Dear Friends,
There seems to be so much blaming, finger-pointing, belittling and shouting going on these days. The ones over there…they are the problem. It’s all their fault. It would all be better if they would just leave or shut up or go away.
But it’s never quite that simple, is it? Maybe politics has always been this way…putting down the other to make yourself look good…stirring up anger towards those who look or act or think differently…telling those who are nervous why they should be scared to death instead of just nervous.
All of which tears us down and tears us apart.
Finding answers to the difficult issues facing us these days requires a lot of hard work if we are to get from where we are to where we would like to be. It means working and talking together instead of blaming the other. It means being in community.
I was reading a couple of articles the other day. The first article held up a mirror reflecting back to us on who we have become: Suspicious, divided, angry, afraid of each other. The second article reminded us (me?) of who we can be, of how much stronger and better we can be together even though we may disagree.
The first article confirmed my discouragement not just with our current presidential campaigns and political partisanship, but right where we live. Somehow permission has been given that when we disagree with someone we have the right to call them names or call into question, in sometimes the nastiest of ways, their character or motives.
But the second article was a reminder of the importance of the fabric of our society. A reminder that I am better when WE are better. A reminder that I am stronger when WE are stronger.
Think about it for a moment. For the vast majority of us we get up in the morning and go to work. We work next to people who may or may not look like us or believe what we believe or share our particular point of view. But we do our best, just as they do their best, to perform whatever our job happens to be. We go home and go to our kids sporting events and we cheer for our children as well as the other children. We volunteer at our schools so our children, and the other children, will have the support and opportunities and supplies they need in order to succeed.
We certainly don’t always agree. But most of the time we figure out how to make our communities work…and our schools work…and our places of worship work.
Yes, there is much that tries to rip apart the fabric that holds us together. All the anger and fear being thrown around makes it harder for the rest of us. So I guess it’s up to us, those of us who get up each day and go to work, to do our part to help hold our communities together.
What do you think? Is that just wishful thinking? Or might WE, beginning with ME, take the first step in doing the hard work of becoming who we would really like to be?
You are loved,
Wayne