A more perfect union
Why do I feel that “We the People” have collectively taken on more than we can chew? News is flying at us faster than that speeding bullet regarding so many diverse, complicated, and polarizing issues. Does anyone out there have Clark Kent’s telephone number?
A tragic war is raging, inflation is climbing, a recession looms, gun violence is rising, and evil covid has not left the building. We add the conflicts over abortion laws, immigration issues, and spar over books in school libraries. Oh, and let’s not forget climate change, fires, tornadoes, and hurricanes.
You are lucky if you can get through a day without a headache. And, if you did avoid a throbbing head, perhaps watching television will help you relax. But, alas, your “Happy Days” rerun will be interrupted by the same old, tiresome political rhetoric of candidates slinging their mud. Yep, you will proceed to bed with a bona fide migraine. I am so sorry.
Last Sunday, I returned to the pews of a church I attended years ago. I sat in the same seat I once occupied and turned to see if I recognized anyone, and I did not. Many of the pews that were once full of worshipers are now empty. And, I saw no children and few adults under age 50. “Maybe they were all at the earlier service,” I hopefully pondered.
My other thought was that folks were hidden under their Sunday morning bed covers to avoid the world’s reality. I can’t say I blame them, but hiding from our troubles is not the answer.
We can blame many of our woes on ourselves. We can politicize everything from a peanut butter and banana sandwich to a hurricane. Some events, such as inflation or supply chain issues, are partly due to the worldwide covid outbreak and its havoc. But one of the pandemic disasters was how we turned on each other over our polarizing opinions while watching millions die from the disease. Many lost their families, while many others lost their hearts. In the end, it hurt us all.
And we wonder why many folks are not sitting in the church pews.
Yes, sometimes we are a mess. We do dumb things, act foolishly, become selfrighteous and hypocritical, forgetting how blessed we are. But I believe one thing to be true of all of us — we cherish the freedom we have in our country. And, like those citizens of Ukraine, we will fight together in trenches to protect it.
Yes, a war is raging. That war can remind us of what is vital in our world today. When evil comes to visit, we will unite in battle. Our differences are forgotten the minute a bomb falls on our soil, and we will band together to defend America. That is what we must remember as a diverse group of people living under the umbrella of freedom.
It’s an odd emotion knowing there are so many people suffering in Ukraine while we freely, angrily clash with each other over our dissimilarities. Instead, Ukrainians have set aside their personal ideologies and merged to defeat tyranny. And today, they collectively loathe the person who is determined to take their freedoms and independence away.
I am confident we will never agree on the abortion issue or what books should be allowed in school. We never will all vote for the same person to lead us, and because our beliefs are different, we will still have backyard arguments. However, we must stop much of the angry, conspiracy-laden and hate-filled rants we have endured in the last few years.
Maybe our lack of respect has to do with those negative political ads that tell you not to vote for the other candidate. Perhaps, those running should try a different tone, like explaining their platforms or touting their accomplishments. Condemning others to win usually causes me to vote against those who do, because they give me that migraine!
And we wonder why those church pews are vacant.
We may have taken on more than we can handle ourselves, but perhaps we can obtain strength and resolve from a higher power. Maybe we should settle ourselves by sitting on a church pew, looking up toward the cross, and asking the Lord to help us quell our bitterness. Using respect, honor, compromise, and understanding will please not only God but bring others to him.
And that’s how we stop hurting ourselves and our children. We can unite to foil the evil within us, find solutions, and prevent the violence and dissent we endure. We, after all, are free to do so.
“We the People of the United States in order to form a more perfect union ...”
Let us try.