What would Mother say?

The news is depressing, the country spiraling towards disaster.  I find it difficult to focus on work, obsessively reading the news.  Each day brings a new insult.  A disturbed man kills in the name of ISIS, and in a day there are calls to suspend the rule of law, and one Senator cites a religious war.  A disturbed man kills five times as many, but we are told not to "politicize" his crime.  What's different?

But as we watch the Mueller investigation lurch forward, nd we hear of money laundering and greed, and while the Press Secretary spins and spins, and the lies accumulate even more.

 I don't know about you, but I am a late-boomer generationally, and my parents  believed that everyone should have a fair chance, and that we all were in this together.  They identified as Republicans in those days, because Dad was a small businessman and that's what the GOP was.  They weren't anti-government social conservatives. And their dinner parties featured people from across the political spectrum, even if they were largely socially the same (educated, white, professional class). Dad would give up part of his salary to be sure that the business stayed afloat.  Most significantly, they  raised me to tell the truth, to consider others, to behave with decency, not to take more than my share.

It's this last bit I don't understand.  The demonization of others, the lies, the snark, and the greed, the driving, vile greed.....none of this was in how I was raised.  Were Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Mike Pence, Lindsay Graham, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Paul Manafort raised so differently?  Because they lie with abandon, and their driving force appears to be greed seasoned with white supremacy.

And this is not how I grew up.

John Pavlovitz writes:

My kids are scared right now. They’re not sure the world makes any sense. They’re wondering why it seems as though the bullies and the bad people have the run of the house. They’re feeling like honest, compassionate, loving people are now an endangered species. 

I don’t lie to them. I tell then I see it all and that it frightens me too—but I let them know that I do still believe the story we’ve told them. I still believe that goodness is the best path, regardless of how many take the path or the hazards we face along the way. I still believe that the treasure of the bully and the braggart is a fool’s gold that will not endure and will eventually prove worthless.... 

Most of all I remind them of the undeniable, indescribable goodness I see in them, and let them know that as long as I have breath I’ll walk with them, and that together we’ll keep writing the best story we can and trust that is enough.

May you who wonder if goodness matters—be greatly encouraged that it does.