I’ve been musing on a new space for the thriving life in the midst of these confusing times. We can choose it…or we can stay polarized. Maybe I’m a dreamer (true), but I envision a healthy space for those fed up with the madness. We know what we don’t want, so our task is defining what we DO want. Liberals who are proactive about the poor are called socialists, but they’re welcome here. It’s a safe space to explore the best ways to truly help, not hurt. Conservatives who oppose the former president are called traitors, but they’re welcome here. It’s a safe space to explore alternatives.

It’s a space for practicing Ubuntu. “A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished.”—Desmond Tutu, No Future without Forgiveness

It’s also a space for leaning in regarding race/equity/diversity/inclusion. Exclusion has no place in this garden. All seeds are welcome. Leaning in means making an extravagant effort at mutual respect.

It means returning to good governance, i.e., cooperation over polarization. It means getting our priorities straight. Can you believe we’re fighting about masks? Ten percent of the world lives in extreme poverty (less than $1.90 a day) and we’re fighting over masks? Talk about missing the point! What if we were to turn our attention from infighting to addressing the real horrors of the world?

It’s a space of ubuntu.

Recently in my community, a person stood up at a public gathering and said that one of our elected state officials deserved to hang…and the crowd started cheering. This really is barbaric. It’s a big task to love people away from mob violence and point to a better way, but we’ve gotta try.