It’s Election Day In America
Here’s Why I’m Glad It’s Almost Over
Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash
At the risk of seeming judgmental, I’d like to share my observations about the election. Several weeks ago, I received a text from a friend I’d known since college. It read, “Hi! You have been on my mind. Have you chosen a candidate to vote for yet?”
My first thought was, “Dude, pause when agitated.” That’s because I’ve been training myself in not permitting the heat-seeking missile I feel ready to launch in my solar plexus. As a younger man, I let that missile launch far too often, and it would strike people at the core of their existence.
Instead, pausing when agitated enables me to do two things: buy time and breathe deeply long enough to let the emotion pass. Being prone to anger is a deadly sin. It’s known as avarice and comes from judging others, thinking we know better, and all sorts of stupid human tricks we learn from those who know no better.
My parents were great and did their best to teach us core values that kept us grounded. One of our early lessons was that talking with others about money, religion, or politics is impolite. That’s straightforward advice from loving parents who did their best to lead by example.
Doing so leads to division within families, friendships, the workplace, and everywhere we look. Walking Under Dog Jones this morning, I saw the signs on the neighbor’s front yards like most mornings. I constantly remind my judging self to “Love thy neighbor, dude. Love thy neighbor. Judge not, or you will be judged.”
We judge others from a place of ignorance more than watchfulness or being unattached observers. Because of this weakness, we are a nation divided. Look at us on the far left or right. These are extremes that fight like indolent children in full view of the world for anyone consuming mainstream media. And when you look deep inside their caucuses or political action committees, they fight among themselves worse than the Pharisees.
Look at the world today. We’ve learned nothing from the Dark Ages, the ravages of war, inquisitions, or crusades. How can this be? Our stinking thinking, judging, and ignorance have always been the enemy. We war within ourselves, and we unleash our human weakness consciously and mostly unconsciously because we are unaware that most of us are programmed by the matrix of mainstream media.
What’s the solution? We are if we agree we’re the problem. Here is a humble suggestion: Let’s be more self-aware of the cost of judging others. Judging others is not right. It’s unfair and leads to most problems in our homes, schools, and workplaces. It’s as if we have bred a world of war when we know the power of unconditional love and ignore it at all costs.
For example, my best friend and beautiful wife was raised in a liberal family very different from mine. My parents were staunch Republicans who were highly active in our hometown. Both families were as they were because they accepted what their families programmed them to think. That’s the essence of all tradition unless we take the path to question what is, read many books, and develop a sense of what is right and wrong for ourselves.
So be it if my wife chooses to vote for people different from me. She gets to be herself, and I get to be me. She doesn’t judge me, nor I her. It’s a novel concept called unconditional love. The best way to follow that path is to practice loving everything, especially the people, places, and things that set us off. The same is true for friends, coworkers, and neighbors.
You don’t need to be religious to understand the power of the Golden Rule. It’s a simple rule most of us forget, found in all the world's religions. It’s one of the most profound spiritual practices we can attain.
“Treat others as you would like to be treated.” How hard is that?
For the record, I do my best not to judge others. That requires a commitment to be mindful, steadfast, and watchful of my tendency to sin, which means “missing the mark.” I’m a social moderate who volunteers time and money to help our ailing community with causes like being part of a loving church, assisting the crisis with homelessness, foster care, and children who are starving because their parents can’t or won’t feed them.
Extremism is the problem, ladies and gentlemen. As the brilliant Aldous Huxley once said, “At least two-thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity, idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political idols.”
Go for it if you want to ask me about any policy. But don’t ask me about who I’m voting for. Feel free to ask me about my chosen faith, but don’t judge me because we don’t attend the same church. Ask me anything about my work, and I will share freely.
Judging my friend who asked me who I was voting for would be easy. That was my first inclination. But I know she had the best intentions. She is a very loving, kind, bright, and giving woman. I love her unconditionally.
If you want to be revolutionary in a fallen world, practice nonjudgement. Take the path of unconditional love. Pray and pursue serenity at all costs by accepting the many things you can’t control, the courage to change what you can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
In other words, find the middle way. Let unconditional love lead the way. Living in the middle isn’t always easy as a recovering control freak, but it helps me sleep well at night and attracts few enemies.
If you find yourself judging others, consider what Lao Tzu, the author of the Tao Te Ching, once said:
"Avoiding extremes, the wise gain the experience of the Middle Path, which produces insight, calms, and leads to higher knowledge, enlightenment."
I’ll be glad the signs are gone when the election is over, and we can hopefully learn the power of living in unity more than spiteful division due to our ignorance.
I write about the art of human transformation, transcending suffering, and overcoming life’s challenges with transcendent unconditional love and forgiveness. You can learn more about my strategic coaching work and the S.H.I.F.T. process at www.CliffordJones.com.