Chaos
My brother in law sent me an article this morning. This morning is the morning after the first presidential debate. The debate left me feeling sucker punched and depleted. I had high hopes for that debate . . .but ended up turning it off after about 40 minutes. My heart was racing, my body felt agitated and I couldn’t calm down. (The body never lies) I felt like I was watching something that I admired and loved (namely civil discourse and democracy) get shot out of the sky and tumble to the earth. So when he sent me the article… at first I didn’t want to read it. I didn’t want anything more to do with that debate.
Except… it was from the Washington Post, and it had the word “educator” in the headline, and there was also this “‘PLEASE let an experienced teacher moderate the next debate’. O.k. - I was intrigued and I opened it up and read. The article was mostly reactions from regretful teachers who had assigned students to watch the debate. Some were teachers who blamed the moderator for letting things get out of control like this. “This would never happen in my classroom…” Others just really felt horrible that they had exposed children to this, and felt horrible that a presidential debate could be horrible for children.
But here is the thing… this is happening and it is horrible. Name calling, disrespect, half truths, spin. It is happening at the top levels of our government, it is happening on the playgrounds of our schools. It happens behind the thin veil of social media as we play hide and seek debate via tweets and texts. It continues to separate and divide us in almost every aspect of our lives. No matter where you land politically, don’t live your life like that.
And you know what? America isn’t perfect, but it is better than this. We are better than this. I am better than this. How will I respond? I will sharpen my tools . . my integrity, my compassion, my care and concern for others and I will get to work. I will start my day with a prayer, “Who can I serve? How can I help?” I’ll make a difference on my little patch of earth, the one I’m responsible for. I’ll hold my little grandchildren a little closer and know that as one of the adults in the world, I have to rise above this. I have to do this for good, so that there is a place where good prevails. I think our world needs this more than ever. How will you respond?