I Believe in Parties

In fact, I just came from one. A birthday celebration for a 1-yr old with people from across the cultural/political spectrum. Yes, there were definitely Trump followers along with those who are die-hard Bernie supporters. We gathered for our beautiful grandchildren who, of course, will inherit our world.

It was like the neighborhood picnic I went to last Tuesday evening. Because I live on a blue-collar block where almost every house has a pickup parked in the driveway and there are transients in the duplexes, I was a teeny bit skeptical of a community picnic. Having recently moved from a high-class neighborhood in a very liberal city, I’ve had to do some attitude adjusting. As I looked at my new neighbors, sitting woodenly at metal picnic tables waiting for the chicken and potato salad, I thought very loudly, “What the hell am I doing here?”

Then a guy started up his little one-man karaoke band and began singing in a pretty good voice along with real music tracks from the 60’s and 70’s. Very gradually, here and there, people started subtly moving to the groove. There were smiles, too, as the music propelled aging, out-of-shape bodies into short bursts of gladsome dancing. It wasn’t exactly the ecstatic soul-expression of lithe young creatures dancing at Woodstock. But, still, I pretty much loved every person there.

Can’t you just picture this aging hippie loving everyone?!

We can’t change each others’ outrageous politics. But there’s a strong possibility that our humanity will usher us through these dangerous times — if we keep our hearts open.