We are watching, if we’re paying attention, the dismantling of our government and the ruin of our financial resources. We’re seeing the most precious and most delicate aspects of our futures and the futures of our children thrust into the hands of those who are woefully unfit to make decisions at that level, unwise, unthoughtful and impulsive in the conduct of the business of government. The lives of helpless people are being torn apart by those to whom the exercise of power is the ultimate pleasure instead of the ultimate responsibility. Petty considerations of political revenge are not appropriate in an elected leader, the amassing of wealth is a sure indication of corruption and the sudden donning of the cloak of Christianity does not hide ones’ true self, least of all from the God who made us.

All of us who vote have a stake in this current government. Whether we voted for it or not, it’s what we have now and we’re in this together. Together we always have the ability to reach across the divide in our politics, love each other and exercise patience, forgiveness and understanding. I believe that the threats that we face are surmountable if we are truly allied in our approach to them. Race-baiting, hatred of those we do not know, dependence on the “social networks” as a substitute for relationship building on a personal level, guns at every level of development, seem to me to be the marks of a desperate and anxious population. We each have within our power to be kind, to offer friendship and to try to heal ourselves, an effort that will most surely be blessed with a measure of peace.

Susan Clark 
Franklin