Pain

I'm back from spending a few days in Tulsa. The workshop was a great event. Terry Rush, Danna T. et al do a remarkable job putting such a big event together. They truly have the spiritual gift of organization. Also, I have to give a shout-out (that's what we say in Detroit) to the Priest family. Not only are they great lunch partners, their hospitality knows no bounds.

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Here's another great snippet from Levine's The Misunderstood Jew (see two posts ago). Towards the end of the book she tells a rabbinic tale from the nineteenth century which recalls a conversation between two neighbors. This conversation serves to remind Christians and Jews that true reconciliation will only happen under one condition . . .

The first said: "Tell me, friend Ivan, do you love me?"
The second: "I love you deeply."
The first: "Do you know, my friend, what gives me pain?"
The second: How can I, pray, know what gives you pain?"
The first: "If you do not know what gives me pain, how can you say that you truly love me?"

"Understand, then, my sons," continues the teacher, "to love, truly to love, means to know what brings pain to your comrade."

. . . true reconciliation happens when we know what "pains" our neighbor.