Jeep – The Middle – Super Bowl LV Ad – Bruce Springsteen
Here are three questions I want you to consider, as we dive into this topic:
Have you ever been in (or can you imagine being in) circumstances where you were so lost that your only desperate desire was for someone to come along who could show you the way out?
Is there someone, when you think of them, who causes you to have an involuntary visceral reaction of loathing?
Now, if you found yourself in the desperate circumstances of Question #1 and the object of your loathing in Question #2 came along with fully reliable directions of how to get out, would you follow those directions and get out or would you spitefully remain in your misery?
Of course, I recognize that not everyone will answer these questions the same … especially in identifying the object/s of their loathing. Otherwise, though, I expect that the vast majority of you will answer similarly … particularly with Question #3. Incredibly, though, in recent days, I’ve seen many across the U.S. exhibiting the foolish opposite response of rejecting a message, containing much needed reliable directions, due to their lack of confidence in the messenger.
DESPERATE NEED
The polarization in the U.S. seems to have reached critical mass. As pointed out in the recent article Such A Time As This In America, without intervention, it may well result in civil war. Clearly, the U.S. is in desperate need of “reliable directions” in order to get out of these circumstances. Opinions on this topic have not been hard to come by but clear-cut solutions have not been as evident. Surprisingly to me, I saw the absolute best solution put forth in a Super Bowl LV TV Commercial. It told us this:
“There’s a chapel in Kansas, standing on the exact center of the lower 48 (U.S. States). It never closes. All are more than welcome to come meet here, in the middle. It’s no secret, the middle has been a hard place to get to lately, between Red and Blue, between serving and citizens, between our freedom and our fear. Now our fear has never been the best of who we are. And as for freedom it’s not the property of just the fortunate few, it belongs to us all. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, it’s what connects us and we need that connection. We need the middle. We just have to remember, the very soil we stand on is common ground. So, we can get there, we can make it to the mountaintop, through the desert and we will cross this divide. Our light has always found its way through the darkness. And there’s hope on the road up ahead.”
… To the Re-United States of America.
BOLD FULFILLMENT
The first in a series of recent articles entitled Beauty For Ashes, pointed out that American families, resting on the firm foundation of our communities, was once the strength of our social fabric. The second edition of Beauty For Ashes targeted the importance of restoring the stability of that firm foundation … the faith found in our houses of worship. The “chapel in the center (middle)”, as depicted in the recent Super Bowl commercial, represents that firm foundation. It recognizes that everything good in the world has faith in God as its foundation. The bad in the world, that many view as increasing at an ever accelerating pace, does not share that foundation.
REJECT THE MESSENGER
Sadly, many have foolishly rejected this message containing our desperately needed reliable directions due to their skepticism towards the messenger. The primary object of this skepticism has been Bruce Springsteen, who served as the actor in the Super Bowl LV Commercial. Initial skepticism here came from the view that, in reality, Springsteen isn’t the sort of person that he depicted in the commercial. That has been summed up in saying, “He appeared to be a Conservative, cowboy hat wearing, guy from the heartland. But he’s really a Liberal, earring wearing, guy from New Jersey.” Additionally, since the airing of the commercial, it came to light that Springsteen had recently been arrested and charged with a DWI during a visit to New Jersey’s Gateway National Recreation Area. As a result, the commercial’s sponsor, Jeep, had the commercial removed from YouTube. Although the level of skepticism towards Jeep has not been nearly as intense as the skepticism towards Springsteen, the fact that this was a commercial that Jeep paid for has also detracted from the message being taken seriously.
RECEIVE THE MESSAGE
From my perspective, none of the skepticism outlined above has merit. Springsteen didn’t write the commercial. He was just the featured actor. I’d add that it’s unlikely he took the role because he needed the money or that he wanted more fame. Maybe he just thought it was a great message and he wanted to endorse it. Likewise with Jeep. Yes, it was a commercial that they paid for and no doubt, they hoped it would reflect well on them as a company. But, the only Jeep models featured in the commercial were models from the past, not current models. Maybe they, too, just thought the commercial contained a great message they wanted to endorse. Regardless, in order to get out of our present circumstances, the U.S. is in desperate need of the “reliable directions” contained in the message of this commercial. Even if this message had been delivered by the sort of objects of loathing that I described earlier, we would be absolute fools to reject the message as a result.
In writing this, I intend to speak to those who I believe still represent the vast majority of Americans. That is those who love America more than having their views on every political issue being fully adopted … more than their hatred for those whose views differ from theirs … more than their desire to get their “pound of flesh” from those who have opposed them, especially those who have done so in an unscrupulous way.
To help our perspective on this, I’m going to start with a Biblical illustration. I think you’ll agree with me that it’s fitting. It’s from the 3rd and 4th chapters of The Book of Esther. This Scriptural story takes place when most of the Jewish people remained in Babylon under the rule of King Ahasuerus, though they had been given permission to return to Jerusalem. The King had made an evil man, named Haman, his second in command. Haman hated the Jews and he convinced the King to issue a decree to annihilate all the Jews. At that time, neither the King nor Haman knew that the King’s beautiful and much beloved Queen, Esther, was Jewish. Esther was unaware that this decree would apply to her too and if she had any thoughts of how she might save the Jews from annihilation, it wasn’t apparent. Knowing this, Esther’s Uncle, Mordecai, who had raised her as his own Daughter, confronted her with this message:
“Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:13(b)-14
The polarization in the U.S. seems to have reached critical mass. Without intervention, it may well result in civil war. It strikes me that, most Americans, who love their country, may be finding themselves in a similar mindset about this as Esther did about the decree of King Ahasuerus to annihilate all the Jews. With that being the case, the logical question then is, “How do we constructively apply Mordecai’s admonition to Esther, to result in the urgently needed intervention with America’s acute polarization?”
American Civil War Cemetery
ESCAPE?
Part One of Mordecai’s message was the admonition, “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.” There is also truth in that for all Americans today. Perhaps due to our rich history of meeting and overcoming monumental challenges, it’s not uncommon for Americans to think of themselves as invincible. From our beginning, in our Revolutionary War, we took on and defeated Great Britain, then the world’s greatest superpower. And, arguably, America’s greatest victory was in WWII, emerging victorious over the Axis, a coalition of nations bent on world dominance who were, initially, vastly superior in their military preparedness. Somehow, with this invincible mentality, we tend to ignore the military engagement in which the most American lives were lost … the American Civil War. A war in which, since it pitted American against fellow-American, it was impossible for America to emerge victorious. In this conflict, 618, 000 American lives were lost. It nearly fulfilled a proclamation that had been made a quarter-century earlier by the man who was U.S President during that war, Abraham Lincoln. A paraphrase of this proclamation says,
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we lose our freedoms it will be because we have destroyed ourselves from within.”
