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“You can’t get there from here.” We might smile at that punch line illustrating the impossibility of a certain route to get us to a desired destination. Sometimes I’ve felt depressed in wondering if our nation is on course of not being able “to get there from ‘here.’” The “here” being our polarization, and the “there” being a civil and respectful dialogue that seeks the common good.

At those moments, it helps me to think about the old adage from the Tao Te Ching, “The journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.” The steps we can take often are not dramatic ones, and staying in dialogue is painstaking for all of us.

But is the

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