I love you. All of you. Even the jerks.

Well, hey there,

I have been facing down some serious writer's block recently, so I have started and rewritten 12 different posts this month. Nothing is working for me. So I'm going to let it all out. HANG ON.

I try really hard not to be a judgey person, but it's a struggle. I have so many strong opinions and I am quite convinced of my "right"ness, but I will listen and I will try to find common ground with anyone who will have civil discourse with me. The problem has been that I encounter so many people with whom I can't engage in conversation, who say the most bombastic things and walk away(mostly at work). Like a little old guy buying a gift card for a relative, who told me he was a Vietnam vet and if he had the ability he would go to Washington and take care of the problem in the White House and let me know who he thought the problem was. Or a Grandmother shopping for her granddaughter who told me that the Mexicans were the problem and Trump was the solution. Or the police officer who responded to a call to my store and instead of taking my report, prayed for my protection and said to one of my coworkers, "I thought you might be one of those Muslims,"and made a face implying he wasn't a fan.

The thing that troubles me is that people are willing to say these things to me, a stranger. What are they saying in the comfort of their own homes? Or at their churches, or their jobs, or with their friends? What about the parents in Kennesaw, GA who don't want their children "indoctrinated" into Hinduism because they learned that "Namaste" means "the light within me recognizes the light within you." How have we gotten to this place where we pray for France and Belgium and wash the world in their flags(I've done it, too) and not for Turkey or Cote d'Ivoire or Pakistan(52 people killed by suicide bomber today in Lahore) or Syria? God bless the Syrians. I pray for the Syrians every day. How would we react if our modern worlds were reduced to rubble and we could only escape by boat to drown or to arrive and be rejected at the border? How would we feel to be trapped by sniper fire and  carpet-bombing in our city, knowing that our children were starving and we would be making dinner out of weeds that grow in the cracks on the roofs of apartment buildings? That international relief might be carried off by black marketeers and terrorists and our babies wouldn't have milk because their mothers could barely produce it? Have some people lost the ability to imagine themselves in the shoes of others?

We don't understand the poverty of war in our country(unless we've experienced it elsewhere) because it has been 150 years since our last run in with a real war on our soil. Some like to feel like we are fighting for our American way of life(whatever that means) because it is good rhetoric and it keeps the adrenalin going, but I go to sleep most nights--and I bet you do to--with the knowledge that I will wake up and my house will be standing and my children will be in their beds(or mine) and I will go to my job and my paycheck will come on alternate Fridays and I will buy fresh, organic vegetables at the grocery store and have the luxury of being on a diet. Imagine also, that some people are so amped up on anxiety and adrenalin, they would like to start a war within our country. I'm thinking of those fellows in Oregon who took over the wildlife refuge, or that person who murdered the churchgoers in Charleston in cold blood. And then we have candidates for President who are feeding this culture of anxiety and disrespect and disenchantment when. we. have. it. so. good. All is not perfect. The President is not perfect, nor is the Congress, nor the Supreme Court, nor the Armed Forces, nor any single one of us. But we are American and our lives are so blessed. Why can't we be charitable to each other and the world? Why, if we have this group of people who are so focused on the teachings of Jesus who demand to have a voice in our democracy, aren't we doing what he said: Love God and Love your neighbor. Today, as Christians, we celebrate Easter, the day when our sins are forgiven and we should go forward without fear into the world to do what Jesus asked us to do. Love each other.

That's Matthew 22:37-40, btw.

We may not agree with our neighbors, but we can love them, by recognizing our shared humanity. Because really, if my light can recognize your light, and we can let them shine together, that sounds pretty amazing.

Let's light up the world, friends.

Love,
Corks