that little voice
I’m writing this before a new President is sworn in, hoping the inauguration goes without violence and ugliness.
By the time you read this we will know if riots and conflict have been avoided, at least for now. But the threat will continue, and we all will be impacted by this widening rift in our country.
I’m so glad I am not the one attempting to get our country back in balance. Can you imagine being in charge of finding solutions to stop a deadly virus? Or attempting to right a wrecked economy that has left millions of citizens in food lines unable to pay rent and mortgages and thousands of businesses facing closure? All that while pushing and persuading legislators to approve candidates to help you run the country?
Oh, and as you work on all of that, you keep reassuring the American people we can get through this hoping civil unrest doesn’t escalate into civil war.
My gosh, I thank my lucky stars someone else is in charge of fixing all that is broken in our country.
Not that I don’t have a role to play in this drama, because I do, as do we all.
My job is to think, to educate myself, to understand the issues, to be truthful, to refresh my knowledge about the principles that formed this nation, to reread the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and to acknowledge the social injustices our founders overlooked or ignored.
I’m obliged to determine what I value, what I believe our country should be, what it means to be a citizen of the United States of America. I must ask myself if I can make room for and accept those who look and think differently than me. What have I contributed to this great divide that separates us?
How willing am I to acknowledge a person of color is smart, is equal, is worthy of being a peer? How willing am I to recognize my prejudices against those who dress or speak or believe differently than me?
Why am I fearful of those who are ‘different’? Why do I think I’m superior?
Yes, I have a job to do for my country. I must look deep inside myself, pulling out the roots of my own prejudices, clearing out the debris of teachings I’ve accepted unquestioned. I must open myself to the realities that what I want for myself others deserve also. I want to be respected, so I must respect. I want to be heard, so I must listen. I want to be treated fairly, so I must treat others fairly. And I must demand that same behavior be given by others.
Our democracy depends on fairness and equality. And it is time for us to recognize and admit ‘those’ people haven’t been treated fairly or equally.
I have work to do, and it is just as important as the President’s, but it is an inside job.
My job: believe in the dignity of all and elect people who believe all people deserve the same.