I have a confession to make...I deliberately try not to think too broadly about the larger world I live in today. To do so is to invite an insidious fear into my psyche that threatens to destroy the fragile framework from which I now operate. Despite my effort to ignore the ‘grand scheme of things’, sometimes I cannot avoid it; during those moments I’m left wondering, then worrying about the legacy my children are inheriting…
Once those thoughts start rolling, it’s hard to shut them down; my concerns encompass all facets of their lives, from education and employment to family and financial security. Surely I’m not unusual in feeling this way; the world appears vastly different from the way I remember it being when I was their age…
Anti-American riots and protests across the globe seemingly have increased; burned flags are the very least of our worries in light of the rampant hatred of Americans being telecast around the clock. How long will it be until the next act of terror occurs, as outrage against us continues to escalate?
I am dumbfounded by the widespread lack of tolerance and disdain for viewpoints and/or lifestyles differing from our own. It appears we are incapable of coexisting with anyone who doesn’t perfectly agree and align with our own opinions, positions and decisions. Whatever happened to agreeing to disagree?
I would argue that inflammatory sound bites and biased news snippets drown out the voices of common sense and reason; rather than presenting the facts in their entirety and allowing us to draw our own conclusions, selective editing of information occurs by the media and politicians beforehand, as if we are incapable of clear thinking and decision making independently anymore. The phrase ‘When I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you’ comes to mind…
When did we allow old discriminatory labels and groupings (political views, religious beliefs, gender, race, orientation, etc.) to divide us again and eclipse one important fact: that we are all Americans? Don’t we all fundamentally want the same things? Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…
Unemployment remains high without any real hope for decreasing soon; we have moved from manufacturing and producing to consuming and servicing… The staggering amount of debt our nation carries is growing exponentially by the minute, just as the cost of everything continues to climb, putting pressure on everyone to work longer and harder simply to survive, all while struggling to do more with less...
And then children are murdering each other without reason or remorse; in a neighborhood not far from mine, a teenager was shot to death in his own front yard by four others for merely having appeared to slight one of them the day before.
We have allowed God to be stripped from our government, our schools, our homes and our hearts; should any of this really come as a surprise?
I cannot imagine how our girls will even come close to achieving the life we presently have, never mind what their children will face, should they ever have any…
It’s a crazy, scary world…
Wishing you many blessings, sunshine and hope…tg
Tammy will update her blog twice weekly…
