“Mental health is a dedication to reality at all costs.” – M. Scott Peck
I can’t believe it’s been this long since that fateful day. I was up to my elbows in social media pugilism right about this time five years ago. With people that I still call friends to this day.
It was a day that a bold, red, historical line was crossed by over 2000 fellow Americans – many of them brothers and sisters in Christ – and millions more applauding.
What was unthinkable became real. Violence became a plausible response to unwanted political outcomes.
Having blissfully forgotten that this was not untrodden territory for us, I grieved the death of my flawed understanding of our country.
The unthinkable seems to keep unfolding in the days and months since – exponentially accelerating in the past year as fear has been leveraged and the art of peaceful debate and persuasion has given way to coercion and domination.
But the current mess we find ourselves in is not what I’m talking about today.
In keeping with Dr. Peck‘s definition, there is a reality that I feel bound to reiterate:
The U. S. Capital was sacked five years ago; motivated by an assertion that has never been widely proven.
But that assertion was merely a vehicle fueled by the fear of many and leveraged by the cynicism of power of many political persuasions.
“We are losing our way of life…”
And when people are that scared, they do silly and destructive things to themselves and everyone around them.
My prayer is that we embrace the much larger Reality that, ultimately, we are perfectly safe because of God‘s great love for us.
And when that Reality comes into focus, we can yield the power that we have to the long term good of others.
Violence is not the way.
Unselfish service to others is.
A Commitment to Reality…
“Mental health is a dedication to reality at all costs.” – M. Scott Peck
I can’t believe it’s been this long since that fateful day. I was up to my elbows in social media pugilism right about this time five years ago. With people that I still call friends to this day.
It was a day that a bold, red, historical line was crossed by over 2000 fellow Americans – many of them brothers and sisters in Christ – and millions more applauding.
What was unthinkable became real. Violence became a plausible response to unwanted political outcomes.
Having blissfully forgotten that this was not untrodden territory for us, I grieved the death of my flawed understanding of our country.
The unthinkable seems to keep unfolding in the days and months since – exponentially accelerating in the past year as fear has been leveraged and the art of peaceful debate and persuasion has given way to coercion and domination.
But the current mess we find ourselves in is not what I’m talking about today.
In keeping with Dr. Peck‘s definition, there is a reality that I feel bound to reiterate:
The U. S. Capital was sacked five years ago; motivated by an assertion that has never been widely proven.
But that assertion was merely a vehicle fueled by the fear of many and leveraged by the cynicism of power of many political persuasions.
“We are losing our way of life…”
And when people are that scared, they do silly and destructive things to themselves and everyone around them.
My prayer is that we embrace the much larger Reality that, ultimately, we are perfectly safe because of God‘s great love for us.
And when that Reality comes into focus, we can yield the power that we have to the long term good of others.
Violence is not the way.
Unselfish service to others is.