Love never ends… When the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.” –1 Corinthians 13
We are always changing because our understanding is always incomplete.” –Dr. Olive Hemmings
One of the most important functions of heterogeneous teams is to expand the individual’s incomplete perception and understanding. And one of the most important functions of heterogenous societies is to expand single groups’ incomplete perceptions and understandings.
If none of us in isolation is all-perceiving and all-comprehending, and if even our groups fail to grasp all there is to know, the only reasonable postures for life are curiosity and humility.
I grew up in an ethnic culture that was still unlearning slavery- and colonial-era disincentives for asking questions and questioning authority. I also grew up in a religious subculture that battles the drive to declare itself the One True Church and all other denominations, apostate. In the first culture, where questions meant an attack on authority, curiosity is not always welcome. And in the second culture, some view religious humility as a cowardly cop-out.
But we get to choose tools that help us transcend our biases, notions, and points of view. In the documentary, Enough Room at the Table, the group that convened in the Napa Valley did just that.
Expanding each other’s worlds. Adding to groups’ perspectives. Filling in our gaps. That’s community at its best.