How About, Rather Than

“The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention…. A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words. ”― Rachel Naomi Remen

“And I think that’s what our world is desperately in need of – lovers, people who are building deep, genuine relationships with fellow strugglers along the way, and who actually know the faces of the people behind the issues they are concerned about.”― Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical

Connection rather than correction
Kindness rather than judgment
Empathy rather than criticism
Compassion rather than advice
Belonging rather than excluding
Humanity rather than othering
Listening rather than lecturing
Proximity rather than distance
How about the love
The only action that changes the world, others, self
Plant seeds, cast light, love in action
Transformational

“Perhaps the most important thing we bring to another person is the silence in us, not the sort of silence that is filled with unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal. The sort of silence that is a place of refuge, of rest, of acceptance of someone as they are. We are all hungry for this other silence. It is hard to find. In its presence we can remember something beyond the moment, a strength on which to build a life. Silence is a place of great power and healing.”― Rachel Naomi Remen