Paraphrased from Abraham Lincoln’s 1838 speech at the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois.
In large part, thanks to Lincoln’s great leadership, though it came incredibly close, America managed to avoid destroying itself from within via civil war. But, it should serve as proof positive to all Americans that it’s very unlikely for us to survive a second American Civil War in the 21st century. So, like Queen Esther, we need to understand that this would have a dreadful effect on us all and we all should be deadly serious about it.
PERISH?
Part Two of Mordecai’s message, another admonition, was, “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish.” Here, too, there is similar truth in that for all Americans. In fact, without even trying to listen too closely, you can hear it in the news right now. For quite some time China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and others have been watching events in the U.S. like a hawk, just waiting for opportunities to pounce. That’s been especially true since the tragedy of the Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021. The “relief and deliverance” that would come from any of these sources for the American people would mean the utter end of “The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave”.
HOPE?
Part Three of Mordecai’s message was an admonition containing a note of hope, saying, “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” My greatest aspiration in writing this is to motivate the vast majority of Americans, who I defined earlier, to take it to heart that we are in a time that could easily lead to the demise of the land we love and to recognize that, “For such a time as this”, we must commit to individually doing our level best to avert this impending disaster.
Obviously, with all this said, the outstanding question each of must have is, “What can I do, as an individual, to positively impact our staggeringly overwhelming circumstances?” Well, I don’t have all the answers but I do think it’s helpful to start with the attitude expressed by answering the question, “How do you eat an elephant?” That answer is, “One bite at a time”. But, even with that mindset in place, the initial question remains and as stated above, I don’t have all the answers. However, I believe those answers can come to us through some serious introspection. To give an example of what I’m suggesting, below, I’m offering an approach, both for the Right and for the Left, that could help in healing our land.
FROM THE RIGHT
Consider that you may have developed tunnel vision about “Stop The Steal”. Certainly, there were irregularities in the November 3rd 2020 election. They all need to be investigated and fixed. But continuing to insist that it’s what cost President Trump reelection is not realistic and doing so is counterproductive. The key factor contributing to President Trump’s 2020 Election loss was President Trump himself … more specifically, it was his egotistical behavior in response to all the hatred aimed at him. I, first recognized this following the first Presidential debate. At that time, voting had not begun and there was a legitimate set of undecided voters. Most of them were considering whether they should vote for a guy whose administration had accomplished many good things while he sometimes showed that he could behave like a jackass or vote for a guy who seemed well past his prime and represented old-school politics. Disappointingly, in that debate, President Trump provided a stunningly clear reminder about his tendency to behave like a jackass and most of those undecided voters moved away from the President. From that point forward, that erroneous direction of the President’s ego just picked up steam, rolling like a juggernaut. It culminated in the Capitol Riot of January 6, 2021. I don’t know what was in President Trump’s heart leading up to this event. I don’t believe he meant to incite a riot. But, I do believe he should accept responsibility for, following the November 3rd 2020 election, allowing his ego to set his followers on a volatile course, with very destructive potential. Whether you fully agree with me or not, continuing to beat the “Stop The Steal” drum and denying the President’s role in the demise of his own presidency is counterproductive. It’s time to accept this, to be as supportive of the new president as possible and to work toward more productive ways of effecting Conservative views.
FROM THE LEFT
Consider that you may have developed tunnel vision about President Trump and his supporters. As a case in point, consider that you don’t know what was in President Trump’s heart leading up to the Capitol Riot of January 6, 2021. Certainly, you can hold the view that he should accept responsibility for the ego-driven failed leadership of his supporters following the 2020 Election. But, impeachment is not justified. It only demonstrates the hateful desire for revenge and it’s unlikely to succeed. Continuing to pursue it is counterproductive. Concurrent with this event was the meeting of the Electoral College. At that meeting, a number of Republican legislators posed challenges to the legitimacy of the election results in several states. As a result, there has been a movement to take punitive actions towards these individuals. But what these lawmakers did was fully constitutional and in fact, similar challenges were posed by Democrats in several 21st century meetings of the Electoral College. Furthermore, while it may not have made a difference in the outcome of the 2020 Election, there were voting irregularities across the nation. The constructive approach here would be to call for a halt to the vindictive efforts against the Republican legislators mentioned and to call for investigating all voting irregularities and fixing their sources. It’s time to accept these realities and to look for the most productive ways of working with the half of the nation who don’t share your Liberal views, who are your fellow-Americans.
Post-Destruction America?
E PLURIBUS UNUM
Last May, in an article entitled Wounded Giant, in the early stages of the COVID crisis, I outlined how, in facing this crisis, Americans working together with one accord seemed to be creating an ideal environment for the healing of its great wound brought on by deep divisiveness on social issues. Obviously, we missed that chance. Over 12 years ago, in an article entitled The President Bush/Senator Daschle Hug – 7 Years Later, I pointed out how we had missed one of our greatest opportunities for that on 9/11, nearly 20 years ago. My prayer is that we all will take time for the introspection I recommend, on each and every issue. That we won’t miss this, perhaps our last, opportunity to heal our land. That we won’t make the scene depicted above, from the movie planet of the Apes, an inevitable reality.
OUR HEALING ATTITUDE
In order to assure that America avoided destroying itself from within, at the conclusion of the American Civil War, President Lincoln proclaimed the right attitude for our nation’s healing, in saying:
“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.“
President Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address (1865)
This is the same healing attitude we must adopt today, if we are to avoid allowing America destroying itself from within.
It’s not uncommon to hear people designate 2020 as the worst year in their life. I tend to feel that way myself. Realistically, when I look back over my 73 years, I recognize that there were other miserable times I wouldn’t want to revisit … times of family strife and loss, career disappointments, financial duress, etc. However, with that said, I am happy to see 2020 come to an end.
Of course, our so readily welcoming 2020’s departure presumes that 2021 will be a better year. But how certain is that? To gain a better perspective on that, I think it could be helpful to consider how 2020 was looking to us at this time a year ago and to assess how clear our crystal ball was.
2020 – LOOKING FORWARD
Team Oaxaca
At this time a year ago, we were pretty optimistic about what the year ahead held for us. Here are some of the highlights of our expectations:
Ruth had just received her Sentri/Global Entry Pass and since we had applied together in May of 2019, I expected I’d be getting mine soon. If you don’t know, this pass is very important to people like us who cross the U.S. border frequently. Without out it crossing can take hours … I think our worst has been 5 1/4 hours. With it, crossing usually takes less than 15 minutes.
