I just finished Fractured Lands: How the Arab World Came Apart, the recently published New York Times Magazine behemoth about the Middle East by Scott Anderson. It goes back as far as the Iraq war and ends in present day with the refugee exodus, following 6 people from Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Libya.

I’m so saddened by the deterioration in the value of life and by America’s huge role and responsibility in it. But even more so I’m saddened as a fellow inhabitant of this earth that people just like me live with such dark pasts and face such grim futures. It’s quite impossible to put into words.

One passage in the article’s epilogue particularly struck me. In it the author is reflecting about his 18 months traveling and researching for the article.

It struck me because even though we don’t face struggles of the same magnitude on US soil, vigilance to defend our values remains so important. Donald Trump’s views threaten so much of who I believe we are and should be as people. When we speak hatefully, purposefully sow division, and promote discrimination with our speech and policies, we threaten the delicate fabric of our civilization. Furthermore we don’t respect the basic truth that all of us have value, not just as Americans but as people.

It’s more complicated than speaking kind words. We have so much work to do to understand each other and then reflect that understanding in the way we build our societies. The disaffected and marginalized have a voice and we as the powerful and elite (I speak for myself here) must find ways to promote and hear those voices. I guess what I’m hoping for is that we keep searching for ways to honor those voices that promote tolerance and love.

Take some time to read this article. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments about what it brought up for you. I know I sometimes feel as if there’s not much I can do, but I think today I’ll try to sow goodness with my words and recognize the ways in which I’m so much more similar to those around me than I am different. Then I’ll go from there.