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“Whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer them with love.” — Mahatma Gandhi It happened at our simple and popular community dinner Thursday night. The Seventh Day Adventists served their signature vegetarian “haystacks.” Usually it’s an easy-going, if a little rowdy, environment. That’s how these things often begin—not in lecture halls or debates, but at long tables where people come carrying their fully human selves. John had sat down with a young woman and her

“The vagus nerve is a key component of the neural circuitry that enables us to feel safe enough to connect with others .” — Stephen Porges , renowned neuroscientist who developed polyvagal theory Stephen Porges, a neuroscientist who has spent decades studying how our bodies respond to safety and threat, suggests something both simple and profound: before we can connect, before we can rest, before we can even think clearly, our bodies need to feel safe. I’ve been thinking abou