We had made an offer on a condo in the resort community where we had been leasing a villa and we expected that, once the purchase of the condo was complete and our remodeling had progressed sufficiently, we would get into a regular routine of hosting friends and family in our new home
Likewise, we expected that we would regularly be visiting friends and family in the U.S., including a few special trips, e.g.:
A July getaway for Ruth’s birthday
A late September/early October getaway for Gary’s birthday/our anniversary
A Thanksgiving getaway
A Christmas/New Year’s getaway
We were excited about our plans to join in a nine day missions trip to Calvary Chapel Oaxaca.
And we were even more excited about our plans to join in Calvary Chapel Rosarito‘s semi-annual trip to Israel in November,
We planned to enroll in a two-week Spanish emersion course in Ensenada.
During MLB’s initial Spring Training, I secured four tickets for a mid-July Angels/Dodgers Freeway Series game at Anaheim Stadium. I planned to go with a CCR Intern, our Pastor and his Dad.
We expected that activities we enjoyed so much through our church (Calvary Chapel Rosarito – CCR) would continue and even expand. These included:
Helping with various church service needs as Missionaries on Staff.
Joining in Weekly Staff Meeting and Prayer.
Helping with a Mercy Ministry in Tijuana.
Leading CCR’s Seniors Group, Legends.
Joining in a biweekly Life Group.
Joining in a weekly Men’s Bible Study.
Leading a weekly Women’s Bible study.
Serving in the Connections Ministry during Midweek and Weekend Church Services.
Serving in the Prayer Corners during Midweek and Weekend Church Services.
Enjoying the Worship, Bible Study and Fellowship associated with Midweek and Weekend Church Services.
2020 – LOOKING BACK
Car Church Greeter – Gary Wiram
As they say, hindsight is 20/20. With 2020 now in the rearview mirror, we now know how it turned out. And we understand what circumstances led to the reality of the year and its significant difference from our expectations going in. Here is an overview of those differences for us:
Although Ruth got her Sentri/Global Pass at the very beginning of the year, my application remained Pending Review until May. Of course, by the time it was Conditionally Approved, the interview required to complete the process were significantly delayed. I, finally, had my interview on December 23rd and I should be getting my pass within the next couple of weeks.
We did complete the purchase of our condo but 2020-related delays meant that we didn’t take possession until July. And, we did manage for remodeling to progress sufficiently but getting into a regular routine of hosting friends and family in our new home remains in the future.
Visiting friends and family in the U.S. was pretty limited but we did get in a couple of special trips.
In July, we got away for eight days in Indio to celebrate Ruth’s birthday, sharing an AirBnB with Daughter Jill, her guy Chris and Grandsons Jake and Riley.
In late October we got away for a week to celebrate our anniversary with a visit to the Grand Canyon and surrounding area.
We chose to cancel our travel plans for Thanksgiving and we limited our Christmas getaway to a three day stay with friends in Huntington Beach.
We were able to join in the nine day missions trip to Calvary Chapel Oaxaca. It was the second week in February, prior to 2020’s craziness really kicking in.
Both the Israel trip and our enrollment in the Spanish emersion course in Ensenada were canceled.
Most significantly, activities we enjoyed so much through CCR were radically different. The ones we were able to maintain included:
Joining in Weekly Staff Meeting and Prayer.
Though we tried to restart CCR’s Seniors Group (Legends) when some things started to reopen, we put it on hold until some time in early 2021.
The weekly Men’s Bible Study was successful in restarting when some things started to reopen.
The weekly Women’s Bible Study converted to meeting online.
Worship, Bible Study and Fellowship associated with Midweek and Weekend Church Services was done online only at first. Then, that was supplemented with Car Church. Presently, we’re having in-person services but health-safety measures limit Fellowship along with ancillary programs and activities.
THE UNFORSEEN
Today’s Good News Devotional – Ruth Wiram
So far, somewhat presumptuously, we haven’t addressed the elephant in the room – i.e. What in the world caused the reality of 2020 to turn out so very different from what we expected?! The obvious answer is COVID-19 but that is really an oversimplification. No doubt that was the overriding issue but, at least for U.S. citizens, COVID-19 became intertwined with cultural matters, particularly politics and religion, to further impact society.
But, as my old high school football coach taught us, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” And that resulted in some unplanned positive results. This included:
We were able to share our condo with a key contributor to the remodeling. He is a deportee and he was able to have his family come down from the U.S. to stay with him in the condo.
And, we have been able to make our home available to friends from Huntington Beach to use as their base as they lead a major construction project for the Calvary Chapel Church Plant in Otay Mesa.
Although the Mercy Ministry in Tijuana was on hold, we found that we were able to help those who are closer to us who couldn’t get out for groceries, etc.
As part of our effort to keep Legends connected, we formed Messenger and email groups who receive a Legends Daily Blessing … Daily Scripture with a related Worship song.
Helping with new service roles necessitated by Online Church and Car Church.
Contributing to a new program of five-minute daily YouTube devotionals called Today’s Good News.
Reconnecting with numerous friends and family via social media.
2021’s GAME PLAN
So, having considered how 2020 was looking to us at this time a year ago and having assessed the clarity of that crystal ball, how should that impact our expectations for 2021? Now that vaccines for COVID-19 are being distributed, I’d like to believe that it won’t be long until things return to “normal”. But, I recognize that may not be realistic. In fact, I’ve recognized that, for those born during and after this year, they may never know a time when people freely join in crowds attending various events. With that in mind, I’ve determined my resolution for 2021 to be optimistic in my hope for things to return to “normal” while anticipating the likelihood of a “new normal”.
So, what does that mean? To begin with, for me, that means striving to be more intentional about plans for the things that are most important to me. If you look at the Gary Wiram – Editor page on this blog, you’ll clearly see that my life’s priorities are: Faith, Family and Community. Here’s how I see this year’s intentionality applying in each of those categories:
FAITH – Considering 2020’s expectations for this category, the primary goals were:
Supporting CCR in ministering to its flock and sharing the Gospel with the community.
Supporting CCR’s Church Plants.
Continuing to build ourselves up in the faith.
Intentionality with the goals of our faith seem pretty straightforward here. That is, look for opportunities to safely do these things hands-on but expect that we may may need to continue to do them virtually and in some cases, to find new ways to do them virtually.
FAMILY and FRIENDS– Our primary goals here have been to share our time, our love and our blessings with our loved ones.
Intentionality with these goals seems straightforward too, with one key difference. While looking for opportunities to safely do these things hands-on and expecting that we may need to do them virtually, bear in mind how COVID-19 became intertwined with cultural matters and be proactive in not allowing that to happen.
COMMUNITY – Our key goals here have been to become more and more a part of the community and in doing so, positively impact the community.
