If You Hated 2020...You'll Probably Hate 2021

 When my mother-in-law was investigating a new place to live, she asked a realtor familiar with a particular area what the neighborhood was like. She asked, "What are the people like that live there--are they nice?"

The realtor asked a very interesting question.

"Well," she said. "How are the neighbors where you live?

My mother-in-law responded, "I love my neighbors where I live."

The realtor then said, "Then you'll most likely love the neighbors here."

There's a lot of wisdom in what the realtor said.

As the final embers of 2020 cool and will soon die, many are posting thoughts and opinions about the year that was. The consensus is it sucked. And, my most accounts, it did. There were a lot of negatives about the year, quarantines, shut-downs, elections, events/trips canceled, covid, sickness, and death. People can't wait until the clock strikes midnight and a new year (per the calendar...) begins. Most who have expressed dissatisfaction with 2020 hope 2021 is better.

2021 may in fact turn out to be better--for many that would not be difficult, but I think back on the realtor. If you think last year was bad, next year will probably be the same. Even without the sickness, death, and elections, many would have had a tough 2020. Life is tough sometimes.

Of course, I may just be full of it and don't know what I'm talking about. Then again, I may be right after all. I hope I'm wrong--I hope things get better for everyone. The trick will be how we react to whatever comes down the pike. And as with most things, time will tell.

From Boom...To Bust

 With no power at home, I had to dress professionally (collard shirt, no jeans...), get in my car, and drive to the building where I once worked, where I used to dress professionally, get in my car, and drive every work day.

It's been a while.

And, boy--how things have changed.

My first thought, as I turned at the traffic light on my way to the office is, "I'm going to have to park in the far lot." I was several hours late. We hoped the power would come back on, so I waited a few hours in the morning before I decided to drive into work.

When I pulled into the parking lot, I realized I didn't have to park far away. In fact, I could park almost anywhere. The lot was practically empty. And when I went inside, the shock continued. The place was a ghost town.

That particular call center and I have an interesting history. Back in the day, we could work in local offices, so I worked in Woods Cross, the office closest to me. Then, I moved to Clearfield--the office next closest to me. After executive changes were made, we had to choose to work in one of the newly-created call centers, in Ogden, Salt Lake City, or Provo. Since I live equidistant from Ogden and Salt Lake, I chose Ogden. I had visited the Salt Lake Call Center only a few times and the place was a zoo. So many workers were packed in small cubicles--and the noise. It was just so busy.

Those days may be gone forever.

It was so strange to be in a building that only months earlier was active, busy, involved...basically alive. Now, they even had the lights dimmed for most of the floor. There were a few people working there, but row after row of cubicles were empty. The weirdest thing was passing a cubicle where the worker left all their personal items on their desk and on their walls. The only thing missing was their computer and monitors. It was like they just vanished.

Almost like a corporate rapture had taken place.

Part of what I love about telecommuting is the serenity, the quiet, the peacefulness I experience at home. I've got to say, working in an empty building matched most of those qualities. Still, I don't know if I could get used to it.

It was just too weird.

One Day...One Day

One day...

One day we'll awake from this drunken orgy of hate and realize some basic truths, truths about ourselves and the world that surrounds us.

We'll wake up and realize we've maligned, spit on, screamed at, wished to die people who did not deserve to be treated that way. We'll wake up and realize we believed and acted under the direction of people who used us to further their own power, their own ideology...

Their own hate. 

When our fingers are tired of pointing at everyone else and our voices are gone from screaming hate, we'll realize that through it all, we forgot about God. We forgot about the simplest of commandments--to love one another.

We'll wake up and realize love and hate cannot exist within the same soul.

Of course, by the time reality hits, we'll wake up and mourn the death and injury of innocent people. We'll look back and wonder how we could have become slaves to the hate we cultured, we nurtured we allowed to grow in our hearts. We'll wake up to a world we could not have possibly imagined because hate overtook us, controlled us, caused us to defame and destroy and wound and kill.

There are no winners when hate rules. Hate is not bestowed only one one group. Hate cares not for race or skin color or age or intelligence--it only lives to destroy.

As I've grown older, I've wondered how societies could turn on each other, how educated, rational people could see people different from themselves and condone their destruction. Watching us tear each other apart, I'm beginning to see how it can be done.

Today marks the beginning of the second half of 2020. Will the hate we feel is justified lead to more death and destruction, or will we follow the admonitions of Christ, humble ourselves, and love God with all our hearts...

And then, love our neighbor as ourselves?

Time will tell.

One thing's for sure--we'll one day wake up to a world created by our actions...

And a world we deserve.