Dear Editor:
You say you want a revolution, well we’d all love to see your plan – not your protests. I am not merely talking about the ones downtown on Sunday afternoons, I’m also talking about the ones that happen on Sunday mornings in church hallways where the right wingers get together and mutter frustrations about the liberals.
Each side manages to feign love while demonizing the other. The liberals tout their inclusivism and love while the conservatives their midwestern God-inspired sense of responsibility. The left draws its imagery from the era of civil rights and MLK while the right speaks about spiritual warfare and the devil in the schools. There is an attitude in the air, like an all or nothing proposition; if you aren’t with me, you are the enemy. So, I’ll hold up my sign or put a bumper sticker about my rights on my truck and feel like I have done my part.
Enough. Put your stupid signs down. Enough. Take down the dumb flag that says you voted for Trump. We know and we don’t care. Protests aren’t working. Some will no doubt disagree, “We took the elections last year because of protests and we’ll do it again.” Well and good, but you lost the town. And frankly, winning isn’t enough. Being right isn’t enough. Without love, real and genuine eat together and cry together and work together type love, you have lost – even if your party wins.
This letter is a call for decency, real love (not talk about love), and civil discourse. Chelsea needs to remember or learn some core values again:
First, do no harm. If you find yourself exacerbating the chasm and/or wounding other people, I strongly recommend you press your lips together and keep them that way. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We are ALL tired, bruised, and deeply human. No one wants to be maligned or slandered. Being “critical” has become common in America and we need to learn the difference between critique and critical. The first is redemptive and constructive while the latter proves condemning and divisive. Stop making the problems worse by slandering one another.
Second, we have a lot more in common than we currently act like. Invite someone to dinner and actually talk, you’ll find out. Walk through the town and see the pictures on the walls of living rooms. Everyone is someone’s somebody. We share sidewalks and football games. We all stare fascinated at the does and fawns prancing through our yards. Our kids play together because they haven’t yet learned to be angry and immature like their parents. The person across from you is trying just as hard as you; they have the same 24 hours a day to toil because they share the same sun. I see the same Big Dipper at night over your house that you often see over mine.
Third, civil discourse proves mandatory. We must build bridges through dialogue and build a plan TOGETHER. Your singular talking points and agendas are insufficient. Chances are, your presuppositions are unexamined commitments you might need to be a bit more suspicious of. Critical thought and meaningful communication occurs when your horizons are merged with another’s horizon.
Dialogue expands your point of view because something other than what you brought to the table can take root in your head. Listening is an essential skill. Your ability to easily slay your opponent when talking with your friends is a good indicator you are fighting a straw man. Stop pretending you already understand or have heard “their” point of view. Go back and hear it again – from them. And keep going back and hearing it until you are both friends. Adopt the phrase, “Let’s agree to disagree and still be friends.”
Fourth, love is work. It doesn’t always feel good and it surely isn’t easy. This letter is a call for Chelsea to tap into a love that will not quit. If someone hurt your feelings, oh well. Suck it up buttercup. You don’t get to take your ball and go home. You don’t get to quit being an awesome person just because someone said or did something hurtful to you. In a dispute, the most mature person moves toward reconciliation first, and doesn’t quit trying. Die trying.
Fifth, there are no quick fixes and what we do today will matter in one hundred years – for better or worse. We must stop being reactionary and start being wise. If we want a wonderful, beautiful town for our grandchildren, we must think longer term than instant gratification. Together. We cannot be swayed by trends or fads but deliberate in living by principles and outlooks that have caused humanity to flourish for generations.
The above must guide us as we move forward, regardless of whose platform wins the day- otherwise we all lose.
The party lines are drawn, as evidenced by the political signs dotting every other front lawn in Chelsea. I would like to offer an alternative – a real party . . . in my backyard. My wife and I would love for born again Christians and LGBTQ+, Republicans and Democrats, left and right, pro-choice and pro-life, young and old to bring camp chairs, some hot dogs and drinks, maybe some Apple Cider or desserts and come and hang out for an evening. Not for debate, not as affiliates of ideologies, not as candidates (although I’d love to see them chatting with those running against them around a bonfire together), but as humans. As Neighbors. As Friends.
This is an invitation to all of Chelsea — come to our house for a bonfire. Leave your cell phones and agendas at home. Come and meet your neighbors. Come and join the revolution – be more than a protestor, be a neighbor.
Jeff and Kim Heim’s House 719 McKinley
Sunday Evening Oct. 30 at 6 pm
Right across from North Creek Elementary
And yes, this is real. Please come.
Jeff and Kim Heim
Chelsea