This may be the category where intentionality may be the most difficult. But, while it may not be as straightforward, it will be important to continue to look for alternative ways to accomplish what “normally” could be accomplished hands-on. The one thing that is a bit more straightforward, however, is working to remove a roadblock to our becoming more and more a part of the community … removing our language barrier would be huge. So, while our plans for enrolling in a Spanish emersion course in Ensenada may not return as a realistic opportunity, we need to embrace other ways to become conversant in Spanish.
2021 – THE CLEAR VIEW
Proverbs 16:9 tells us “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” And, Isaiah 46:9(b)-10 tells us, “I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.”
During 2020, I realized, perhaps more so than any other time in my life, the importance of daily looking to God for His guidance. I’m determined to hold even more firmly to that wisdom, going into 2021. I recommend that to you all.
A health worker at a COVID-19 testing site in Inglewood, CA.
DEEPLY WOUNDED – PRE-COVID-19
The world is becoming increasingly eager to get past the COVID-19 nightmare, to return to “life as usual”. In doing that, we tend to think of the things we miss and that, when we have those things back, life will be wonderful again. As a result of that myopia, we forget … there was much about “life as usual” before COVID-19 that wasn’t so great.
The pre-COVID-19 U.S. was miserably split. Nothing exemplified this more than the rift between those who support President Trump and those who oppose him. But, the U.S. population was just as divided on social issues such as; Gun Control, Abortion, Religious Freedom, Climate Change, Traditional Marriage, Immigration, Reparations, etc. While remaining the world’s leading superpower, this ever increasing discord was making the U.S. a deeply wounded giant … perhaps, even, mortally wounded.
SOCIAL HEALING DURING THE CRISIS
California Governor Gavin Newsom Praises President Trump
In spite of holding opposing views of their President and of numerous political issues, the vast majority of Americans have worked harmoniously in facing the COVID-19 crisis. One of the best examples of that, among U.S. leaders, came from California Governor, Gavin Newsom, paying compliments to President Trump. Newsom and Trump hold disparate views on most issues. So much so that, prior to the Coronavirus Pandemic, it would have been most likely to hear them express unflattering opinions of each other. And yet, Governor Newsom has been very complimentary of President Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, saying, “… I have to be complimentary. Otherwise, I would simply be lying to you, misleading you …”
Thankfully, seeing Americans work together with one accord, in facing the COVID-19 crisis, hasn’t been limited to its leadership. Many Americans have joyfully embraced the kinship they’ve rediscovered as they came together in battling this pandemic. It’s been obvious that, as a positive side-effect of the current crisis, this affinity has created an ideal environment for the healing of the great wound brought on by America’s deep divisiveness on social issues. But, there has remained a foreboding undercurrent indicating, that, when the U.S. returns to “life as usual”, that could mean the population returning to being miserably split. While many have been treasuring the sense of good will and the considerable potential for healing, it seems that a stubborn group of spoilers have remained who are all too willing to keep picking at America’s great wound.
AGGRAVATING THE WOUND
Surgeon General Adams – Love and Protect Your Elders
Obvious examples of this are Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters, Jerry Nadler, etc.; who, even during this crisis, continue to lurk in the background, awaiting the slightest excuse for trying to bring down President Trump. But, the saddest and most troubling example of this, for me, was the criticism leveled at Surgeon General Jerome Adams by TV Host Claudia Jordan. Jordan’s criticism was aimed at Adams’ use of certain terms of endearment in encouraging Americans to be especially protective of their elders vis-a-vis the Coronavirus. The terms the Surgeon General used included “Abuela” and “Big Mama”. According to Jordan, his use of these terms was offensive to African Americans and Latinos. It should be noted that Adams is African American and in defending his comments, he noted that his Brother-in-law is Puerto Rican.
While the destructive efforts of Pelosi and company are pretty easy to see through, it’s counter-productivity like theirs that feed the foreboding undercurrent evidenced by Jordan’s criticism of Surgeon General Adams. There is much to admire about Jerome Adams, not the least of which is his achieving the high position of Surgeon General. I would argue, however, that the love he showed in caring for his Grandparents’ generation demonstrated an even more admirable quality. Why, then, did Ms. Jordan find his comments to be so offensive? I believe it was, clearly, the result of preconceived notions and looking for any excuse to justify being offended.
CONTINUING THE HEALING
I’ve heard it said that, when a hammer is the only thing you have in your toolbox, everything can look like a nail to you. That may be a fitting explanation for how Claudia Jordan arrived at her conclusions about General Adams’ comments. If we truly aspire to attain a more wonderful “life as usual” following the COVID-19 crisis, attitudes like this must be discouraged. Certainly, once the COVID-19 crisis is past, we need to look back on how we dealt with it. But, in doing this, we should be looking to fix the problem, not to fix the blame.The primary objectives of this review should be: (1) How to avoid such occurrences and (2) How to be better prepared for such occurrences.
No one manages any crisis perfectly. But, metaphorically, I view President Trump and his COVID-19 Task Force as an exceptional team fielded by a skillful Quarterback. And, continuing with that metaphor, the last thing we have needed during this crisis and going forward, is one or more Monday-morning Quarterbacks. That is a sure-fire way to deepen the wounds of the pre-COVID-19 U.S., rather than to heal them. If there’s any justification for fixing blame here, it most rightly belongs to those who chose to keep Monday-morning Quarterbacking during the COVID-19 crisis when they could have been contributing to finding solutions for the crisis rather than exacerbating it.
DON’T REOPEN THE WOUND
In order for the U.S. to emerge from this COVID-19 nightmare to a more wonderful “life as usual”, its citizens must take full advantage of the opportunity for healing afforded by the good will that has been present during this crisis. Furthermore, once this crisis passes, the healing needs to continue and the reopening of wounds should not be tolerated. To accomplish this, every American must first discipline themselves to be as harmonious in working with their fellow-Americans as they have been during the crisis. Candidly, doing so afterwards will be more challenging than it is presently. Striving together for survival of the Coronavirus has made it easy to define common ground. Following the crisis, however, finding common ground on deeply divisive social issues may seem more elusive. The key here will be to maintain the present attitude of good will in earnestly working together to find common ground. That shouldn’t mean compromising deeply held personal values. But, it will require listening to the views of those who see things differently than you and doing so without holding an attitude that they are somehow mentally and/or morally inferior.
As it appears the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S. is slowing, perhaps flattening or peaking and on the verge of declining, there has been a lot of discussion around when and how the country should return to “business as usual.” President Donald Trump says deciding when to reopen the country is “the biggest decision I’ve ever had to make.”
