Tuesday morning thoughts

My eighth grade graduation picture. We usually had pictures taken in school in the fall, so this picture is 50 years old, give or take a couple of weeks.

In eighth grade, we had to write a research paper. This was in the old days, so trips to the library were involved, and microfiche, and index cards, and all kinds of wonderful tedious research.

The topic I chose for my paper was the generation gap, and the title I gave my paper was "Why Must We Build Walls Instead of Bridges?"

Here I am fifty years later, still wondering the same thing. I am still flummoxed as to why we humans spend so much time separating and segregating ourselves from each other.

Why is it so easy for so many to focus on our disagreements and build a wall instead of focusing on our commonality and building a bridge?

I take comfort in the fact that thirteen year old Anne Marie and sixty-three year old Anne Marie both want the same things. A world where peace is more valuable than war, where harmony is more valuable than discord, a world where love is more valuable than hate.

What is it about humans that we gravitate towards fear and distrust? Why are we so easily convinced to fear, and then to hate those who are not in agreement with us, or those who don't look like us, or those who are from a different place than we are?

It amazes me that so many who profess to believe in a divine higher power also feel comfortable hating the creations of that divine higher power.

My spiritual orientation is founded in the Catholic teachings of my youth. One of the profound teachings was that we are all Children of God, and God lives in all of His creations. It is our job to find that Godliness, that holiness in our fellow beings, and reach out to that holiness. There is no room for hate in that ideology.

When I try to see God in all of His creations, I'll be honest, some people really challenge me. If I can't find God, I pray for the person, and for myself. And I try desperately to not hate. Because hate occupies a space where love should reside.

Why DO we build walls instead of bridges? Do any of you have any good answers? Am I alone in wanting a world where love is the answer to all the hard questions?

I am going to keep trying to lead with love. I am going to keep believing that those of us who value harmony over discord will keep on trying to lead by example. I am going to keep praying for peaceful solutions, and an end to war.

The characters who inhabit my novels feel the same way I do, and I can create stories that show how wonderful a world it can be when people lead with love. I hope in some small way, reading my stories will help others see how beautiful the world can be when communities band together to lead with love.