Many people continue to suffer from the results of our recent presidential election. They suffer not only from fear of the unknown (and the known!) that lies ahead, but also from the distress of trying to communicate with relatives, friends and co-workers who voted to go forward into the abyss with Donald Trump. I’ve listened to painful descriptions by mothers and daughters who can no longer speak together. Others have to cut short conversations with friends when they hear things like, “He seemed like the best alternative.” When I hear those words, I am awash in a speechless sadness for our country. I’m sad because Trump doesn’t represent the best of anything. I’m speechless because I know the conversation about him as president will be fruitless and frustrating – and potentially the end of a friendship, at least for now. But, I’d like to be able to speak with these people who presently seem to belong to another tribe. Is there a common language that we could converse in more comfortably? Is there a font of wisdom at which we could enjoy a drink together? What would the great philosophers suggest? Here is what Aristotle had to say about friendship and knowledge:  “A friend is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.” “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” “The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.” “All people, by nature, desire knowledge.”         These encouraging ideas lead me to think that perhaps a path to greater comfort with friends who think differently […]