Of course, this has been accompanied with the typical chorus of Monday-morning- quarterbacks who are ceaseless Trump opponents. I plan to address that in an upcoming article. Disregarding that for now I will offer my views trusting that the American people who, led by the Trump administration, had achieved the greatest economy in world history prior to the COVID-19 nightmare, will likewise make the best decision on reopening the country.
A Smarter New Business Model or a Return to Greedy Business as Usual?
It seems like a no-brainer to agree with President Trump that it’s desirable for U.S. business to reopen as soon as possible. The key question remaining though is “When?”. For now, I’m trusting that the President is getting this right, being courageous while taking into full consideration the advice of the task force he has put together.
Although Trump is a much smarter business man than I am, I’m not so confident that U.S. business will experience the “V-shaped economic recovery that the President says he expects. Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who is a part of the President’s task force, has a different view. He says, “I have no doubt in my mind that we’ll come back and be stronger than ever. But it’s not going to happen immediately.” I’m more in agreement with Cuban’s position and even more so, I agree with him that taking “baby steps” in reopening U.S. business is a superior approach.
Cuban says, “People aren’t going to just venture outside. They’re not going to go to large gatherings. They’re not going to feel confident right off the bat. There’s going to be a lot of trepidation. And that concern is going to lead to people holding back on spending money.” I agree with this reasoning. I believe we should expect U.S. business to rebound more gradually. In addition to that, I think U.S. business should capitalize on its current downtime and coming gradual recovery by preparing to move to a smarter new business model.
In order for U.S. business people to get an understanding of the the smarter new business model I have in mind, I would first ask them to take a look at their current volume of customers. For the most part, that is at or near zero. With that in mind, it’s understandable that businesses whose customers have been absent would want to crowd in as many customers as possible as soon as possible. But, though greed may be natural, often, it isn’t smart. In addition to understanding what Mark Cuban says about customers “… trepidation … And that concern is going to lead to people holding back on spending money”, they should recognize that, through their greed, they could reignite the pandemic and return their customer volume to the bottom. In order to illustrate what I see as a smarter new business model going forward, let me exemplify the way I see it applying to a couple of specific market segments.
This market segment has been hit very hard by the COVID-19 nightmare. No doubt, many restaurant owners long for the days when their dining rooms were filled and crowds of people were sitting at the entry way, waiting for seating to become available. As I said earlier, it’s understandable for businesses to want to regain as many customers as possible as soon as possible but having those longed for days as their goal doesn’t seem to be smart. It seems to me that finding a way to reopen in a way that minimizes trepidation and moves towards a new way to maximize the customer base is much smarter. Here’s how that could look:
All employees wear masks and gloves and minimize direct contact with customers.
Dining rooms are set up in a way that provides appropriate social distancing.
All seating is handled via reservation. If immediate seating is unavailable, customers can set a reservation for later or order meals to be picked up or be referred to a partner restaurant.
Ordering and paying can be done electronically from dining room tables using systems that are already available.
Hand sanitizing available at each table.
Instead of having servers bring meals to the tables, at least at first, meals could be picked up and brought to the tables by the customers themselves.
Since I’m not a member of the National Restaurant Association, I don’t really know all the ins and outs of the food service industry. I do know that there are many more aspects of reopening that restaurateurs will need to consider. And, I know there are restaurant types that can’t fit this model. A good example here is buffet style restaurants like Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes. Additionally, there are restaurant types like Sonic who are kind of ahead of the game because they already offer service to diners in their parked cars. With all this understood, I think the above outline can serve as a good starting point for the majority of restaurants.
I have tickets to a Dodgers/Angels game in July. I bought the tickets early when Spring Training was still going on and the game was nearly sold out then. Although I’m still clinging to the thread of a hope that I’ll get to go to this game, I have to admit that I don’t relish the thought of sitting elbow-to-elbow with over 45,000 others, to standing in line with them for food and beverage and especially to sharing the restroom facilities with them. If a rabid Angels fan like me has this sort of “trepidation” about spending time on the hallowed ground of Angels Stadium of Anaheim, I’m confident that many others feel likewise about going to the Big A, as well as other sports and entertainment venues. Here’s my suggestion for how to improve on this, using the Big A as an example.
First of all, the “big bucks” for MLB come from TV. So, step one should be to start getting some televised games played, even if they are in empty stadiums. Although I’ve heard of the possibility of starting a season with all games being played in one state – e.g. Arizona – that has low COVID-19 stats, I don’t favor that idea. Certainly that could be done because fan seating capacity wouldn’t be a factor and that would make more than enough suitable ball fields available. My guess is that one aspect that makes this idea appealing is that it minimizes the exposure of teams to different environments in traveling, dining, housing, etc. My sense is that these considerations can be controlled sufficiently using MLB stadiums while limiting the range of related environments. And, this would set the stage for ways to, again, have fans in attendance.
So, what is the best way to get back to having fans in attendance at the Big A? Whether I (or you) like it or not, I think this has to begin with limiting the crowd size. In addition to that not being ideal for fans, no doubt, it’s not desirable for the businesses that rely on the Big A for their revenue. But, I would remind them, having some fans in the stadium is a great improvement over the number of fans in attendance today … ZERO! Certainly a venue with a seating capacity of over 45,000 has ample room to accommodate schemes that offer appropriate social distancing for the fans.
While my suggestion may work well for the Angels and Angels fans, what about those other businesses that rely on the Big A as the source of their revenue? The truth is that there are some whose businesses will no longer fit the new smarter business model necessitated by the COVID-19 experience. I believe, though, that most of these other businesses can make changes that allow their businesses to survive and eventually, to thrive.
First, lets look at businesses that are necessary for getting fans to and into he stadium. Tickets can already be purchased online. Ticket-taking can be done at the parking lot gate with an adjacent pedestrian portal. Security screening would be a challenge but, as a start, fans could be prohibited from taking anything in to the stadium besides their clothing.
Once fans have found their way to their seats, what about food/beverage and restroom use? Certainly, phone apps can be developed for each stadium that would allow fans to order and pay for food and beverages that could be delivered to their seats. Restroom use isn’t quite as simple but I’m sure appropriate schemes can be developed for managing the number of people allowed in a restroom at a time and appropriately spacing fans who are waiting in a restroom line.
Just as I said about the Restaurant and Food Service industry, I don’t really know all the ins and outs of the Sports and Entertainment business. Certainly, there are many more aspects of reopening that their executives will need to consider. But I do think my ideas here offer some good examples of creative ways to get our Sports and Entertainment venues reopened.
