Is America Really Flying Apart?

The Jones family is large, and they have been talking about taking a special vacation for several years. Finally, the long awaited day came; they loaded the luggage into the rear of their van and headed out. It was a bright, sunny day without a cloud in the sky.
Unfortunately, however, there was a “cloud” inside the van. While they had all looked with great anticipation toward this vacation, half the family was dismayed. The problem was, the long-faced half had wanted to go to the beach, and the other half craved the mountains. The decision was made for the mountains, and off they headed.
Regrettably, the “beach” half just could not reconcile themselves to the fact that they did not get what they wanted, and just could not get over it. What had been long awaited with great anticipation ended up being a miserable week for all involved.
Guess what happened the next time they talked about a family vacation? Nobody wanted to do it; their negative memories of the last week together robbed them all of the desire to attempt it again.
*   *  *  *  *
With our recent national election, are we creating something similar within the greater “American family” today?  There are a lot of disappointed people, a lot of Americans who just can’t get over the fact that Hillary Clinton lost and Donald Trump won. 
Are those Americans who feel this way being unusually un-American? Before we knee-jerk with a “yes” answer, let’s look back eight years, to the election of Barack Obama.  I could not tell you how many people I heard say of him, “He’s not my president.”
Yes, the pushback toward Trump is greater than the pushback toward Obama, but as I just said, start there; and it may be even worse with the next election.  Let’s hope it won’t be. 
Can we please stand back a moment and look at what’s going on? In Charlottesville, an extremely tiny fraction of America’s 325 million people acted out, and the whole nation was up in arms. Shortly after that, a similarly small group of troublemakers caused a ruckus in Berkley, and the rest of the nation piled on, allowing a small group of agitators to add to the negative tone our nation was already undergoing.
The fact is, we have one president, and whether individually we like him or dislike him, he’s the one we’ve got. Unfortunately for all of us, he’s not showing himself able to rise above the fray, and ask us all to just take a deep breath. We’ve got to pray that he will learn to do so, and soon; and we simply have to avoid piling on ourselves.
When we watch and read the news, we must remind ourselves that those hotheads in front of the camera represent only a tiny handful of 325 million of us. Whether the media are intending to do so or not, they, both on the right and on the left, are wagging us around in a very destructive way, and casting a pall over our wonderful nation.
Years ago, our family attended a church in Wildwood Crest under the pastorship of Rev. Bill Wenker. He had worked in Washington, and he had observed demonstrations from time to time. He explained to us that what we saw on television was not what took place in real life. He said that the “demonstrators” would call the TV network, and when they arrived, the “demonstrators” would all cluster together and whoop and holler in front of the cameras.  Then they would all disburse; the whole thing would last a very short time.  Not all demonstrations are like that; I’ve seen real ones in Chicago and New York, but we must be wary of media reports.
What we are going through right now is not unusual in human history, and is why Rudyard Kipling wrote, long before this current frenzy, “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs,…You’ll be a man, my son.”
Back to the Jones family above, we all know how just one negative person can rob us of our joy. Seeing the problem is half the solution. We have to see it for what it is and not allow ourselves to be dragged in. Is America really flying apart? No—Not if we keep our cool.
Art Hall
From the Bible:  If you are sensible, you will control your temper. When someone wrongs you, it is a great virtue to ignore it. Proverbs 19:11