So Much In Common

It's been 20 years since the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001. I was a little young to grasp the breadth and depth and scope of the massive political and social changes that event ushered in, but I do remember a few things. And one of the things that sticks out in my mind is that Americans seemed to forget their differences in the face of this tragedy and came together in something like unity for a time. Maybe not all Americans, and maybe that unified national trauma drove certain groups and leaders to do things that in hindsight may not seem very rational or ethical or laudable. But nearly all of us came together for a time to confront this horrible thing that happened to us. In the last year and a half, we have been hit with one bad thing after another, but unlike twenty years ago, we're not finding common ground. We've become more divisive, more vitriolic, more gleeful at our enemies' misfortunes than ever before. And yet, we all have so much more in common than we did two years ago. We all have had to wear masks or work from home, or have gotten laid off, lost loved ones, deferred dreams, postponed major life events, cancelled vacations, gotten sick, been afraid, gotten angry, socially distanced, been terribly, terribly alone. But we have no empathy for each other anymore. The love of men and women has waxed cold in these perilous times. We no longer love one another enough to look out for each other's welfare. I don't really know which side is right on any of the hotly debated political issues that are tearing us apart. I have my opinions but I will keep them to myself. What I do know is that the worth of souls is great in the eyes of God. And the worth of souls should be great in our eyes too. The second most important of all of God's commandments is to love our neighbors as ourselves. If you don't love your neighbor then you're not keeping the second most important of all of God's commandments, even if they're on the far other end of the political spectrum as you, even if their political views and personal opinions are abhorrent and offend you to your very core. This is not a commandment that is always easy to obey, but if we truly love our God then we must also love all of God's children. I know it may seem like in a nation of almost 350 million people, one person showing kindness and compassion to a few neighbors or a few dozen social media friends can't possibly make any kind of difference, but by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.