Other for-Profit and Nonprofit Organizations
Surely, the suggestions I’ve offered won’t map to the needs of all organization types. But many of them are in a similar position to the market segments I’ve addressed, to “make lemonade out of lemons.” Another obvious one is the airline industry. For a very long time, their customer base has been begging for more legroom. Here’s a great opportunity to get people flying again and to give them the product they’ve been longing for at the same time. Anyway, getting this right for all market segments is going to require a great deal of creativity on the part of our “Captains of Industry.” I do hope, though, that instead of taking the approach of greedily trying to return to the old business as usual as quickly as possible, they will take a smarter approach to building a new business model that is far superior in the long term.
In this Beauty for Ashes series, I’ve been offering views on how we might leverage the current quarantine of our old “normal” to renew the health of several critical elements of our society. So far, I’ve addressed the importance of restoring the stability of our society’s foundation … the faith found in our houses of worship. And, I’ve taken up the urgency for us to restore the health of our families, as the strength of our social fabric, resting on that firm foundation. The aim of this edition is our education system, the mechanism that serves as the transmission, delivering that strength to the major functional elements of our society.
If it’s not broken …
Marshall Elementary School Math Teacher, Carrie Newton
Far too often, our teachers are blamed for the decline of the education system in the U.S. Typical claims along these lines are that the current crop of teachers aren’t as capable as the teachers we had “back in the day” and that they are overpaid and under worked. Although my career was in business, I spent most of the last decade of my working life in public schools. My experience with teachers during that time was pretty much opposite of these typical claims. Certainly there are exceptions but no more so than you would have found “back in the day.”
A great example of this is Carrie Newton, Math Teacher at Marshall Elementary School in Vancouver, WA. For close to five years, I worked in a classroom next door to Carrie’s. During that time, I wrote an article about her entitled “Train up a child in the way he should go …” If reading that article doesn’t convince you that Carrie exemplifies the superior quality of our education system’s teachers, check out the Math Queen movie above. This is from the YouTube channel that she created in order to continue her students’ math education during her school’s current COVID-19 related shutdown. If you’re concerned about the quality and dedication of teachers in our present education system, one of the best things you can do is to recognize and encourage teachers like Carrie Newton.
If it doesn’t serve its community …
I retired from working in a public school, at the end of the 2018 calendar year. So, I no longer have a direct view of what those who are in charge of running our public schools are doing during their current downtime. From my limited view, it appears that they are facilitating online learning. They’re making sure that every student has online access by distributing iPads or Chromebooks, etc. And, they’re equipping their teachers with the resources they need to deliver their curriculum online. Additionally, it appears that they are working hard to assure that student-families who were relying on meals provided by the schools continue to get the help they need along those lines.
Of course, it’s great that the above-mentioned steps are being taken. But, this downtime offers an opportunity to make sorely needed changes that are much more far reaching. Chief among these is the need for our schools to meet the needs of their community. Generally speaking, the U.S. education system is one-size-fits-all. And, mostly, it reflects the inbred views of national/state/local/district boards of education, determining the heavily politically orientated curriculum to be delivered. The result is that, by and large, employers find the pool of their prospective employees to be ill equipped to meet their performance requirements.
So, if that’s the case, what is a better approach? My recommendation is, if a top-down one-size-fits-all approach is failing, consider a bottom-up custom-fit alternative. Here’s what that means:
Many school districts are structured so that a high school serves a specific geographic area in a community. That high school has several middle schools that feed it and those middle schools each have several elementary schools that feed them. My thought is to set up each of these geographic school entities as a private company. Instead of being part of a school district that makes the decisions for the administration they place in each of their member schools, each of these would be independent, with their administration being composed of representatives from that geographic area’s employers, student-families and educators. Furthermore, funding for each of these entities would come from within that geographic area. Of course, this would take some time to wean off of the current methods of funding. But, it would be an incentive for communities to strive for being assured of getting what they pay for. According to a 2018 article entitled Report: Public School Bloat, Depressing Teacher Pay, Wasted $805 Billion Since 1992, it looks like there’s plenty of money that could be made available for us to work with.
Growth in Education Staffing
It’s a silver-lining, no ifs …
In the Firm Foundation edition of Beauty for Ashes, I noted how the lack of faith-based upbringing negatively impacts our schools. This, as a result of students showing up with little understanding of what they’re there to accomplish. Added to that is the fact that many of these young people lack the development of appropriate behavior habits for a learning environment. Presently, our public schools attempt to address the results of these lacking qualities under the heading of Student Discipline.
My observation from my decade of working in public schools is that this is one of the greatest contributors to the declined status of our current education system. Essentially, what our schools are attempting to do with this is to do the job that families are failing to do in the upbringing of their children. Sadly, the approach our schools are taking with this is failing too and as a result of having to wastefully expend their resources on this, they’re failing at what we’re counting on them to do in the first place … to educate our kids.
One step to resolving this dilemma is for families to return to their Firm Foundation, as outlined in the preceding edition of this series – i.e. to return to being dedicated to caring for each other, their children, their preceding generations and subsequent generations. But, for our schools to eliminate the challenges they currently face as a result of this dedication being greatly lacking in today’s families, they can’t simply assume that their student-families will adhere to this needed caring dedication. They must insist on it.
In order to do this, our schools must first define expectations for student-behaviors. These behaviors must be defined to maximize the efficiency of the resources that the school invests in their students’ education. Likewise they must minimize any distractions from their students’ education. Then, a requirement of student enrollment should be that their families sign off on their agreement to the school’s mandatory expectations for student behaviors. Non-compliance would result in the removal of the student from the school and for the families to take over full responsibility for that students education.
Although having our schools insist on student-families taking responsibility for their students’ behaviors at school is an appropriate step for resolving the dilemma that our schools currently face with Student Discipline, it is an idealistic notion. It begs the question, “What is a better way to manage the behaviors of the current crop of students being sent to our schools by today’s families? Most often, this question results in endless debates pitting today’s methods for Student Discipline against the related practices from “back in the day.” Since I was a public school student “back in the day”, early on in my days as a public school employee, I fell into the trap of this debate. Here’s how:
The school district where I worked did use an approach to Student Discipline that ultimately concluded with expulsions but they were never absolute. An expelled student would, simply be sent to another school for a time. This included being sent to special schools set up, specifically, for students who will not/can not behave appropriately. The steps leading up to expulsion included suspension, various forms of detention, being sent to a “buddy room” and various forms of in-class discipline, including the use of a “resolution room.” Actually, “resolution rooms” or “quiet rooms” have a legitimate function in classrooms for kids with special needs. Mostly, they are meant as a place to put a student to keep them from harming themselves and/or others. When I first heard the term “resolution room”, I thought it was just another step in dealing with Student Discipline that had no real consequences. My reaction was, “We, also, had resolution rooms back when I was in school. Ours looked like a hallway and it looked like the Principal was out there with a paddle. I only visited there once. That’s all it took for me to get the message.”
