Many of us are so ready to spread our opinions to others, to preach our sermons, to show the world our wisdom; however, at times, we need to step away from promoting our ideas, to tone down our rhetoric. Any noise can get people's attention and temporarily block other thoughts but soon can become irritating and cause listeners to cover their ears.
I remember when it was considered impolite to discuss religion or politics at the dinner table. The obvious reason was that these subjects could start conflict and arguments which would destroy the pleasant atmosphere of a social gathering. Now, I realize one other reason we should, at times, avoid these subjects. Our beliefs can prevent us from interacting and discovering more important facets about each other, seeing what we have in common as human beings, and practicing empathy and kindness no matter how different we are.
Perhaps, we should be more concerned about ideas that go beyond religion and politics. No matter how strong our convictions, we should be more concerned about loving our neighbor and our enemy, about making sure the world survives chaos, hunger, and disease, about how we can practice instead of preach.
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