America is going through a tough time right now. A divisive election reaches right down to the guests around a holiday table, family members staying in touch on Facebook, friends who think differently. This election impacted my own friends and family in painful ways. It will take a long time to heal.

I hope to bring a word of peace to comfort the wounded and provide a perspective on how to find peace in an angry world.

Once upon a time in America, people could disagree politically without feeling unsafe. I’d like to think that can still be true. My husband and I have something going for us that saves us a lot of strife in our marriage. You see, each of us wants the best outcome for our decisions, and we’re both willing to give up our own way to obtain it. This requires the willingness to set our differences aside and work together. I won’t say this is always our first reaction. We have lively discussions sometimes but eventually negotiate an agreement.

Submitting to one another in this way fosters peace. This method takes two, but you don’t always have cooperation. What do you do then? When you recognize that someone is not really listening to what you have to say, there’s no point in continuing a debate.  

Some people just want to win, and they don’t care if their thinking is logical. When you sense this, it’s time to abandon the conversation.  You won’t change the other person’s mind by pressing your own point, and you may trigger unnecessary wrath. Once hurtful words are spoken, it’s hard to patch a relationship.

I’ve noticed something interesting while observing people I know well over the last couple of months. An election brings out unresolved emotional issues in our loved ones. Understanding the emotional dynamics for your friends and family can help you navigate around conversational landmines.

I believe that forces in both the physical and spiritual world want to tear America apart by rousing its citizens to turn on one another in anger. A nation divided cannot stand.

Advice on how to heal the rift in our nation, one person at a time, comes to us from an ancient source–the Bible.

Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21 WEB)

I for one intend to live in peace, as far as possible within my power. 

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