My heart grieves. It grieves for a nation divided. We see persons who are hurting. We see persons who are fearful. We also see persons who are proud. And we see arguably the majority somewhere in between. Among both the fearful and the proud, we see persons sincerely unable to see any other perspective than their own. That is cause for grief. That has been cause for grief for me not just this week… but for years. We have been divided for some time.
Can we — and I know this is tough — but can we step outside our circumstances and emotion long enough to realize their are other valid perspectives than our own? Remember, as previously written, there are 360 degrees in a circle — each looking at the center from a different angle. That angle — through which we view life — is only one degree.
Hence, now is the time not to re-arm and get ready to fight. Now is not the time to disrespect. Now is not the time to burn the flag nor to dismiss the one who burns it. Now is the time to come to the table.
As known, one of my favorite phrases in life is “come to the table.” What I mean by that is there is a seat for everyone. No one is omitted. No one is marginalized.
That means we gather together…
That means we authentically fellowship and converse…
That means we hang out with more than the likeminded…
And that means no one drowns out another. We sit. We listen. And all voices are equally heard.
Friends, we have lost our ability to listen. When we get wind of a person who thinks differently, it seems as if we categorize them in our head as “one of them.” And “one of them” is a person we silently (or not) assess as either ignorant, intolerant, or somehow idiotic. Let me suggest that we are each ignorant in areas, as ignorant merely means “unknowing” — and there are a lot of things each of us does not know… especially when we are only “one degree” — and we refuse to come to the table.
Coming to the table means working out the tough issues…
Take the abortion issue, for example. And yes, I utilize such because it’s become so emotionally-charged. I really hate the fact that our abortion dialogue seems to have been reduced to protests and placards where people scream at or past one another, never sitting down, listening, and empathizing with the one who feels differently. We are awful here at looking at the totality of another’s perspective.
What coming to the table then does is that it allows us to hear that perspective; in other words, it provides a place for empathy. People who won’t come to the table have very limited empathy. And when there is no empathy, there is judgment. Judgment divides our nation.
So left, right, and all those somewhere in the middle…
Trump voters, Clinton voters, those third partiers or no voters…
All ethnicities, races, genders, and varied demographics…
The LGBTQ community…
The evangelical Christian community…
The faithful and the non-faithful…
The abortion advocates and the advocates for the unborn…
Americans…
Now is the time to come to the table and listen to one another… all sides… all 360 degrees… choosing empathy over judgment.
Respectfully…
AR
A good place to start would be replacing the phrase “abortion advocate” a phrase that drives up emotion with pro-choice as that is the correct terrm. I’ve yet to meet a person who is pro-choice who is pro-abortion including those who have had to make the heart breaking, life altering choice of having one.
Good article but good point as well.