"..at the core of everything is the belief that every person believes they are decent and good. We are all genuinely trying to live well and to make decisions for the right reasons and because we believe those decisions make the world better."
Hello Friends,
Well, I don’t have to tell you that these are heavy days. Regardless of your personal politics, you’re probably physically drained, emotionally exhausted, and simply worn out from arguing right now. I’ve spoken to hundreds of people who are looking for rest and relief. Many of you are grieving too; not just the election results on Tuesday, but the things that you may have lost in the months leading up to them. I know lots of you have severed friendships, left churches, and disconnected from family on social media. It’s been a great deal of mourning to experience at one time, and likely the coming year will only continue to test the limits of our relationships and our government and our personal spiritual beliefs. But this is worth it.
It’s no secret that I’m fairly opinionated and that I speak directly and honestly into the places where I feel injustice is taking place. Hopefully that why the writing resonates with you in some way, even when our causes and views don’t align. As a person of faith, I also try to view everything in my life through the lens of that faith as best I can. These things often place me in the center of extremely passionate conflict, but at the core of everything is the belief that every person believes they are decent and good. We are all genuinely trying to live well and to make decisions for the right reasons and because we believe those decisions make the world better. We all live with blind spots of background, experience, prejudices, privileges, and fears that don’t allow us to see everything clearly or to operate objectively or to notice our own hypocrisy or flaws.
I try to keep this core truth even as I am vehemently disagreeing with someone. As you engage with one another on the blog and on my social media pages and elsewhere, I hope you’ll try to remember it too. The people you are interacting with have a path and a road and a story that is as important and meaningful and relevant as yours is. There is an incredibly diverse community here, and that is as important as it is difficult. The messiness is impossible to avoid, but the hope is that we can persevere through the mess, and try to find something productive and redemptive in the process; something that transcends political affiliation, religious worldview, and any other distinction.
So take care of yourself, get some rest, allow yourself to be renewed by whatever gives you life (faith, family, music, exercise, nature, art, food). And keep fighting for the things you believe in while also fighting not to forget the humanity of those who disagree with or oppose you. They’re probably more similar to you than you realize.
Whatever your politics, be encouraged today. |
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