The Color Purple.

I was visiting friends in Huntsville, Alabama this past weekend. As a part of my visit I campaigned for a friend of mine named Wayne Parker, who is a republican. If you've read previous entries, you know who I voted for. You might wonder, why I was campaigning for a conservative? Simple, I like Wayne.

In Huntsville, I heard a tremendous amount of bashing towards Senator Obama. I didn't argue with them, but I did have similar thoughts stored up towards Senator McCain. Instead, I started asking myself questions. Why do we have such separate opinions? How can we work together? Does it matter who's President?

As I drove north towards Chattanooga I had some time to contemplate these questions. I've lived in both the North and the South, and I've spent time abroad. I've learned how similar we actually are. What is it that separates us? As thoughts raced through my mind, I was reminded of an eastern parables.

"A number of blind men came to an elephant. Somebody told them that it was an elephant. The blind men asked, ‘What is the elephant like?’ and they began to touch its body. One of them said, ‘It is like a pillar.’ This blind man had only touched its leg. Another man said, ‘The elephant is like a husking basket.’ This person had only touched its ears. Similarly, he who touched its trunk or its belly talked of it differently. In the same way, he who has seen (America) in a particular way limits (America) to that alone and thinks that (America) is nothing else."

Conclusion:

The reality is, each of us holds a different, unique & special part of the elephant. The elephant ceases to be an elephant if any part of the elephant is eliminated. May we all recognize at this monumental slice of American and World history, that we each hold a part of the beautiful, creative, determined, mindful, steward, neighbor, and servant, that is America. Unfortunately, we are not blind and we have no excuse.

You, Me and Everyone In Between must learn it's not about the party represented by red or by blue or even green. It's about what happens when those parties combine.

For, quarreling, each to his view they cling.
Such folk see only one side of a thing.