I don’ know about you, but I’m both cautiously optimistic and nearly exhausted by recent events here in our country.
And about the last thing we need is another opinion piece on this or that, so I’ll keep this brief.
All I ever want is the truth.
I believe that for quite a while now, particularly the last twelve years, we’ve been told a lot of lies or at best half-truths by powerful groups and individuals in and around our government, and these excesses led to some really bad policies. On a wide variety of important subjects.
I won’t recount a list here—you probably have your own, and we can compare them some day. But here’s one I came up with a few years ago: Looking for Truthful Leaders.
For now I believe that with Trump’s election and his early actions, for the next two to three months quite a few corrections and actual truths are going to be revealed. I suspect that this process will at times be messy, imprecise and potentially unpleasant for many.
Fixing real problems, like the mess caused by the millions of illegal immigrants, will have its unhappy moments.
I’m sure I will disagree with some of the specific actions taken.
But on balance the process will be good, and ultimately healing. We should let it happen. The sooner the better.
I think of it as The Great Common Sense Reset, when common sense will come flooding back to level the playing field again, and people will be allowed to simply live their lives without some government program pushing them this way or that way to believe something which clearly does not make sense.
My hope is that some of our friends and family who were inclined to believe or to ignore the previous lies will start to feel good about letting common sense take over again. That will be a great day!
So, hold on tight. Be civil. Always advocate for the truth and for common sense, but don’t push too hard with any one person at any one time.
Ask questions. Listen. Offer suggestions. Practice humility. Ask more questions. More humility. But always advocate for common sense and the truth.
Remember that many people whom we love have lived in hermetically sealed echo chambers surrounded only by people who think just like them. It may take some time for the good news of truth to have its impact. But it will. It always does.
And recall what Albert Barnes famously said about truth: “Truth is simple, and delights in simple statements. It expects to make its way by its own intrinsic force, and is willing to pass for what it is worth.” Sometimes truth is slow, but it is also powerful, like the tide, or the change of seasons.
If we come out the other side of The Great Common Sense Reset with truth and common sense as our guiding principles again, we’ll be in a much better place to work out our remaining differences with reasonable compromises and good will.
May it be so, and soon.
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