We were a varied group and would go in myriad directions later in life, but on that bright summer day we sang it as one voice and raised the roof of the auditorium. It inspired us all.
Today as I write on Martin Luther King Day I’m thinking about Inauguration Day when this column will be published. Never have we all needed to sing “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” together more than now.
There is much hate all over our country right now; Hate of the outgoing or incoming president, hate for the confusion and disagreements during the election, hate for the counting methods, hate for the challenges, hate for the part of the country that voted differently. The condescension and talk of getting even disgusts me.
All this does not make for a happy world.
Our comedy and entertainment, which used to give us respite from stress, has been invaded by hate. Half of us laugh; the other half changes channels or turns the television off.
There was violence four years ago when Trump was inaugurated and I don’t want to see that happen again. I sincerely hope there is no violence today. I hope it all goes smoothly.
It is going to take us all a long time to heal.
The current climate in Washington DC is wearing me out.
We can argue about things on the national stage and alienate our neighbors. Or we can spend our energy locally where it can do some good. What do you think?
In the past I have interviewed people volunteering at organizations, non-profits and clubs with their focus solidly on their mission. Since I’d seen the bumper stickers in the parking lot, I knew the volunteers were not all in the same political camp, but that didn’t matter to them.
On that day at that event they were all just happy to work together to reach their goal of feeding lunch to the children, teaching local history, maintaining a historic structure, keeping food on the shelves of the food pantry, creating a beautiful flower bed, putting on an exciting parade, stirring the apple butter kettles, and making sure the local kids get to see Santa.
These volunteers may have voted for the other guy, but they also have common local ground that they share with neighbors.
We all need to seek that common ground.
It seems like a good idea to solve the problems in our own backyards before going national.
Let’s stop attacking each other and combine our energies to pack the shelves of the food pantries, and build those habitat houses. We have to get Covid-19 under control. We all need to work in concert to keep our historic buildings open and well maintained. Our community has so many needs.
Standing on the hard concrete beside our neighbors we will run concession stands at sporting events and clear tables at the fish fries. In cars or on motorcycles we will participate in toy runs. We will take our turns as greeters at church or act as docents at our lovely local venues, we will shop for the sick, and volunteer to help teachers at school or parents struggling with distance learning.
As our finances allow, we will buy cookies and popcorn from the scouts, and fruit from the FFA. We will donate to non-profits and churches, and support local businesses to help them survive the pandemic.
Let peace in America begin again with us working side by side for the good of our community, as we tolerate and accept each other’s differences and beliefs.
Let’s show them in DC how working together is done, how tolerating differences is possible, and how much can be accomplished if we set politics and hate aside and focus on loving our country and one another.
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