Does your heart
leap when you see a rainbow? YES! Does your heart leap when you see a sunrise? ALWAYS! Does your heart leap when you see a baby? OF COURSE! Does your heart leap when you see someone with a different political viewpoint? WHAT?!?!?! Our stomachs might lurch, our brows might furrow, but our hearts probably aren't leaping. Why not? Let's change that! This Leap Year, let's try to find the joy and wonder in discussion. Let's try to approach one another with the awe and reverence we usually reserve for rainbows. Let's challenge ourselves to find delight in finding common ground. We have an extra day this year to make it happen... Let's LEAP forward together! Happy Leap Day!
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In honor of Presidents' Day,
here is a bit of presidential wisdom from the past to inspire us to find common ground in the future... "Too often...we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -John F. Kennedy "In religious and in secular affairs, the more fervent beliefs attract followers. If you are a moderate in any respect - if you're a moderate on abortion, if you're a moderate on gun control, or if you're a moderate in your religious faith - it doesn't evolve into a crusade where you're either right or wrong, good or bad, with us or against us." -Jimmy Carter "The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters." -Dwight D. Eisenhower “All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort — a sustained effort -- to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings.” -Barack Obama "In crucial things, unity. In important things, diversity. In all things, generosity." -George H. W. Bush Happy Valentine's Day!
Is that LOVE in the air? Or contempt? Last week, the featured speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast was Arthur Brooks, a prominent conservative thinker and author of Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from a Culture of Contempt. He challenged the audience to become "missionaries for love in the face of contempt". You can read his prepared remarks for the speech in the Washington Post . These days, we don't have to search far to find contempt. It's on display in every news channel and coffee shop and comment section in America. The question is, when we find it, how will we answer it? Can we answer with patience? Can we answer with kindness? Can we answer with LOVE? Let's do our best. |
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June 2022
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