Dilemma

Friends,

I grew up in a small crossroads rural town in Ohio in an era of familiar homogeneous communities. I knew everyone up and down both sides of town. The graduating class was forty people. Yes, that was the idyllic, provincial, and in so many ways naive 1950s that we are now in the process of reconciling with in reality. But it was, in fact, a way of life that supported caring and kindness for most of us. 

This week I received a lovely note from one of my high school classmates who was responding to my recent Saturday Evening Post in which I wrote that especially during difficult times it is important that we simply need to rely on the best of our personal values of caring, however they have been transmitted to us, that have grounded us through most of our years. And I noted that whenever we are feeling discouraged and despairing we can always choose to live “as if” those values of kindness and respect will continue to sustain us even when many other parts of life seem to be failing. I am therefore grateful for what I learned in my small town childhood. 

In response to my thoughts my classmate wrote that in spite of many changes in our hometown it “still has its caring ways similar to the ones we experienced in our much younger days. There is still a basic goodness in people.” And she cited a recent local news story about how the community united to rescue a distraught trucker and his dog out of simple kindness. And, yes, I thought, in spite of so much street and political violence and divisiveness, there remains an essential decency of spirit in our communities, and I think my classmate speaks from the heart for most of us.

And then I thought of my friend’s father, a much respected civic servant and life-long leader in our community. Like my own family, he was a staunch Republican who served faithfully over the years in various advisory capacities including  president of the school board and was “de facto” (what happens in reality or practice) our town “mayor.” What I most remember about him was his deep commitment to seeking the best for our community, or what I would now describe as a commitment to the common good of us all. Although he must have had some detractors (and I suspect I may have been one of them as time went on!), he was universally considered a decent and much respected leader, and I remain deeply grateful for the importance of his leadership in my own life.

And then I began to reflect on how different his leadership was from the current Republican Party he had so honorably represented. I wonder what he would be thinking about his current party membership. Would the remnant of what his former party be foreign and probably offensive to him, and, if so, what would be his alternatives? How might he be approaching the coming election with integrity? Would he decide to vote the Republican ticket in spite of what likely be a serious breach from the values that defined his civil leadership in the past? Or would he simply not vote? Or could he accept the fact that his vote, like all of ours, is so important that he would just need to vote for someone representing a different party? And I then wonder how many thousands of other decent and committed life-long Republicans are also facing a this common dilemma* and are seeking alternatives to honoring their commitment to the importance of our sacred right to vote?

Ideally a person with this dilemma would find the person in either party who represented their deepest values that have sustained their sense of integrity and patriotic service and cast their vote in that direction. I would dearly like to believe there are decent people out there who are willing to offer themselves to public service in the name of the common good who will offer this kind of credible option for leadership in spite of all the political turmoil.

My classmate’s affirmation that a sentiment of support for the common good and the basic goodness in people is being tested during this election cycle. Although there are many competing claims for our votes based on fear and insecurity, what will ultimately allow us to preserve our future is that we can more solidly claim the values of compassion, nonviolence, and service to the common good. And we need to hold that vision ourselves and support others who share our vision.

Peace,

Tom
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*Dilemma: “A situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives, especially equally undesirable ones"