Thoughts from Home…

In some way, I think all of us are connected to a place that we feel is home. For me, although I've lived in 5 different states and traveled and lived abroad, home for me will always be nestled between rolling hills at the edge of a beautiful lake in New Hampshire. I know that description might sound idyllic and in some ways, it is a place that inspires thoughts of a simpler life, but the reality is, 'home,' wherever that might be, brings with it the good and the bad.

So here are some thoughts this week from home with a few connections to DC topics:

This week, my father sent an editorial article by Ellen Goodman that was published in a New Hampshire paper, the Concord Monitor. The title of the article caught my attention - "What if Gandhi, Obama did dinner?" This is a good, if somewhat odd question and it stems from President Obama's answer to the question of who would you most like to have dinner with, alive or dead? What struck me most about the article is how much it relates to much of what we talk about & try to do here at FCNL. Why should we treat politics as "combat" rather than as a dialogue? It may sound strange in a world-wide culture that is at least somewhat programmed to think in terms of winners and losers, but in reality, wouldn't we all gain something from getting to know our 'opponents'? This thought could be applied to anything, from politics, to the next door neighbor who happens to be an immigrant. So, who would you invite to dinner?

And on this topic of getting to know people for who they really are, I'll just mention that my mother, who has the extremely difficult job of selling health & life insurance during this current political climate told me this week about a string of experiences she had which led her to the following conclusion - that it's never ok for the price of health insurance to cause people immense distress.

Even if we got all of the most brilliant minds, past & present, together in one place (perhaps around a dinner table) I am not convinced that we would 'solve the world's problems.' I am convinced however, that by getting to know each other's stories we have a better chance of being moved to make change.

So, while it may sound as idyllic as my description of 'home' - I wonder if we might all be moved past the 'combative' nature of a win-lose political system if we truly took the time to know not only the 'issues,' but the people and the stories behind them? It certainly can't hurt.

In peace,

~Rachael

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