Playing in the Shambles

214 lb today. That’s 90 pounds less than my peak, which was a bunch of years ago. I don’t remember exactly when; I suppose I could ask my doctor.

The President is not foreign-born. He is not a “secret Muslim”, and he is not some sort of enemy of the people. He is an American who loves his country–our country–and wants to help make it a better place; a stronger place; a safer place.

Most of all, he is our President, and he deserves our support. It is fine to disagree with him, in fact that is to be encouraged. It is not fine to despise him, or to consider him an enemy. He has done nothing, in the seven months he has been in office, to deserve this.

Republicans and Democrats can, will, and should disagree. We must also always remember that we are first Americans, and our efforts, our conversation, and even our disagreements must serve the common good. Anything else serves only our common enemies. We are not each other’s enemies. It can only delight the hearts of our true adversaries when we fail to remember this.

Our adversaries, whoever and whatever they may be, often seek to use fear against us. Fear clouds our minds and confuses our thoughts. Fear leads us to lash out blindly without proper consideration of the consequences.

Whatever one may think of the Bible, heed this: perfect love casts out fear. Who among us knows perfect love? Yet we can hardly do better than to regard each other, and, yes, ourselves, with love rather than fear, or hate born of fear. Even when we disagree, however strongly, we must always remember the ties that bind us together, our fraternity, our kinship as Americans. When love is at the root of our thoughts and our actions, we begin to possess the greatest antidote to the errors of fear, hate, and malice. We must practice daily extending our love to one another.

We must include our President in this, as well.

What a surprise, especially since I haven’t been walking lately. Of course, that means this could be partly, or fully, loss of muscle mass. Still, it’s a lower number and I’ll take it.