Hopefully you voted this week, or plan to vote, depending on when you’re reading this. Rancor aside, it’s still the most unifying act we as Americans engage in.
In a time of deep division and disgusting levels of hatred, we all still come together, at the appointed place and the appointed time, and voice our opinions about the direction our country, our state, and our community should go.
It’s the most encouraging thing about being an American, and it reminds me of some local wisdom.
Don’t like the weather in Missouri? Just give it a minute. It’ll change.
Don’t like the direction our community is heading? Just vote, and you can change it.
But these days even the right to vote doesn’t do much to lift our spirits. Families and friends are divided by revolting language and cringe-worthy rhetoric. Co-workers yell at each other across cube walls, and neighbors stop waiving hello over perceived political leanings.
Even Sesame Street is a fire starter!
The irony is, despite all the ranting, we agree more than we disagree.
Take poverty, for example.
Both parties care about improving the lives of those who find themselves down on their luck. We may disagree on how to get there – relief programs and assistance or economic change that results in jobs and increased net income – but we are unified in our chosen destination. Everyone wants things to get better for those of us beaten down by tough times.
Even our most heated debates – don’t worry, I won’t name them here – revolve not around hate (not really) but the practical manifestation of shared beliefs. Personal privacy, the right to earn a living, the sanctity of human life, and the individual rights that come with that life.
Faith. Family. Community.
When it comes right down to it, we often disagree vehemently on the details, but it helps to remember that most of us, even when we don’t know it or acknowledge it, are unified in those core American ideals.
After you vote this week, remember that you contributed to a unified action of governance with millions of other Americans. And then, when the polling places close and the results are in…
Move on.
Seriously. Step away from social media and look around you for a minute. The opposition – those people you’ve been villainizing for the last two or three years – they live next door.
They gladly opened their front door with candy for your children last week, and when you need help, they’ll be the ones calling 911 or gathering clothes and food to get you by.
Because even when we sow division, the number of steps from your neighbor’s front door to your own front porch doesn’t change. Community perseveres, and I don’t know any better community in the world than Southwest Missouri.
