How can you bridge the human divide? Find out in this article excerpted from The Peace Seed (c) 2010.

No matter where you call home, what faith walk you profess or what has happened to you, you have much in common with every other person on earth.
You are a curious creature made mostly of water with some carbon compounds thrown in for good measure, sharing a ride on a ball with molten lava at its core held together by a tenuous layer of gas kept in place by forces nobody can fully comprehend.
Beyond those physical ties, you are bound with all other people by the stickiest human glue of all--storytelling. Religious/spiritual traditions, cultural legends, folklore, family history, “the olden days”, what happened today, and your dearest dreams are but a few of the kinds of stories that shape you.
With so much uniting us, why all the strife? Who would curse a redwood tree for not being a sparrow or tell a river it is not worthy unless it is an ocean?

It is all too easy to dismiss the stories of others (the life experiences). Life has become so full of distractions that listening is the next dinosaur to fall extinct—unless you cultivate the art on purpose.

Stories are the bridge that:
1. Satiate your natural curiosity
2. Help you understand people
3. Empower both the teller and receiver

Share how hearing/telling a story has bridged the human divide for you using the reflection questions online.