Flying above the clouds

I like to think of myself as being very grounded. I tend to notice things from differing viewpoints and while I may not always agree with those points I do acknowledge their presence and respect them as much as I can.

This latest round of Georgia elections has me puzzled. Or maybe dismayed is the better word. I do not understand how someone thinks that an ad pointing a rifle at a teenager is acceptable regardless of the platform. It gave me pause and I am not completely against the right to bear arms.

I am trying to figure out exactly when our elected officials turned from being the voice of their constituencies to being the voice for individual power. Or maybe I just had not been paying close enough attention most of my life. Perhaps when it happened does not matter. The fact that it happened is of greater concern.

If those we have elected do not speak for us who does? Or must we constantly rely on being arrested for protesting, posting outrageous incidents on social media, and writing letters to the editor to be heard?

When will running for public office be available for those who cannot pay the high filing fees, party dues, get advertising dollars, and whatever else is necessary to simply run a campaign? I hear the argument that not everyone should run for office. Okay, that is true and it is even more true for some of those who have the means to run and do.

I do not have the answers. All I can do is give my students the platform of a safe space to talk about our differences. To talk about those things that make us uncomfortable. To share experiences that have jaded us and those that have made us whole. The least I can do is listen and not react, not flinch, not roll my eyes, and not speak. This is how I learn. This is how I instill trust and respect. Only then am I able to ask the questions that often pierce the depths of ugliness and prejudice. And even that does not always work.

Where is the table where we sit to talk about what is not working? How do we come to together to make this nation better for ALL OF US? Why is doing a good deed considered heroic? Why isn't it normal behavior?

I do not have the answers. I just have tons of questions. And every now and then I get the opportunity to see the world from a different vantage point like above the clouds. Above the clouds with the sun rising. From this point everything seems beautiful.