A House Divided

Why is everybody so angry?


Over 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln used the words, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” from the gospel of Mark to prophesize what could happen to our country, already splitting apart over the issue of slavery.

And it strikes me how well those words still apply today.

Where so many in our country seem to be so angry, so divided. So ready to jump down each other’s throats, if not actually choke them.

From religion to politics to backup referees, and everything in between, we all seem to pick a side and hold on for dear life, gritting our teeth and our minds against moving.

Then we vent on radio talk shows, post scathing posts, and write Letters to the Editor in all caps.

And I wonder how we got this way.

And why we’re all so angry. So strident. So sure we’re right and the other side is not only wrong, but almost evil.

And I wonder when we’ll remember that we’re all in this together.

That this country is ours. Not yours. Not mine. Not theirs.

Ours.

And I wonder if there’s something in the water. Or if something that was in the water is gone.

Or something that was in our hearts.

So that’s it. No easy wrap-up. Nothing resolved yet.

Just an observation.

We’re angry.

But if this “Great Experiment,” these United States, are going to work, it’s in our hands.

So that, as President Lincoln offered in his later Gettysburg Address, “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”




@Copyright 2013, James R. Warda. All rights reserved.