We are coming to the close of a very divisive season in the United States. When all is said and done there will be winners and losers. Some will be happy. Some will not. All, however, will remain Americans. All will remain neighbors and, hopefully, friends.
What every side of the divide we find ourselves, we have a choice. We can continue to widen the divide or we can build bridges. We have an opportunity before us. We can choose unity or division. Consider the cost when you choose.
I have found this election season a challenge to my “well-centeredness”. Politics always brings out the worst in people and challenges our relationships, our emotional well-being, as well as draining us spiritually, physically, and intellectually. But, like all circumstances in life, we are faced with a choice of how we will conduct ourselves. No one else’s behavior matters. Like I tell my children, it doesn’t matter what the other person did. What matters is how you respond.
What does division cost us? (I leave this for the reader to consider.)
What does unity cost us? Pride? Personal gain? Relationships? (Wait. No. Unity can actually strengthen relationships.) Well, it has to cost us something. This is fact. But, you and I place the value on that cost. This is the choice we face. Are we willing to sacrifice a bit of ourselves to sit at the table with our neighbors (friend or foe) and seek communion? I hope so.
Carpe momento!
“We are of course a nation of differences. Those differences don’t make us weak. They’re the source of our strength.”—Jimmy Carter