After the devastation of Hurricane Helene put our neighbors to our east in a state of emergency, the response of this community to help was unsurprising to me. We are the Volunteer State after all. Groups formed on Facebook, benefit concerts set up, and help was immediately changed from words into action by the great citizens of our city and state. Par for the course. My initial feelings were shock at all the destruction, followed by a sense of urgency and a question to myself of "what do I do?" I am certain this was the same thought process for everyone; An immediate coming together to help. After the dust had settled in my mind, I was able to ponder all of it. Then something hit me smack in the face that seems so obvious. But sometimes revelation is for you alone, am I right? Not once did I consider if those in need were of my political leaning. Not once did I think, "where do they stand on abortion?" Did you? I'm going to answer for you and say, nope. People needed help. We are people. We helped.
Why does it take a disaster to get humans on the same page, doing the same thing, for one purpose?
Hate is EASY, LOVE is difficult...
I will not give any more power to the "H" word by typing it in all caps. It has controlled enough of my life and the lives around me. It is time to get that power back. The opening line to The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck is: "Life is difficult." I read that when I was 20 years old and thought man, I hope he's wrong. He wasn't. I simply replaced the word LIFE with the word LOVE for this example. Seems interchangeable.
I remember 911. The country was divided then too. Same things, politics, religion, abortion, the election. You could take any two people, just like today, and find something they disagree on so vehemently they would nearly come to blows to make their point. Then, someone flew planes into buildings and all our differences disappeared. We were attacked. The same 'we' that were affected by a hurricane. The same 'we' without water, food, and shelter. This 'we':
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Admitting you could be wrong, is difficult...
This is a biggie because I am a know-it-all by nature. How could I be wrong given that I know everything? Like that time, I started a business my wife asked me not to, only to find out it was the bane of my existence. I knew-it-all then. Or that time I bet Tennessee would never beat Alabama again. Know-it-all. Could it be that, just maybe, all of us are this way? Maybe, the other political party is right about some things. Maybe, those folks worshipping over there are doing something good even though another group of them may be full of hate. Maybe, I do not have all the answers. Maybe, I do not know the hearts of those around me. Maybe?
Change, is difficult...
Ah, the biggest of all, change. I hate change. I loathe it, just like Zira loathes bananas in Escape from the Planet of the Apes. Change is my banana. I want all problems to be fixed and stay that way forever. Saying that aloud reveals the insanity of it. Hating something that will never cease is a tough path to take and I know. I would be better off hating the sun for shining than hating change itself. Ben Franklin should have said, "Nothing is certain except death and taxes, and CHANGE." And yet,
The thing I hate is the very thing I demand from people with whom I disagree
Conclusion
I am just talking about myself. I know that no one else struggles with any of this, so thank you for reading. I will strive to remember that LOVE is always the answer. I will remind myself; I do not know everything. I will accept change with as much grace as possible and be patient with those I disagree with, because I do not know their hearts no more than they know mine. I will do my part to always lay down my differences in favor of building relationships and not wait for another disaster to salve my conscience while I do the right thing. I will help those without exception, no matter their politics, religion, color, or creed. But that's me.
"Where there is love there is life" - Mahatma Gandhi
"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend"-Martin Luther King Jr.
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" – Jesus
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