Strong Enough for Conversation
© Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Here's what I believe: we are strong enough to be who we are. There's nothing less than the world at stake, and toward that vital task, I'm done making my advocacy about trying to change minds. Instead, I'm speaking my truth, and if it changes minds, fine.
So, when someone I love challenges me, I have to decide if that's a conversation worth having. If they're asking me how I feel, then I'll participate. If their goal is to tell me my feelings are illegitimate, they're not really my friend. As we learn in Pirkei Avot (an ancient Jewish text): "Love that is conditional won't last. Love that is unconditional will last."
Perhaps some of the arguments we've been in are not actually conversations, nor affirming. We should be speaking our truths, not debating, if we want to be part of the conversation our broken world truly needs.