-
Conflict: Four Common Misconceptions
I remember attending a seminar about conflict about a dozen years ago. The speaker made the point that conflict in and of itself isn’t good or bad. It is merely an event that must be dealt with. I don’t know if I fully agree with that. Conflict feels pretty awful much of the time, at least to an empathetic person like me who wants everyone to hold hands and sing Kum bah Yah. Another speaker on the same topic held up a dollar bill in the middle of the room. He made the point that each side of the room saw a totally different side of the same thing. Neither…
-
The Pharisees’ Argument: Five Logical Fallacies
The fruitless argument surrounds us these days, permeating all forms of media, the classroom, and even the dinner table. As I was reading in John 9 where Jesus comes into conflict with the Pharisees because He healed a blind man on the Sabbath, I found the arguments hauntingly familiar. Rife with logical fallacies, the arguments of the Pharisees have one goal only: to maintain power at any cost. The story begins with Jesus rubbing clay on the eyes of a blind man and instructing him to wash it off in the Pool of Siloam. Instantly his sight is restored. The Pharisees perceive that given this ability to heal, Jesus could…
-
Four Uncomfortable Truths about Peace
Peace is an essential component of a fulfilling life. Constant conflict spends our energies, wastes our strength, and distracts us from the really good things in life. But we often settle for an imitation of peace rather than the real thing. I often settled for a harmony that was not real because instinctively I knew that real peace would require me to make some real sacrifices. In fact, I have faced quite a few situations in which a genuine accord seemed impossible so I accepted something far less in order to avoid a reality that I did not want to admit to. The real deception, of course, was that I…
Healing Through Art & Words
