A Rabbi, Priest, And A Minister Walk Into A Bar...

Over the past half decade, I have crossed paths with individuals from all walks of life: focused social idealists, anxiety ridden business professionals, fervent religious worshippers, obnoxious bar flies, sheltered suburbanites, focused athletes, scatterbrained musicians, free-flowing hippies, uptight healthcare experts, superficial fashionistas, romanticized artists,and derelict riff-raff. Personally, I have found it 100% worthwhile to lend an ear and learn what makes these people “tick”. I am not always in full agreement, I am not always in complete opposition, but I am usually fascinated by a description of the metaphorical heartbeat to their existence.

As of late, I have been reflecting on why this seems so critically important to my human experience. Of course there is the obvious: facilitation of socialized customs and development of human emotional bonds. But beyond this, why is this important to me? There is a plethora of anthropological speculation, but for me, the act of observing the world through the wider lens of multi-perspective conversation and communication opens dimensions in life that are both infinitely large and small. For such a simple act, this customized ritual has the potential to invert, expand, or otherwise modify how one may see the world. Does this not seem like true and unequivocal power to anyone else? Power! It’s in your hands and on your tongue! By taking the time and allowing one to fill in the details to that bigger picture, how can we not attain a greater understanding to those with differing opinions and perspectives than our own, one person at a time? Further, it seems to me that understanding is naturally followed by tolerance. It should be stated, however, I do not equate tolerance with total adoption. Adoption, for me, is the boundary between the personable and the personal.

Anyways friend, let us sit down and speak to the myriad of our collective experiences in the very near future.