I am sitting here thinking of a song we used to sing while I was growing up in the Catholic Schools. I’ll see how much of it I can remember.
It’s a new day,
Think new thoughts,
There’s a new way,
Change your hearts,
There’s a new law in the land.
An eye for an eye,
And a tooth for a tooth,
That’s what the law once said,
But there’s a new law, a new law:
Love one another instead.
This seems as relevant today as it did, back in the early and mid seventies, as we were dealing with issues of race, sex, and wars at that time. Some days I have to ask myself, where is the compassion? Since when did we, as a society, begin to think that it’s too expensive to be compassionate? What exactly do we want from our society?
These thoughts trouble me these days. At dinner last night, our whole family was present. My youngest son loves to discuss politics, and he is struggling to identify with one party over the other. And so we were discussing this. And then I simply asked him, “What do you want for our society? Which party represents what you want in our society?” And a light switch came on. Because in the end, there will ALWAYS be deficits. There will ALWAYS be talk of pork barrel projects, etc. But which party is pointing you in the direction of the world you want to live in and raise your kids and grandkids in? That is the question.
Peace