Friendship Over Politics
It’s been a tough, stress-fraught year for most of us. Not what we imagined as we belled-in a Happy New Year on January 1, 2020.
All the disagreements about the Election and voting fraud, and Covid-19 and isolating for the Holidays and wearing masks have us ending the year with lots of relationships, as well as the fabric of the country, pulling apart. But it doesn’t have to be this way. My friend Celeste and I decided to look deeper into what matters in our lives—something beyond the news headlines and politics:
It’s the middle of the night. I’m cross-eyed with claustrophobia brought on by the “coziness” of my hotel room in Montreux, Switzerland. Heaped atop this emotional dysfunction is a heart-twisting panic attack. In the morning, I’ll be coaching a group of hardheaded, recalcitrant do-gooders who believe their mission to save the world excuses all manner of rude behavior. I’m alone, with an ocean between me and home. All in all, I’m in a pretty negative space.
Time to phone a friend—Celeste. We are each other’s lifelines when our roads get rocky. More specifically, Celeste (and her husband) is my ask-the-universe-for-help lifeline.
While it’s the middle of the night for me, it’s not too late to call Celeste where she lives in The States. I know I can call to share my angst and ask her to send me a prayer. She does. Within moments I’m fast asleep. Released from the misery I’d been buried under moments before.
I later tell Celeste she needs to pitch a big tent and share her unfettered connection with prayer with the whole world.
In today’s political climate, Celeste and I are unlikely friends. Our political posts are so far apart, we often laugh that folks might think one of us is a spur-booted Texan always ready for a range war and the other a Californian blissed out on sunshine and waving a placard for a “socialist” America.* But Celeste and I never let politics ruin a beautiful friendship. When I die, it’s Celeste who’ll tie up the loose ends of my life and take my ashes wherever I want them thrown on this earth. I trust Celeste with my life—and my death.
*Never let a stereotype influence who you think stands where on any political issue.
A Holiday Wish: I hope Compromise (with a capital “C”) becomes the country’s new battle cry for charging into the New Year 2021
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