a week away - part 2 - understanding

A notion that kept recurring during my time in Perth is as much a ‘spiritual truth’ as anything I would wish to name as such. Sitting with hopes and stories of non-violence from Northern Ireland; the Muslim world; inter-faith discussions; the Western triumphalism existing under the guise of ‘security’; and of course the cultural tribalism of rival football teams, raised questions of tolerance, listening and understanding.

Yet the one point that kept crashing at my consciousness was the notion that dialogue, understanding, and listening cannot/should not be entered into if the hope is to change the other parties persuasion. Secretly, I suspect that much of our hope (or maybe its been mine!) in ‘listening’ is based on the premise that our or my truth will win out. That through understanding, patience, compassion and empathy my truth will prevail. I suppose this is as much implicit as explicit. Yet, the spiritual ‘truth’ that prevailed over this week is that an ideology, theology or rhetoric however fundamentalist, oppressive or abusive, is not mine to challenge or change through the guise of listening. Yet dialogue, conversation and listening is a process for my own change and transformation. I suppose I can but only seek to further understand another’s position, and therefore perhaps come to identify with journey that brought them there. Its not an approach that condemns those whose behaviour I don’t like, but much more costly – an approach that requires me to try to understand why they may have come to where they are, without agenda or pretence …

hmmm ouch!