Middle Ground?

by Michele Boy | November 10, 2022

I got to work a little early on Wednesday morning. Since the wind was going to blow 60 mph I got to skip doing my hair because what is the point? Ha!
 I am writing this the morning after the election. Some things went my way, some didn’t and some are still undecided. 
 I see social media posts that make me uncomfortable. If you voted for this then I am no longer your friend. 
I have a lot of people in my life that I disagree with politically, spiritually, etc. But what does that say when we can’t tolerate someone in our lives that doesn’t agree with us wholeheartedly. 
  One day my daughter came to me upset that she didn’t think someone was  her friend anymore because she didn’t laugh at one of her jokes. I said that isn’t a friend, that’s a mirror. 
 Friends disagree with friends. Real friends have conflicts. Do you move past them? Do you grow? 
 Once upon a time I was vehemently opposed to guns and hunting. Today I see things differently. 
But it was because of pushing through my limits and hearing another perspective. 
Once up on a time I was politically far left. Today I see good and bad on both sides of the aisle. 
I don’t think as a country we will move forward until we can mature enough to understand people’s experiences and understandings of an issue. 
 The other piece I think holds us back as a country is cancel culture. If you want a middle ground candidate, you won’t find a ton of choices out there. Why?
Because everyone has a past. Everyone has fallen and gotten back up again but did something or said something in their past that was foolish.  
In fact most middle ground people who have the common sense and the maturity of knowing how to pick their battles, of knowing how to get to the top by giving a little, aren’t allowed today. 
We say they are, but would you let someone take office that had said a racist comment once as a teenager 20 years ago?
When I speak to people one on one, there is far more middle ground than I believe is in mainstream media or in the polls. 
  So I ask you is there someone in your life that you disagree with politically, religiously, or even relationally? 
My marriage has compromise in it. So do my friendships. We allow each other enough room to disagree, to digest what someone said and really see life from someone else’s perspective. 
The inner city mom living in a housing project who wants her  kid to go to school and not get shot on the way by someone with an illegal gun has a different perspective than someone that owns a gun who is protecting their baby calves from coyotes. Someone who lost their child to a school shooting may not see the same value as someone who is fighting to protect their rights as a citizen.
 I have lived through enough experiences to see life more as a prism where many perspectives lead to different conclusions.
 How you voted, who you spoke with, it’s none of it is my business. 
But maybe we give people grace. Or better yet what if we saw each person as a treasure box with wonderful jewels of wisdom inside of us, instead of the “let me tell you how you got it wrong” attitude.
A little more grace, a little less condescension.