Leadership Thought: How My Grand Daughter Would Solve the Political Chaos.

Dear Friends,

My five-year-old granddaughter came up with a wonderful suggestion on how to solve all of the politicking and lawyering up that is now taking place in the aftermath of the most contentious election in modern history. She overheard our family discussing the closeness of the election, and she asked, “Why don’t they (Trump and Biden) get together and share the office? What an idea? Co-presidents would certainly be a novel twist in addressing the chaos permeating our political system. Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi sitting at the table over a cup of coffee and having a “get to know you better party.”

I didn’t begin to try and explain to Reese the magnitude of differences that exist between our two presidential candidates, as I am sure she wouldn’t have understood why getting the two of them to work together would pose more problems than we already have.

We are long past the days when people who hold extreme and divergent views can sit down and respectfully talk with one another without the conversation quickly going south.

My sister-in-law is an independent thinker who I would consider to be a political moderate. Her husband was a career Marine, and she harbors a great love for our military. She shares conservative views on a number of political issues, but she doesn’t toe the party line, and so she supported and voted for Joe Biden. Unfortunately, supporting Joe Biden and voting as she did, has cost her a number of significant friendships, and I feel sad for her.

It seems almost impossible in this politically charged environment to still be friends with people who are different from us and who hold antithetical positions on many of the issues before that are important to us. It is becoming more and more difficult to sit down with such people and carry on civil discourse and still walk away with our friendship intact.

To my way of thinking, the best result of the election, assuming Joe Biden is declared our next president, is that it appears the Republicans will still control the Senate, and there will remain a balance of power in Congress. While this may be good news for some, it may be bad news for others. A continued balance in Congress may be the source of more of the political infighting and gridlock that we have been accustomed to, while fostering an even more toxic environment where little gets done and name calling continues to be an accepted standard of communication.

“No Reese, President Trump and Joe Biden would never be able to  get along with each other, for they are too different.” But what if in Reese’s imaginary world, it happened, and the two of them were able to be respectful of one another, and they forged a friendship and fostered a new spirit of civility. Just maybe such actions would translate into greater cooperation and cooperation into productive collaboration, and surprisingly some things might get done in the halls of Congress. No, we may not see prolife advocates holding hands and singing "kum ba yah" with those who are prochoice, but hopefully we might discover common ground on other less divisive issues. And as a result, some momentum might be achieved that would lead to cooperation that in turn would lead to more significant accomplishments.

Like Reese, I am still dreaming, but wouldn’t it be nice if rather than four more years of a political gridlock, we were able to bridge some of our differences and arrive at some compromises where no one wins everything they want, but where all come out as winners because for once they have finally gotten something done. I think  greater civility and respect for one another would go a long ways in enabling our country to move forward and get back to a sense of normalcy.

What if, in the hope of progress, we could adopt the spirit of Ecc. 4:9-10 that reminds us “That two are better than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help.” 

And what if every political leader had Philippians 2:1 inscribed on their paper weights as a reminder that “If there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participating in Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”

Now these scriptural examples may not be acceptable to everyone but if enough Christians in Congress began to live out their faith and embrace it, just maybe the spirit of compromise and collaboration might catch on and who knows what might happen?

In closing let me suggest that each of us brings this model of civility to our own front door. We may not walk the aisles of Congress, but we do walk the streets of Red Bank, and Shrewsbury and Middletown and Little Silver, and we can model this kind of civility at home, in church, in school, and at work, and who knows but what this kind of spirit might catch on and before long we will have established a "Civility Movement" that will change our nation. Like Reese, I would like to pray and dream that might happen.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom