an enemy into a friend
– Dr. Martin Luther King

One morning the drop from the boardwalk to the main beach is a single step. The next morning the same step becomes a jump because waves from the night storm have carved their way beneath the boardwalk. Three days later the end of the walk is buried in new sands brought up by the high tide. The conflict between the sand and the water makes the beach a living entity marked by constant growth.

A classroom that frames the same approach to conflicting forces becomes a vibrant space where students can come together with their teacher to explore their assumptions through open and respectful dialogue. One voice shares a perspective, followed by another voice with a different view of the same topic. The back and forth of talking and listening reshapes the thinking of everyone in the room.

Learning is not about championing a particular truth or defending a particular point of view. Learning entertains the possibility of a third space that emerges when two sides come together with open minds and hearts. Learning challenges us to put fact against conflicting fact to look for patterns, to understand sources, and to suspend judgment. 

Dr. King called for us to come together as a nation, to find ways to bridge the gaps between us, to express love toward one another during difficult times. In many ways he was really challenging us to learn from one another, to see the pain and the suffering beneath the anger and the fear being projected, to listen deeply with compassion, and to shine the light of empathy during the darkest of times.

Our shoreline invites us to reconsider the nature of conflict. I hope this weekend you have the opportunity to listen to someone with whom you disagree, to exercise the patience to resist judgment, and to practice the calm necessary to remain engaged long enough to find some common ground. When understanding, compassion, and empathy fill the emptiness created by fear, anger, and hubris, then we will be able to walk together in the direction of the Dr. King’s dream.

Peace,

Chris