the lost art of conversation

As I sit here tonight at the kitchen table with Zach Slay and Sarah, I am reminded of the old art of conversation. We have been sitting here for the past four hours just talking and talking. From Jim Jones and The Peoples temple, to Zach telling us about his time in Europe, to cellphones, to watching video on you tube of "The Do" who was the cult leader of the Heavens Gate group who "drank the koolaid" waiting for the comet" to get them. We have talked about so many things. One thing that we hit on was the Christian world today and the overwhelming feeling that the art of talking to people has been lost. It is easy to tell someone that they are wrong. It is easy to tell them why you are right and why you could not be wrong. It is easy to speak your peace with deaf ears and then turn around with your held held high and walk away feeling a sense of self worth. But what a challenge to stick around and hear someone else out, and to share your thoughts and to be shared to. This is something that we have lost, I feel like we have come to a point where if you have a different point of view you are now a heretic. I was reading a book today that talked about how the Evangelical world has been spending to much time working on fixing other people and telling them why they are wrong, and it needs to take a moment to look in the mirror and do some reflecting of its own. The Church cannot change people, Love powered by Jesus changes people.