In different parts of Africa, you will find a Palaver tree. It’s usually large with spreading branches to shelter and shade those who gather below it, making it a tree central to village life. A Palaver tree can be a fig tree, an acacia tree, or— famously—the massive baobab tree. (The baobab is often referred to as the tree of life because it supports myriad life forms in many ways.)

At the Palaver tree, people gather for remembrance and celebration in drum, dance, song, and history; for teaching and envisioning; and to request advice and help. It is also where people gather to negotiate, discuss, and resolve their differences. The welcome of the space is such that anyone may speak and all are viewed equally. In a dispute, the words of a chief and those of a low-ranking citizen are regarded equally: No one is weaker or stronger than his or her opponent. There is no guarantee that a winner will be declared because what happens beneath the reaching arms of the Palaver tree is beyond and outside of the interests of the disagreeing individuals. Those who gather to listen, discuss, and resolve conflict know that the priority is the continued communal life of a people united and at peace.

The reparative truth and reconciliation talks in South Africa, Rwanda, Canada, and other places have risen from this and similar models.

Paul advises us to live our convictions to the honor of God and reminds us that we live and die not to ourselves but to something much bigger. Paul’s reminders empower us to welcome others without judgment. Perhaps the invitation is to gather beneath the outstretched sheltering arms of God with time enough to welcome one another and our own selves without condemnation. Perhaps we will be repaired, and perhaps we will repair.