With that, you may assume that I’m recommending a return to corporal punishment. That was effective and it is Biblical but I don’t think it would be realistic for me to expect today’s society to accept it. However, it is true that the approach to Student Discipline by today’s schools is failing and it needs to be replaced by something that is effective.
Ironically, I believe that the COVID-19 crisis has handed us a great solution. None of our students are in classrooms right now. That includes the students who will not/can not behave appropriately … the very students whose behaviors waste the resources that schools invest in their students’ education and whose behaviors greatly distract from other students’ education, as well as their own. Right now, any education being provided through our public schools is being delivered online.
There is no way to fully know what our world’s “new normal” will look like when the COVID-19 crisis settles down. Perhaps online learning through our public schools will remain as a much more significant factor than it did before the crisis. Maybe public schools will return, as much as possible, to the in-classroom learning we’ve been accustomed to. Regardless, I see online learning as an effective way for our public schools to replace today’s general approach to Student Discipline. It can take the place of a “buddy room” or detentions or suspensions or expulsions, including permanent expulsions when necessary. In any case, it would greatly diminish the burden of this very detrimental issue from our schools and move that responsibility to where it belongs … on to the student-families and the students themselves.
The goal of this Beauty for Ashes series is to take a look beyond the COVID-19 crisis to consider how it can serve as a vehicle to make positive changes in our society. In the time immediately preceding this, the world’s current crisis, there were several social issues sorely in need of change. But, typically, time and other resources were too limited to address those needs. Now that many of our “normal” activities have been put on hold, we have more time available to make plans for making those changes.
The first article in this series focused on Families. In that writing, I pointed out that our families, resting on the firm foundation of our communities, was once the strength of our social fabric. With this edition of Beauty for Ashes, I am targeting the importance of restoring the stability of that firm foundation … the faith found in our houses of worship.
Legendary baseball broadcaster Vin Scully provided a healthy perspective on this in a recent TV interview. With this, he offered an optimistic view, despite the coronavirus pandemic. “Now that I have some leisure time and we’re all locked in at home, I read an article and it was talking about what happened to Americans in World War II,” said Scully, a devout Roman Catholic. “It was such a terrible time. Three-quarters of Americans belonged to a house of worship. Today … half of Americans are involved in a house of worship, prior to this pandemic,” he added. “So there’s your answer … Although they might not be able to go to a house of worship, probably more Americans will be praying since World War II. More people will be coming back to the faith,” Scully went on. “And now that this terrible thing is upon us, people might very well get back to the center. And it’s a better world. We’ll see … “
The Universal Value of a Firm Foundation
Some may dismiss Scully’s views and optimism as melancholy, with distorted memories of how things were “back in the day.” What they fail to recognize is that everything good in the world has faith in God as its foundation. The bad in the world, that I and many others have viewed as increasing at an ever accelerating pace, does not share that foundation.
Our families, as pointed out by the first article in this series, are an obvious example of this. Traditionally, faith-based families have consisted of a man and woman, married for life, who were dedicated to caring for each other, their children, their preceding generations and subsequent generations. Moving away from that faith-based foundation has led to countless social ills for our families and individual family members. One of the most significant factors here is that the children of these fractured families no longer have appropriate role models for parenting.
The lack of faith-based upbringing, of course, permeates all of society and impacts it in a negative way. As an example, we have students showing up in our schools today with little understanding of what they’re there to accomplish. Added to that is the fact that many of these young people lack the development of appropriate behavior habits for a learning environment. Of course, these negative factors just get passed along into the workplace and to every other area of their lives, as our children reach adulthood.
Although many who lack faith in God may fail to recognize it, the root of all the world’s moral standards are faith-based. Specifically, they closely conform to the Ten Commandments of the Bible. The first four of the Ten Commandments pertain to man’s relationship with God. So, generally, non-believers have little problem ignoring those. However, the remainder of the Ten Commandments regard man’s relationship with his fellow-man. These are:
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet.
Sadly, these once certain aspects of our society’s foundation have become more and more of a slippery slope.
The Call to Restore Our Firm Foundation
My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell speaks as President Donald Trump listens during a briefing about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House.
MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, at a White House coronavirus briefing, encouraged people to pray during the COVID-19 crisis. He pointed out that prayer was needed after religion has disappeared in public schools. He went on to say, “God has been taken out of our schools and lives, our nation has turned its back on God. I encourage you to use this time at home to get back in the Word. Read the Bible and spend time with your families.” Not surprisingly, a largely non-believing press corp has heaped ridicule on Lindell for expressing these views.
First, let me speak to those, whether believers or unbelievers, who doubt Lindell’s implied consequences of his saying “our nation has turned its back on God.” To that I say, consider what God has to say on this topic in Isaiah 59. With that said, my hope is that the conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic will make it clear that, if anyone is deserving of ridicule in this, it’s the non-believing press corp, not Mike Lindell. And, with that, it is my prayer that the world will respond to the wisdom of his advice.
Today, our world is a long way from what just a short time ago we thought of as “normal”. And, when the COVID-19 pandemic is more under control, we shouldn’t expect our world to return to that “normal”.
Right now, we may tend to focus on what we’ve lost from the old “normal”, as well as what we anticipate losing in the new “normal”. But, it’s not all loss now and it doesn’t have to be after the current crisis has passed. A good example is that in the middle of this crisis, “miraculously”, we suddenly found it possible to get our homeless off our streets.
In his video, entitled Silver Lining of Coronavirus Pandemic, Radio Talk Show Host Dennis Prager points out that life has never been meant to be pain-free. He contends that toughening us up to this fact of life is a silver lining to the COVID-19 related crisis. My goal in this reawakening of Here I Raise My Ebenezer is to take a look beyond this to ways this crisis can serve as a vehicle to make and/or maintain positive changes in our society.
In the time immediately preceding the world’s current crisis, there were many social issues sorely in need of change. But, typically, time and other resources were too limited to address those needs. Now that many of our “normal” activities have been put on hold, we have more time available to make plans for making those needed changes, as well as plans for maintaining positive changes that have been forced by the current crisis.
During this time, I intend to use Here I Raise My Ebenezer to address several of these issues. With this writing, I’m focusing on a crucial social element that is near and dear to my heart … our Families.
Our families, resting on the firm foundation of our communities, was once the strength of our social fabric. The quarantine of our old “normal” offers us a unique opportunity to renew the health of this critical element in our society.
Strengthening Healthy Families
For better or worse; the closing of businesses, schools, entertainment venues, etc., along with social distancing and limiting the size of gatherings, is forcing us all to spend more time with those with whom we live …. in most cases, that means our families. In the best-case scenarios, this means we get to spend more time investing in those we love and our relationships with them. In my opinion, an overarching facet of this should be to develop new habits in doing this so that we won’t easily or willingly give them up when the pressures of returning to whatever our new “normal” is begins to encroach on this rediscovered treasure.
