This article draws upon the works of philosopher Emmanuel Levinas and philosopher-psychologist Eugene Gendlin to suggest that a way forward from the intractable is possible if a 1st Person perspective is utilized. Using a case study from ongoing research with inter-religious groups in Israel, the author suggests a 1st Person approach provides the theoretical and practical basis necessary for us
... [Show full abstract] to explore how ethically sound action can flow from the larger, responsive environment where conflict is found. A 1 st Person approach requires not merely a 'disposition for the Other' but a profound, even radical, new beginning point that prioritizes lived processes. Such exploration, if done locally, yields more than the old approaches and improvements. "I respond before I have done anything," says Levinas. Consider this statement with Gendlin's "interaction is first." Taken together, they open doors into a much deeper and wider layer of human living. They reveal that a radically different kind of ethical humanness and therefore world community is not only possible but also demanded. Face to face God spoke to you on the mountain, out of the fire. (Deut. 5:4)