Hi Everyone-I hope you had a good November-Happy December!

If this is your first time to receive this, it's probably because we connected via Social Media sometime recently. If you don't enjoy this, you can "unsubscribe" below.

My apologies for skipping the November newsletter. Our family has been working hard on some building projects.

This letter will be brief. I encourage all of us to do a little self-examination during this last month of the year. I have friends who run the gamut from ultra-conservative to ultra-liberal. Setting aside my belief that our problems are spiritual, not political, I nevertheless ask you to make 2 small but significant changes when making political points: 1) avoid name calling, and 2) don't justify your position by accusing your opponent of doing something even worse than what your side has done. (As my Mother said to me hundreds of times, "Two wrongs don't make a right.")

Instead, take a deep breath and ask, "What is my goal here? Is it to belittle someone who disagrees with me, or is it to make things a little better?" I think if we're honest, we'll admit that we often care more about justifying our own positions than we care about improving our country. We often start out with good intentions, but all too often we degenerate into doing or saying something that will make us feel superior to our opponents. I believe that's a key reason why so many issues are stalemated now.

Does that mean we should betray our values? No, but it does mean we shouldn't abandon the Golden Rule.

If you agree with this, would you please forward this to as many people as you can? Post it on Facebook too. Maybe it will make a difference.

Hopefully,

Steve