We’re all aware that there can be different narratives of events or people. Conflicts and crises all over the world have shown us the danger of categorically accepting or espousing a particular narrative without sorting out what is true or false.

In praying about how to be alert to and overcome my own preconceptions, I was reminded of a Bible story about a paralyzed man. As told in the Gospel of Mark (see 2:1–12), this man was brought to Jesus to be healed. He had to be carried, and his friends seemed to do this willingly. Jesus was in a house, and there was a crowd, so in order to get the man close to him, the man’s friends opened the roof and lowered him down. The result: Jesus forgave the man’s sins, and the paralysis was healed.

Dropping a matter-based narrative and going to higher mental ground enables us to heal.