Remember to be Kind … And Forget to be Angry

@bethvogt

Did you hear about former president George W. Bush sitting next to talk show host Ellen DeGeneres at an NFL football game this past weekend between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers?

There was quite a Twitter controversy about it. People were upset, wondering why a gay Hollywood liberal was sitting next to a conservative Republican president.

DeGeneres talked about it on her self-named afternoon talk show. A lot of truth laced with her trademark humor. I applaud what she had to say:

“… I’m friends with George Bush. In fact, I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have. We’re all different and I think that we’ve forgotten that we’re all different …. When I say ‘be kind to one another,’ I don’t mean only the people that think the same way you do. I mean be kind to everyone. It doesn’t matter.”

Here’s the thing: I know people who would sit beside George W. Bush at a football game. And I know people who would sit beside Ellen DeGeneres – maybe hoping for a chance to pull some dance moves with her. I also know people who would sit between them, excited to talk to both Bush and DeGeneres. And I know people who wouldn’t enter that private box (they were invited to the game by the owner of the Dallas Cowboys) because either Bush was there or DeGeneres was there.

As DeGeneres pointed out, somehow, someway, we’re forgetting that we’re all different. Or maybe we’ve made our differences a bad thing. (I may get some comments on that sentence.) Let me clarify: We may not agree with someone’s life choices, but does that mean someone is so different from us that there’s not enough kindness to bridge the gap stretching between us?

Which brings to mind an extraordinary act of kindness that made the news last week. Police officer Amber Guyer received a hug from the brother of the man that she’d been convicted of killing. A hug and words of love.

Kindness? Yes. An act of grace? Absolutely.

BE KIND TO EVERYONE.

Nowadays we seem to so easily forget how to be kind – but we have no problem remembering how to be angry.  

Let’s not leap past these media moments like sound bites to be debated – applauded or criticized, depending on your viewpoint.

Let’s remember this: Kindness. For everyone.

 

Remember to be Kind ... And Forget to be Angry http://bit.ly/2MCz8EP #bekind #perspective
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'Always be a little kinder than necessary.
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