In every walk of life and in every corner of the world knowledge is communicated through language. There are languages of math, science, music, and culture. There are languages of faith and religion as well as politics and economics. There are also languages of nations, communities, households, and relationships. Within languages there are dialects or words and expressions that are peculiar to a smaller number of people. I believe that every heart has its own language and peculiar dialect which must be interpreted to others for communication and understanding to occur.
Whenever we meet people, we tend to exchange experiences in order to establish a common language of communication. Although we may have common cultural experiences, each of us have unique dialects or patterns of communicating which are as distinctive as our fingerprints. Just as we would look for ways to understand and communicate in a foreign country with someone who speaks another language, we must discipline ourselves to understand and communicate with those whose experiences are foreign to ours. As we tell our stories, and listen to the stories of others, we become better communicators and interpreters of a vast range of human experience, making it possible to bridge the divisions which threaten to destroy our world.
We need more interpreters! We need more people who can translate their own experiences into a language that can be understood by those whose experiences are foreign to their own. We need interpreters who are willing to listen to, understand, and translate the experiences of those who speak different cultural, emotional, spiritual, and experiential dialects so that we can establish communication and avoid sudden destruction.
Perhaps like a seasoned couple that has been married for many years is able to finish each other’s sentences, read each other’s body language, and read each other’s thoughts, perhaps we can become skilled interpreters so that we, like them, no longer need to wound each other anymore.