The Bridge To Nowhere

Our president made an interesting observation this week. In talking about his party he said the following:

“There are going to be some disagreements and details to work out, but to the Democrats, I want to say to you, Democrats, let's make sure that we keep our eye on the prize.

Sometimes Democrats can be their own worst enemies. Democrats are an opinionated bunch.

You know, the other side, they just kind of sometimes do what they're told. Democrats, you're all thinking for yourselves. I like that in you, but it's time for us to make sure that we finish the job here. We are this close and we have got to be unified.”  (For the video click here.)

I’m sure all president’s have taken shots at the opposite party. However, our current President is the first one in my memory who lets his staff go about declaring a news agency that disagrees with him to not be a news agency and he actively shuns them by not giving them equal access to him that the “favored” news agencies have. This in effect declares FOX news to be “an enemy”.

My purpose in this post is not to get into an argument about which news agency is “more impartial” than the other because none of them are. The item on my growing “List of Humongous Concerns That I Have About The State of Our Country” that I am thinking about is the lack of bridge building in the current administration.

Remember when you were a kid and you would gripe & gripe about someone? Your mom or dad would tell you (hopefully) something like “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything”. Then you would say “But they keep calling me a boo-boo butt!” to which your parents would (again hopefully) say “That doesn’t matter. Just because someone is mean to you doesn’t make it alright for you to be mean back!” (Or as Jesus calls it “turning the other cheek”.)

One of the jobs of being a leader is to lead by example. I wonder what would happen if President Obama woke up tomorrow morning and decided that no matter who was being critical or mean or poopy to him, he was going to turn the other cheek. Wouldn’t it be great if he called a press conference and said “Fellow Democrats, we are not going to bad mouth anyone who disagrees with us. We are going to work hard to bring unity to this country. We are going to be self-sacrificing instead of self-promoting. It doesn’t matter if someone talks bad about us, we are not going to talk bad about them. We are going to go about the business of this country, work as hard as we can to bring unity and healing. History will judge us on what we did, after all, not on how hard we hit our detractors.”

Can you imagine the possibilities? The HOPE that would arise? The CHANGE that might come?

Of course, you may say to me “Well, the Republicans started it!” or “They need to be nice too!” or even “The President & his party have a right to defend themselves against accusations!”. Yes, all sides need to be nice. Yes, we all have a right to defend ourselves. But here’s the kicker: someone has to choose to be the one to start acting in a positive manner. The president sets the tone for the nation. If he is divisive, no matter for what reason, everyone will be divisive. And you can’t bring unity any other way than by standing up for peace in whatever form that may be.

At this point in time, our President & his administration are stoking the angry fire by speaking words of disunity and accusation. They are acting vindictively. I hope President Obama doesn’t make the same mistake that Republican President Richard Nixon did. Nixon was paranoid, mean, deceitful, & vengeful. He tore our country to shreds and brought shame to America.

Unfortunately I have no immediate access to the White House, but I do have access to you, dear reader. Let’s all promise each other that we will speak and write words of peace not war. When we write & talk about our differences, let us do it in a spirit of humbleness not arrogance. Because, as my husband likes to say, God is not on our side, He is on His side!

Comments

[Eleanor]

"Someone has to choose to be the one to start acting in a positive manner."
I was in a church home group last year focusing on marriage. We watched the "Love and Respect" DVD series (which I highly recommend). One thing that Emerson Echrigg would say again and again was, "Who is going to be the one to start this change? The one who sees him or herself as the more mature." Funny, but true!

[Molly]

Amen sister!