What are you hearing?
First Thanksgiving Message (link) | Second One (below)
We all learned division back in those elementary school days. I think we learned it TOO WELL. Have you noticed that our country is a bit divided? It gives me nothing less than pain to see it. But I am thankful we are able to exercise our voices and people are able to be heard. I want that to continue and grow. Let’s talk a bit about what it takes to get all of America onto the same page.
I said the following encouraging thought many times to people I know. We are one country. Please repeat that. “We are one country.”
Division: Have we as a nation learned that lesson too well?
As we celebrate this day of Thanksgiving, and tomorrow the day after Thanksgiving, let’s not go back to our haunts and sling arrows and mud at each other. Like the school yard, it is not helpful for us to get dirty during recess. Let’s listen to what each American has to say.
Recently, I have heard all of the following. Maybe you have heard some of these things and more:
- Fear that President-Elect Trump will promote division, harm to immigrant families, and destroy the Affordable Care Act.
- Anger that someone in the US elected him. Let’s remember that rules are rules and he won the rust belt states.
- Disappointment that all the equity for LGBT Americans that was fought for over the past decade will be lost. Severe disappointment that the Supreme Court may change in its outlook and focus.
- Concern that apathy can hurt us coupled with a conspiracy theory that the Electoral College will still speak to a different president than the President-Elect.
- Positivity that we as a nation will continue and be a model of excellence in the free world.
- Resilience that there have been Republican administrations, then Democratic administrations, then Republican ones, and then Democratic ones. We’ve built a system of checks and balances.
- Hope that tomorrow is a better day, always.
What are you hearing?
As we get older, some of us struggle with hearing and thus need hearing aids. I’m one of those Americans, but it was actually a result of a car accident I was in as a child. Nevertheless, with hearing aids, I am better able to hear both sides of the world.
But what about both sides of America. Why are there two sides? Why are we promoting an agenda that can only include some? Why do we not simply say that “the agenda” includes all and then make every effort we can to guarantee that fact? I think that joining our discussions to include each other can help.
I am not just trying to promote pluralism through words. How do we as a country get along together? Is it better than in past decades, or worse?
Do you remember those famous words of Rodney King, the African American who suffered terribly from police brutality in 1991 after a traffic stop. The acquittal of the officers who beat him was also a catalyst in the LA riots that occurred the next year? Rodney was quoted as saying, “People, I just want to say, can we all get along? Can we get along?”
Rodney King was also attributed as having said,
“As far as having peace within myself, the one way I can do that is forgiving the people who have done wrong to me. It causes more stress to build up anger. Peace is more productive.”
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Rodney King died tragically in 2012 by a drug overdose, but I want his message to be heard right now. We need to forgive. We need to join forces. We need to solve problems in the US together.
In my own words,
We as Americans need to remember that we are a Brotherhood and Sisterhood on this planet. Our freedoms were earned through blood and tears - through soldier’s shed blood on our behalf. And these soldiers did not die so that we should keep on fighting with each other.
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My fellow Americans, let’s put down our warfare of words and collaborate with each other. Let it be a deluge of collaboration. We cannot keep saying that America is a great nation if we do not join hands, join families, join causes, join agendas, and join the process of winning for all Americans.
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Collaboration is not a process of division but of multiplication. Your efforts on behalf of others multiply into more people helping others. So let us join together as one voice, one nation, one brotherhood, and one sisterhood.
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Freedom is not free. And likewise, living with division is too costly. I adjure all Americans to follow a message of unity. I hope that media picking up this simple story will follow the easy application of building others up, not putting them down. Collectively, we can accomplish much as a nation. We always have.
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Let all unheard voices be heard, but let’s also give each other a chance to make positive responses.
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Happy Thanksgiving a second time from a blogger on the Huffington Post.
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Dr. Jonathan Doll normally writes on the Huffington Post blog covering topics of school engagement and wellness. He is the author of the 2015 book, Ending School Shootings: School and District Tools for Prevention and Action.