Looking forward to a brave new year

Today on this page, you will read opinions for and against the president of the United States.

These missives join the hundreds that have been published on Press opinion pages since Donald Trump was sworn in nearly three years ago. It is fair to ask:

How many of those letters have given you pause, caused you to reflect thoughtfully on your support of or opposition to this particular president?

How many have made you angry, determined to dig deeper into your red or blue bunker?

This is not a criticism of the letters. The pro- and anti-Trump letters to the editor are likely fair representation of the world we live in today: divided, with far less effort to reconcile than to ridicule.

That’s not going to change because we toss out an expired calendar and replace it with a new one. But the way we react to what comes our way can change, at least a little, depending upon our attitude. And attitude starts with recognizing the difference between opponents and enemies.

For instance, the men and women in the trenches across the battlefield from you are not evil. They do not seek the destruction of whatever you believe in. They see the world differently than you do and would shape its course accordingly.

They do not need to be “educated” to agree with you, a pompous presumption that drives division. They see the world differently than you do with perspectives chiseled from the hard rock of different experiences than yours.

They have far, far more in common with you than you might be willing to acknowledge. They love freedom. They want tomorrow to be better than today. They care about others. They want food on their table, a roof over their heads, shoes on their children’s feet. They like to laugh. They seek security. They might just see the world differently than you do.

We stand on the first step of a new year, the first day of 2020. May our united vision be as clear.