Watching and reading the daily news filled with stories of deep divisions between people and countries, I have asked myself—Will we ever be able to overcome the chasms that divide us? After giving this a great deal of thought, I believe at least part of the answer lies in the simple recognition that we need each other.
I need you, neighbors in China, India, Japan, Ghana, Kenya, Brazil, Mexico, France, Israel, Spain, Syria, Palestine, Australia—and every other country. I grew up, was educated and have lived my 92 years in the United States of America. I am proud of its history, accomplishments and its people. At the same time, we know so little about your particular language, economy, culture and history. I long to learn more about you because I believe you have much to contribute to the family of nations that would enrich us all, and I covet that enrichment for America. I also believe there is much about our life in the United States that you would appreciate if you knew about it. I am eager to share and to have you share with me. I need you.
I need you, Mr. Republican. I’ve been a Democrat ever since Franklin Roosevelt won me over. I’m “dyed in the wool,” so to speak. I am convinced that my religious faith requires that I care about the poor and listen to the ordinary person more than I listen to the rich and important. I believe Democrats stand for that. I am equally convinced that your faith has led you to your Republican ideas and view of life. I’ve been so focused on Democratic ways of thinking that I need to pause and learn from Republicans. So let us open our minds and hearts to each other. I need you.
I need you, Ms. Roman Catholic, Mr. Lutheran, Mrs. Pentecostal . . . and Christians of all stripes. I was reared in a Presbyterian home, graduated from a Presbyterian college and seminary—I’m a Calvinist through and through. As a youth, I was taught that you are wrong and that my beliefs are right. As an adult, I want to learn what God has revealed to you. I am certain that your experience can increase the breadth of my faith, and maybe I have something to contribute to yours. We will never know this while we are apart. So let’s get together. I need you.
I need you, believers who are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Animist . . . and of all faiths.
I suspect you feel the same need for God’s love as do I. We have so much to learn from each other’s religious beliefs and to learn about each other. We are starving ourselves when we should be feasting on our knowledge of one another and our mutual efforts to be faithful to God. Let’s share the sameness and differences—but let’s share. I need you.
I need you Ms. Atheist, Mrs. Agnostic, Mr. “Disbeliever.” We have treated each other with suspicion and disdain for too long. If I discover why you doubt or deny the existence of God, it may make me reexamine my faith. If you discover why I believe in God, you might reexamine yours. In either case, it will open our minds to each other and give us a new appreciation for how others view things. I need you.
My need for knowledge requires that I search for truth—not only as I have learned it, but from others as they have learned it. I talk a lot because I am eager to share the rich experience of my years. However, I also listen a lot because I want to feed on the rich experiences of the lives of others. So I need you!
It sounds idealistic to believe that we will be able to listen to each other when wars continue to divide our world and when the two political parties in the United States build a wall down the aisle of Congress even as my own Presbyterian denomination wages bitter debates over social issues.
Has there ever been a more urgent time than now to put aside our differences in order to gain the benefits available to us from one another’s religious, philosophical and political viewpoints! I need you. We need each other!
© Roland W. Anderson
poetrybyrit 