Happy Fourth of July!

Yesterday, I posted this on my Facebook page and a lot of people reacted. 

I remember after September 11th how united we all felt. Since then, it seems we have become more and more polarized which has divided us. I don't see well-thought-out solutions on either sides of these extremes. Most people are most likely feeling the same way. Albeit, we all have different opinions on those solutions, but we all want the same freedoms. Those who think they know the answers probably shouldn't be the ones driving the solutions. But those are the opportunists who the rest of us get blindsided with. And perhaps we get caught up in the magnetism of those leaders. The cult-like totalitarian mentality is emerging on the one side is trying to bring order to the free-for all mentality on the other side, where perhaps freedom was taken for granted and now there is a lesson in how fragile that is. Chaos has forced some to crave order and answers, which is perfect soil for the opportunists. It is easy to feel the unsteadiness emerge but so difficult to navigate. Corrections are coming. It doesn't matter if you see it through the lens of the biblical or the historical.

Perhaps this July 4th, we can unite in the fact we live in a country where we can get along among our differences. I hope we can take on the love thy neighbor approach which really is about setting boundaries. I was talking to my therapist and he had sad something like, "You can love your neighbor but also tell them to get off your lawn." That resonates, here. Let's try to keep our differences that simple. I love you, and I want to keep loving you, so get off my yard please. And maybe even build a fence for those who need it. But as I said in my post, the solution is already being mixed. I am going to assume it is just the remedy our country needs. Even if it is the one that shows humanity's darkest sides. I think we have all gone through a rock bottom time in most of our lives the last few years. Usually it shows up in the microcosm before the macrocosm reveals itself. I don't mean to sound cryptic, but it is because I don't know the answers either. I see great danger in both parties. I just want to keep loving my neighbor in the most honest way. Happy 4th of July, to all of America! May our constitution remain in tact in these interesting times.