Strengthening Troubled Families
Of course, there are many families with challenges in place that would dampen the interest of some to invest any time in other family members. My prayer is that individuals who fit this description will take the same approach with this that I recommend for everyone for helping the world get through this time of crisis … be determined to be part of the solution, not part of the problem, by doing something good for others.
This can only be successful, though, if both parties humble themselves and adopt the same attitude. Even then, the two parties may not be able to find all the needed answers for their troubled relationship on their own. More good news! Although many churches are streaming church services online, many of their “normal” activities have been postponed. That means there are some great counseling resources available and they don’t have to be delivered face-to-face. So, whether it’s a troubled marriage or a troubled parent/child relationship or a troubled relationship between siblings or … , there is ample time available and resources are readily available for helping to bring the needed healing. The key remaining necessary element is your willingness to invest in making beauty a reality where ashes are imminent.
Healing Broken Families
In an article entitled Land Where the Fathers Hide, I addressed a level of “troubled relationships” that goes well beyond those mentioned immediately above. For the most part, this focused on the issues resulting from one or both parents being missing in the lives of their children. The causes for this include parents who vanish simply out of selfish irresponsibility. Divorce contributes to this as well, in some cases involving the bitterness of one parent estranging the other from their children. And there are circumstances resulting from bad choices made by one or both parents resulting in imprisonment, drug addiction, etc.
As obviously challenging as these situations are, I firmly believe they can be transformed. Here too, success depends on all parties involved humbling themselves and adopting an attitude of being determined to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
In order to provide encouragement to those who have relationships that fall into this last category, I want to recount for you a real-life story that I witnessed taking place just since the COVID-19 related crisis began. This involves a couple who married when they were very young, when she got pregnant. Their marriage only lasted a few years after their baby was born. They caused each other a lot of pain in ending their marriage and since then, they haven’t had much of a relationship and most of the relationship they have had has been counterproductive. Though they now have grown grandchildren, in all that time they seemed unwilling or disinterested in finding forgiveness for each other. However, in recent years, they became aware that they had both returned to living according to their Christian faith. So, when the current crisis hit, it heightened their concern that their child and their grandchildren don’t appear to be leading their lives as faithful Christians. As a result, they reached out to each other and agreed to jointly communicate to their child and their grandchildren with a message about the paramount importance of faith at a time like this. It’s too early to assess the results of their reaching out to their offspring but it’s clear that this effort did result in one major accomplishment … their forgiveness of each other.
Real Hope for Our Families
Although I find this real-life story to be encouraging, I realize that it doesn’t map to every case involving divorce. And, cases involving abandonment, imprisonment, drug addiction, etc., can certainly be more complex. But, at the very least, this story should serve as encouragement that, as hopeless as some family circumstances may seem, hope can be found. Moreover, if we do take advantage of our current circumstances to strengthen our healthy and even our troubled families, our number of broken families in need of healing will be significantly reduced and overall, the health of our families, as a great strength of our social fabric, will be renewed.
Is it just me or do many of you wish that you could find a viable alternative to making a choice between a self-serving inept felon and a volatile ego maniacal jackass, as the next President of the United States? Of course, though sarcastic, that’s a rhetorical question. I know that very many, if not most, of my fellow Americans share a similar view. Later, I’ll offer empirical evidence of that.
Some will suggest that throwing your support to a third-party candidate is a viable alternative. That’s only half true. It is an alternative but it isn’t viable. Regardless of your third-party vote, Clinton or Trump will be the next POTUS and you will have changed nothing.
CHANGE-MAKING ALTERNATIVES?
In order to find a viable alternative to this dilemma, I suggest stepping back and taking a fresh look at our concerns about the nominees of the two major parties. Up to now, I’ve seen this assessment include:
• Choose between the lesser of two evils.
• Are they evil or just flawed?
• Are they unfit or just unacceptable?
• Are they immoral or just unwise?
• The fear of what he says versus the fear of what she does.
• For different reasons, neither can be trusted.
Frankly, I find each of these considerations to be somewhat reasonable. But they don’t really lead to a viable alternative that positively impacts the ongoing devolution in American politics. Ironically, I heard the solution summed up in a statement made by Hillary Clinton that was, as usual, meant to demean Donald Trump. She said,
“We need to stand up as a people and say that America is better than (this)!”
I wholeheartedly agree and absent a truly acceptable alternative candidate, I firmly believe it calls for an unorthodox approach to making the changes so many of us have been crying out for in American politics. It means refusing to continue to vote for “the lesser of two evils” and only voting for candidates who are truly deserving of your vote. What I’m recommending is that all of us who share the frustration expressed in my opening paragraph refuse to vote for any of 2016’s presidential candidates, while voting for every down-ticket candidate who deserves our support. I think of it as …
… A Presidential Voters Strike for Our Union.
I know that many will, at least initially, say that my recommendation is crazy, it will effect no change and that either Clinton or Trump will still be the next POTUS. No doubt, the latter is true and it’s going to take all of U.S. pulling together, finally setting aside our ever deepening polarization, to survive whichever one is elected. This Voters Strike could be the first step in that movement and I believe it can effect the changes we long for. I want to offer my logic, that I believe is fully sane, by presenting the empirical evidence I alluded to earlier. Continue reading →
On September 12th, 1974, I got to attend a Republican fund-raiser dinner in Indianapolis, where Ronald Reagan, the former Governor of California, was the Keynote Speaker. I walked in to that event thinking of myself as a Democrat. Since I grew up in what many would call a Blue Dog Democrat area of Indiana and I was raised by Greatest Generation Democrats, what else could I possibly be? However, due to the disillusionment I and many in my generation experienced over our nation’s failed leadership relative to the Vietnam War, in 1968 and again in 1972, I voted for Richard Nixon, the Republican Candidate for President. Understandably, that left me questioning my alignment with the Democrat Party. That evening, I went home with that questioning answered. As I listened to Governor Reagan express his views, I recognized that they were identical to mine and that I’d had the same experience that he did … I hadn’t left the Democrat Party, it had left me. I went home that evening clearly understanding that I was what would become known as a Reagan Republican.
Though, at times, I have felt like this election season is killing me, I haven’t had to say it from the grave yet but I have been saying the very same thing. Sadly, now, the “if” is gone. Donald Trump is the presumptive presidential nominee of the GOP. My being driven back to the Democrat Party will not be the result of the Republican Party leaving me in this way, however. I will not vote for Trump but neither will I vote for Hillary Clinton, the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democrat Party.
