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Happy Tuesday!

I’ve heard a lot of speeches in my lifetime and most of them I’ve forgotten. But there is one that stands out. Years later I still have the scribbled notes I took during the speech.

What was so inspiring to me about this particular speech was that it was about politics and love – two words we don’t often put together.

I didn’t know the person who was talking, a man named Van Jones.

He looked at us and said, “In this room we are tearing down social walls.” He began listing all of the ways we categorize each other – race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, etc. – and talked about the divisions we create among ourselves because of our differences.

He pointed out that just by sharing a meal and physically sitting side-by-side we were changing the rules of the game. Historically, “people like us” did not mix and yet there we all were, in a room together.

He stressed the importance of not underestimating the power of simply sitting together, with our differences, as a community. In fact, this was an example of how we could and would build a new kind of politics.

And then he started talking about love. He acknowledged that our hopes for change might seem impossible but, “If you love someone, you don’t have small dreams for them.”

He challenged us to love and to dream big.

Where is the love in our politics today? It’s easy to become lost in the maelstrom of incrimination, accusations and arguments over “facts.” We all have our positions and opinions and rush to defend them. But with everyone in battle stance – what can get accomplished except a fight?

As I notice my thoughts circling in the familiar “us” and “them” mindset I remember Van Jones pointing out the obvious: we are one diverse community sharing life on one planet.

I try to rise to his challenge – can I sit side by side with people who are different from me and love them?