Wise Words

Dear Diary,

Another bit of wisdom from my grandmother's common book.  I thought it especially appropriate after the string of horrific events that have dominated the news over the last several weeks.  Our inability to coexist with others has reached a very disturbing level but as the poem says,  "The self same dust before their birth, the self same dust when dead."

Despite the hateful rhetoric inflaming the airways nightly, much of which is being spewed from the mouths of political candidates, we have much more in common than we imagine.  We may wear different clothes or eat different foods and even practice different religions but we are all born the same way, love our children with the same passion, suffer the same illnesses and, in the end, we all die the same way.  The rest is window dressing.

As the world becomes smaller and more knowable through social media, we seem to be reverting to a more tribal mentality.  It is now "Us against Them."  If you are not in my camp then you are my enemy; whether it is my church, my political belief, or my lifestyle.  Particularly disturbing to me are those who appropriate God in their battle plan.  "God hates...." you fill in the blank.  This, in my estimation, is all fear based and mostly irrational.  Not that there aren't some evil people in world that will do us harm if allowed.  I'm not as naive as that.  But the vast majority of humanity only wants to live in peace, raise their children, and be afforded a modicum of dignity and respect.  Is that too much to ask?  If we want to have peace in the world we must, as the old hymn says, "Let it begin with me."

Today is Giving Tuesday.  Consider making a donation to a group that is working to making the world a better place or simply show a stranger a bit of kindness today...pay it forward.