End the Divide: The Surprising Power of Ordinary People to Fix What Went Wrong (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798825523446)

Are we doomed to hate each other? Or can good people end the divide?

In this book, you will discover a carefully thought out, fresh, original, Christian approach to ending polarization. If you believe it's not okay for good people to hate each other, this book is for you.

This isn't about changing how you vote. This is about the surprising power you have to fix what went wrong.

Hi

I'm Dwight, and I have a thought experiment for you.

For a moment, let's just imagine you and I are on opposite sides of the divide.

(I don't know if we are, but let's just pretend.)

And...

...let's also imagine that God says to you and to me, "I'm not gonna let either one of you into heaven until you two become friends."

(I'm not saying that's how things work. This is a thought experiment, okay?)

So God just barred the door to heaven until you and I figure out how to become friends, until you and I end the divide that separates us.

How are we going to do it?

Any ideas?

It's not easy, is it?

Yet if we could peek into heaven, we would find all kinds of people who were once upon a time on opposite sides of the divide. Now they're best buddies.

How did they do it? How did they overcome those huge differences to become such good friends?

I've been pondering this for a long time.

And it occurs to me that you and I ask ourselves a certain set of questions as we navigate toward friendship with each other.

For example: Am I safe with you? Can I be myself with you? Are you going to attack me for who I am and what I believe? How much of myself can I safely share?

Of course there are many other questions, but that gives you an idea.

Anyway, as I thought through this and prayed through this, I came up with some answers.

You and I have this surprising power to fix what went wrong. But wrapping our minds around this power that we have-it takes a little time. I can't explain it in a paragraph or in a one minute video. I really needed a whole book to show you what I discovered.

I want to share this book with you because I think you'll be amazed at what you have the power to do.

Tidbits

One day I was sitting in a restaurant talking with someone who was loudly proclaiming his disgust that people of color "play the race card." I'm not going to try to sway you Right or Left with this story, but it opens up an amazing insight into human nature and it helps to explain why the methods people use to end the divide simply don't work.

Can you get sued in heaven? If not, why not?

I had this really neat encounter with a homeless woman one day. It lasted less than 60 seconds, but I think I'll remember it forever.

In 1999, my dad died unexpectedly. No warning. But a week before he died, he taught me something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

In the book, I outline a step-by-step process for ending the divide.

What others are saying

Dwight provides a road map for ending the divide. Mark Meador

Bravo! I loved it. The seven steps flow seamlessly from one to the next, elegantly paving a path to a better world... Alan Steacy

End the Divide has given me more than just hope that the divide can end, it gives us the way to do it. Neil Mathweg

Thumbs up for this must read. J.P. Olson