Listening

Let us listen to one another,

not merely with our ears,

but with hearts willing to understand.

Do not spend your days counting the faults of others,

nor casting stones of judgment upon their wounds.

For a single act of forgiveness

can heal far more

than a thousand words of condemnation.

Where judgment builds walls,

mercy opens doors;

and where criticism deepens scars,

compassion becomes the hand that helps another rise.