USA 2020.

I’ll confess. I have lived most of my life fairly ignorant of politics. Politics have always seemed to me a necessary evil, where people go to sell their souls for votes, and they’ll lie to you quicker than an old car salesman.

I’ve always been concerned more on the inner person, how a person feels/ thinks, individually, than with all people as a whole. That seemed like a weight too heavy to carry, a challenge that’s too huge, and uncalled for. There were people who “thought that way,” and I trusted they could take care of the country, as they have all my life.

I had always thought of politics as one big pool of sharks, where you can’t trust anyone, and you just kind of read between the lines, and feel your way to the truth, which may lie somewhere around the middle.

I’ve never followed the people in politics. I would consider my engagement to political debates and happenings as less than average. It only affected me when it affected me, when it was time to vote and everyone had something ugly to say. Sorry to say. That’s how it had always been for me. But it feels like this time, it’s different.

It honestly feels like we are in a life and death situation, in more ways than one. I can’t imagine why everyone can’t see it that way. Perhaps, because it is only life and death to some; and to others, it’s more of a “comfort zone” issue. That’s how I see it.

Let me tell you something. We are one nation. We are all in this boat together. And if you claim to be from these United States, if you put your hand on your heart and pledge your allegiance to the republic, indivisible, under God; and if your neighbor felt like it’s a life and death situation, you would also consider it so, not debate how worthy he or she is of the liberty and justice reserved for all, or judge how they responded when they were denied it.

It feels like we are fighting for our nation’s very soul, and we can’t stand down, those of us who normally don’t engage. Those of us who would rather live and let live. This feels different.

I feel very much between a rock and a hard place. I have friends on both sides of so many debates. I love them all and my heart breaks to see the division that has been wedged between neighbors, friends, families and coworkers.

I am naturally a quiet person. I don’t like to be a bother to anyone. On the contrary, I go out of my way to stay out of people’s way. But this feels different.

There are defining moments in life, the ones where you define the moment, or the moment defines you. You feel them tug on your very heart, and call you to do things you normally wouldn’t do.

I usually only speak up when I feel it’s absolutely necessary, like the conversation could not otherwise find itself toward the middle- toward a harmony- if there’s a peace to be made – or an average to be equated. This feels different.

This feels undeniably, like a time we’re called to speak up. I know most of us who know better, keep quiet for a wide multitude of reasons, the least of which is peace and quiet. The danger is, if we let hateful ignorance become the only conversation, then the whole nation will suffer for it. There isn’t peace. There isn’t quiet. You would think that one voice doesn’t matter. This feels different.