I was in the middle of writing a post about St. Cecilia Day – a feast day honoring the patron saint of music – when the horrifying news from Waukesha, Wisconsin began breaking. News of someone driving an SUV through a family-oriented community Christmas parade causing mass casualties is such a horrific tragedy that writing a lighthearted post about the uplifting joy of music just no longer seems appropriate. I’m going to switch gears, therefore, and write about another subject near and dear to my heart: the need to find healthy ways to resolve our differences and turn down the anger temperature in the world (and yes, I know I’m beating a dead horse).
Tonight, as I do with virtually any major breaking news event, I turned to social media to get more information. On Twitter I have access to all of the major news organizations, as well as local news sources for whatever community is making headlines. Unfortunately it isn’t just news that I find when I go on social media. Tonight, before any information was available beyond the general description of the vehicle, there were broad brush stroke allegations: It was BLM. No, it was white supremacists. It was actually illegal immigrants, several people claimed. It was Trump supporters, cried people from one side of the political aisle. It was Biden supporters, said those from the opposite side. It was Muslims, accused others. There were others swept up in the knee-jerk blame game as well. Because of preconceived prejudices there unfortunately will be many who won’t trust whatever the facts actually show, but will remain loyally clinging to what they first believed to be the facts.
The divisions we are seeing in our politics are playing out in communities across the country. People who a year or two ago were claiming that “the office of the presidency should be respected” even if you didn’t agree with the political ideals of the person in office are now engaging in the crassest complaints against the current president. Yard signs, bumper stickers, internet memes, and euphemistic chants have become common place. On the other side, the titles of racist or white supremacist are being levied against anyone who voted for the former president. Not only isn’t it acceptable to disagree politically anymore, but it is so charged that people feel emboldened to act out in very public and ofttimes violent ways.
It is interesting reading the interviews of people caught up in the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. So many of the individuals charged with participating in storming the Capitol admit to following the lead of very loud angry voices telling them that not only those on the other side of the political aisle were evil, but that those who generally agreed with them politically but wouldn’t stop the peaceful transfer of power were also evil. The enemy – the literal enemy – became whoever disagreed with them.
I have seen this play out over and over. It is terrifying. People I have respected are calling for secession and warfare against others. What is happening?
Today I was talking to someone about a general sense of anger all around. There’s a heaviness and sense of angst in the air. People are feeling excluded and unwanted and misunderstood. At the same time there seems to be a sad apathy as people don’t believe they are heard, so why keep caring or trying. It is a difficult moment. In fact, it seems that prophecy is being fulfilled as people’s hearts are waxing colder and ever colder. Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming, but there’s not a lot of joy.
What can we do? I know it’s a mixed metaphor, but we need to turn down the temperature and warm our hearts. It might be mixed, but it’s absolutely what needs to happen. But how?
The very first thing we need to do is quit viewing each other as enemies. We disagree. We have our own opinions. We are not, and we should not be, enemies. Hyperbolic divisive language drives the wedges between sides deeper. We need to allow people, with different experiences and backgrounds, to have different opinions without using militaristic terms. Those terms lead to more permanent divisions.
The next thing we need to do is listen. Just listen to real people, not those whose livelihoods depend on ratings and therefore they say the most outrageous things to drive those ratings higher. Listen to the pain, the sorrow, the good and bad experiences, the struggles and victories of those around us. It’s wonderful when someone succeeds. It’s sad when someone struggles. Whatever one’s road in life, however, it is not going to be exactly the same as anyone else’s. To understand people’s experiences and viewpoints we need to listen with fully open hearts. As we listen and understand our hearts will warm up and soften – and that leads to love.
Yes, love is absolutely vital if we are to warm up our hearts while cooling the prevailing temperature. When we show Christlike love for those around us we quit judging, we quit hating, we quit trying to destroy. We find joy. We can disagree and we can be disappointed and we can even feel frustrated – but love doesn’t leave room for hate.
This past week a dear friend of mine passed away. She was an example of someone who loved without judging. She had her political opinions, but she didn’t hate those with opposing views. She had a strong sense of right and wrong but didn’t judge those who walked a different path. She gave tremendous service to those who were like her and those who weren’t. She was good at listening and loving. She had one of the warmest hearts I’ve known.
I’ve wondered many times how different our world and country would be if more people were like Christine. What if we didn’t assume the worst in those whom we disagreed with – in whatever area that disagreement was in. What if we didn’t name call? What if we didn’t cheer when people we don’t like or who do something even really bad are destroyed? I remember watching a surveillance video where a young man handed a note to a cashier to try to rob the convenience store. The clerk immediately took a gun out from under the counter and shot multiple times, killing the teenager. Even more than the video, it was the comments to it that frightened me. In these comments people were literally cheering the death of the youth. Cheering. Yes, he was breaking the law. Yes, he needed to be held accountable. Maybe he needed to be shot in order for the clerk to save his own life (although I never saw a gun from the would-be robber). Whatever the reality, cheering the death of this young man didn’t seem right and it made me sick. They showed a coldness of heart that should be a warning to us all. We’ve seen multiple times, in multiple ways, the extremes of what happens when we no longer care about people but only care about winning.
I’m going to wrap this all up by suggesting that as we go into Thanksgiving week that we look for ways to bless those around us instead of cursing those we don’t like. I pray that we’ll look for ways to stop the hate towards those we disagree with. I hope that we will turn down the temperature of anger so that our hearts can warm to the level of peace.
Look to God and Live... Joyfully! 