I recently submitted an essay for the NUHA blogging prize . The question I picked was "Most people don't listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply." - Stephen R. Covey. Do you agree? My title was " We Make the Sacred Profane ". Here is the introduction: Covey writes at an interesting time for humanity. While his quote is taken from a book about personal change, it is also written in the context of effectiveness. Effectiveness can be defined differently depending on one’s context, but this essay focuses on two perspectives: One is of the Responder, and the other is of the Understander. These two perspectives can often seem to be opposites, but are in fact interdependent. Read the rest of my essay here . I also submitted an essay back in 2016, titled " The Paradox of Arts Today ".