What is a treasure that’s been lost?

I’m not sure I can give a simple one-word answer, that one word could convey the entirety of what I believe we’ve lost. As Americans, I believe we’ve clung too closely to the “stick to your guns,” rugged individualist archetype. In doing so, we’ve lost some other key elements of what my college professors might have called the “American Character.” Abraham Lincoln referred to them as “the better angels of our nature.” Reason. Respect. Compassion. Civility. Tolerance. Acceptance. Compromise.

If I got all my news and information from social and mass media, I could easily believe that arguing had become the new national pastime.

I know enough history to understand that there was never a time when Americans agreed on everything. The good old days never really existed. Even the earliest settlers argued over religion and the law. And the Founding Fathers found plenty to argue over. Slavery, for example. That argument continued, resulting in the Civil War. A different conflict came in the 1960s, with protests against the Viet Nam War.

The last few years have been a challenge, especially when our elected officials feed the divisiveness with disinformation, and incite rancor and violence. But somehow America got through those earlier rough patches.  In each case, we realized that a society cannot survive in a state of turmoil. We agreed to disagree and moved on. I hope and trust we can do so again.

To that end, I will continue to curate my social media feeds and block people whose posts are unkind, hateful, or simply stupid ill-informed.  I will be grateful that when I look at my close friends and family–at my neighbors–I can see goodness and kindness are alive and well in them. They are my vaccine against the dark side. They are my treasure. They give me hope that love is more contagious than hate and that what is lost may be found.