Civility in time of crisis….

More Than Halfway  by Barbara Helvey Hughes, 8-18-2020
 
How can it possibly be August, already?  The END of August!  What a year 2020 has been so far!  It’s all too easy to look at the world right now and focus on the sadness, the losses, the calamities and chaos which seem to come at all of us in waves.  None has been spared as we’ve all faced what seems like impossible circumstances, and especially those who have lost Loved ones in the midst of it all. 
 
We pit one against the other without real thought of what we’re saying and doing to each other.  I wonder where civility and kindness have gone and it seems to me, at least, that we have thundered down into baseness far, far more than ever before in my memory.  It saddens me.
 
With the advent of the internet, I’ve watched as people I Love engage in mean-spirited behaviours I thought I’d never see from certain people.  I’ve had to monitor my own words and behaviours, constantly, because for some odd reason politics and religion seem to possess the ability to make many of us react, instead of respond when, in fact, taking just a couple of moments to stop, breathe and think would make all the difference in the world.
 
So, as I make a personal decision to stay out of the far right or left politically/religiously pitched posts on Facebook, if YOU (a Friend) have posted it, please know that my non-response is no indictment against YOU or your beliefs.  I’ve decided, after the past few weeks of facing more and more insistent and aggressive Facebook posts, that I will do my best NOT to respond with words I know full well will hurt others, unnecessarily challenge their beliefs, rankle them or raise their ire. 
 
Life is way too short to think we can EVER convince another to our way of thinking by posting something on Facebook, and I’d rather NOT be friends with someone I could convince so easily!
 
Differences make us use our brains!  Anger makes us become sick with all kinds of life-threatening illnesses! 
I LOVE all of you. 
Please try to keep your posts thoughtful, as wise as possible, factual and kind as well as CIVIL.  Actions speak louder than words so if you’re adamant about something, get out there and work for your cause. 
Love is the language spoken here.