Blog by Associate Conni Dubick, OPA[/caption]
Dave Isay is the Founder and President of StoryCorps, which has a simple tagline - "listening is an act of love." In an email message on November 10, 2016, he stated: "The presidential election of 2016 highlighted the enormous divisions in our country. We don't hear each other, we don't listen to each other, we don't know each other. Through listening to each other's voices, we can make America a better more compassionate nation - one story at a time."
Then the online video-clip for that day featured Albert Sykes and his nine year old son, Aidan, in a moving segment as Aidan interviewed his father. It was a message of shared love that concluded with an artful image said by Albert to his son. He mentioned that an old proverb says that babies are born with fists closed, but they learn to unfold their hands to share their gifts with the world. He inferred that we must see the gifts unfolded and freely given to us by others and we must take the time to hear and listen and know each other.
Perhaps as God's people we can embrace the StoryCorps intention and that we, too, continue every minute of the day to remind ourselves and America of a simple truth: "That every life and every story matters equally and infinitely." 