LETTER TO EDITOR:

If I told you I like oatmeal, would you talk to me?

What changes if I told you I don’t believe the Republican party is God’s party, and not even the lesser of two evils?

I’m 22 and I’m told I’m young. I don’t know much about the world, but I thank God for grace because it means I get to keep learning. One of the ways I get to keep learning is through a group of friends. We’re not too diverse in age, ethnicity or ability but are diverse in other ways: a couple far-right Republicans, a couple far-left Democrats, a gay man, a straight couple, some proudly Christian, some more often skeptic, and a lot of other ideological differences but we’re all grounded in community. And no, we don’t disregard our differences.

We talk about them.

But they never define us. Those talks build us and shape us into better people and what I’ve learned is this: when we make a belief more important than another person’s story, we pervert that person. You see, it is much easier to give someone the finger (which doesn’t have to be visible) then to start a conversation. But like a wound, our collective healing is found in coming together; in hearing each others’ stories. And if you’re nodding along, thinking, “Yes, we need more kindness”, then you’re not getting it.

Because we need courage.

Courage never starts with “them” doing what they need to do. It starts with “me”. It means going out of my way to actually listen to someone else. It means challenging my own beliefs, allowing myself to be wrong. It means questioning. It means I put down my shaking finger and look internally. And I get that that’s scary because if we’re honest, the person we’re afraid of being wrong the most is not “them” but “me”.

Brody Hed

Becker, MN