Danny Reding

A few years ago, I was writing out remarks for a wedding where I would be officiating and casually asked Lynn, “what would you say is important for a happy marriage?” She paused, but only briefly, and said, as if she had been preparing for this moment for quite some time, “Be nice (brief pause) Work it out. (another brief pause) Get over it.” Whatever I had in mind to write next faded in the light of her insight. I sat, silent, leaned back from my desk and thought, “I’m gonn

First, a disclaimer. I’m not advocating drinking any brandy. I hope you don’t feel misled. The question comes from something I read by Michael Novak who, in describing some rather difficult conversations in which he was engaged, said, “It takes several cases of brandy before you can understand someone well enough to disagree with them.” His point? It often takes many conversations before we truly understand one another, especially when the topics are difficult and controv