Zoom In

What is it you're never supposed to talk about at a dinner party?  Religion and politics? And if you'd like to commit social suicide, go ahead and put the two together.

Right now it seems that everywhere I turn, that sinister combination is thrown in my face.  I hate politics.  I love my religion.  I hate when the two are put together.  I might be the only Mormon in the land that is not excited about a presidential candidate being Mormon.  Why? Because somehow that gives people the perceived right to take up what's precious to me, string it on a line, and spew out hateful, ignorant, disrespectful drivel all over it. Because apparently Mormons are so weird they don't even have feelings.

However different we all end up in this world, in the beginning we are all the same.  We come to this earth with a body.  There are different colors and sizes, but we come with beating hearts, with the biological desire to live and thrive.  We all need to be loved, to be taken care of, to be accepted, to be respected, to be valued, to be tolerated.

I remember clearly, sitting on a couch in 2003 with a lady at least three times my age.  I was making my way through my Therapeutic Recreation degree and working in an lock-down Alzheimer's unit at a local nursing home.  I had many experiences there that would stick with me and this qualifies as one of  those.  Every hour, we would bring cups of water around to the residents and many required help to drink it.  I was on the couch with this woman.  It was my first attempt to help in this way and to be honest, when it came right down to it, it was not a pleasant prospect.  There was the stink of aged breath and there was drool.  I paused for a minute to gather my gumption.  And then I had the thought, "How would I want someone to treat my mother if this were her?"

And I picked up my cup and did my best not to spill it down her shirt, as she swallowed and swallowed.  She may not have been my mother, but she was somebody's mother.

In every case, it is our perspective that determines our view.  And fortunately, we all have the ability to shift our perspective, however unfortunately, we're not always so willing to do so.  It's like the opposite of a Monet painting. What I mean is this, when you view the world on a macro level, from very far away, people are not people, they are only pieces of a group. They have no individuality, they have no personality, they have no face, they have no hopes, no heart, no family, no dreams.  

Shift your perspective, zoom in a ways, and the details emerge.  Colors become lines, shapes become faces. Faces with eyes, eyes that if you took the time to look into, you might catch a glimpse of the stories of their past and their hopes for the future.  You see a person, who loves and is loved, who may seem very different, but in all of the most basic ways is just like you.

I am not perfect. Mormons are not perfect. Neither are Catholics or Muslims, Republicans or Democrats, homosexuals or heterosexuals. Nobody is.

Your opinions are your own and valid, just as are mine.  I'd just ask for a second's consideration, before ugly or hateful words in regards to another person or group of people, leave your lips or your keyboard, that you zoom in a little closer and let the details come into view.  When you do, I am sure a better way to say whatever you are thinking, will come to mind. Or you might even decide that what you were thinking doesn't really need to be said at all.