I started to blog about how we should be careful about judging. About considering two sides to every story. About being considerate of others’ needs and circumstances. About how people need to work together to overcome the ills of society.
Ills like illegal immigration. A hot topic in my former state of Arizona. Ills like homelessness. A hot topic in Memphis, where my son and his wife live. Ills like an every-increasing laziness factor in young people that veteran teachers like me have witnessed over the years. A hot topic among teachers. Ills like the racial tension that still exists despite great strides in civil rights. Ills like the political turmoil in Washington that continues to divide our country. Both hot topics nationwide, as evidenced by the news and frequent Facebook posts.
The truth is, I don’t have a solution to any of those problems. I have my opinions, for what they’re worth. All I know is that I’m not an illegal immigrant seeking a better life for me and my family. I’m not a homeless drug addict/alcoholic in Memphis. I’m not a teenager dealing with a crazy world. I’m not a member of a minority, and I am not a politician.
I get it. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. But maybe our attitudes need to adjust. The hate permeating our society is rampant. We need to have an attitude of “let’s work together.” Consider the other side. If it’s wrong, it’s wrong, but keep hate out of it. In Christian circles, we often say “hate the sin, love the sinner.” I’m afraid Christians, as much as non-Christians, are guilty of hating the sinner as well.
It’s a joke among my friends about my loving Elvis. I was out of step with my own peers when I became an Elvis fan. I was seven years old when our family went to see an Elvis movie. It was “Girls, Girls, Girls.” My grandmother was shocked, scandalized. But I loved that movie. Why? He sang to two little Hawaiian girls, and I was impressed by that. Wow, that nice, good-looking man was being nice to kids! Then my 16-year-old brother got the album soundtrack. I played it on his record player over and over until I knew every song by heart. The love of his music never left me. I never thought of him as the boyfriend I would like to have. He was old enough to be my father, and remember, I was a kid, still playing with my Chatty Baby. But I loved his cheesy movies, his songs, and his rags-to-riches story. To this day, when I am going through a bad time, I will listen to an Elvis song or watch one of his movies, and I am in a happy place. Crazy, I know.
Having explained all that about Elvis, I wanted to share a video that expresses the idea I am putting forth today. When I first heart Elvis sing this, it made an impression on me that has never left. How I wish we’d be kinder to each other. How we’d try to work through our differences in a communicative way instead of attacking each other. How we could discuss, in a rational way, how problems could be solved instead of offending the majority of Americans by not standing for the flag, the emblem of men and women who have fought and died for the freedom to not stand for that flag. How our leaders could be rational and try to understand the concerns of their constituents without attacking via tweets, Facebook posts, and other media. The divide grows ever wider.
Like I said, right is right and wrong is wrong. The problem is sometimes we won’t consider the other side. Maybe the world would be a better place if we did.
Here’s hoping this video uploads correctly!
Life As I know it 