I have some friends that are hard-core democrats, but not necessary politically correct. COVID actually limited our discussions. I miss those hours of exchanging of our thoughts. The most important thing for us was to be able to listen and understand different points of view. They know that I am a conservative, not a Republican. I know they are more progressive. The one thing we discovered is that those people on the top do not really represent the people on the bottom. All of us are against abortion, but at the same time we see the need of solutions for the modern social problems. We can criticize each other, but at the same time we recognize many good things. How is this possible? Because we have mutual respect and dialogue.
I notice that sometimes when I am harsh on my blog the number of views goes up, but when it is more of a reflection, fewer people look at it. One thing we definitely have to avoid in this time - we cannot fight each other, but rather we have to talk. This dialogue cannot be an emotional river of words, but it has to be built on mutual understanding. We learn this from Jesus Christ. I do not agree with many things on both sides of our political arena, but it is important to listen to both sides to find where there is error.
"The message of the Cross is folly for those who are on the way to ruin, but for those of us who are on the road to salvation it is the power of God." (1Cor 1:18) I think those words of St. Paul actually show us what the problem is. The more our decisions are based on us, separated from the truth of God, the more we are divided and lost.
If there is something that we can really offer to this world, it would be the Word of God, the teaching of the Church. I am especially pointing out the teaching of the Church, because even if we are not perfect and falling into sin, the Church is always on her way to God. Throughout history we have had horrible events in the Church, but God always purified his bride and made her clean again.
I'm encouraging you today in how to make a dialogue, how to listen and talk. If you know someone who has a different opinion from you, just try to bring the universal truth of God with the same love as Jesus did when he taught the people in Jerusalem.