Don't believe everything you think

In 1994 Chuck and I were – like many people at the time – transfixed by a slow motion police chase in Los Angeles.  Our regularly scheduled TV viewing was interrupted as we watched a white bronco being followed by police cars and helicopters along Santa Monica Freeway.  Eventually, they ended up in Rockingham – the home of OJ Simpson  - where he was arrested for the murder of his wife Nicole and Ron Goldman.

I followed the subsequent trial avidly and when it was time for the verdict, Chuck and I sat in great anticipation like much of America .  After months of this highly publicized trial, the jury quickly came to a decision and Judge Ito declared him not guilty.  We were  - like everyone we knew - shocked because it seemed that the DNA proof was incontrovertible. What was most memorable for me, however,  was watching the reactions on TV from all over the country.  I was particularly struck by the students at Howard University who all cheered when the verdict was announced.

That for me was a watershed event  dramatically identifying the  racial divide in our country. We have different lenses through which we see the world.  I have come to understand  that  people can see the same event and come to different conclusions and different “truths. “

 This is hardly a new idea, I know.  Last week at Bible study we looked at Matthew 9: 32-34.  In this story Jesus cast out a demon in a mute demoniac.  The people were amazed and the Pharisees said his power was   through the devil. Two groups of people see the same event and come to different conclusions.

Now as we face the election tomorrow that lesson is more and more clear.  My beloved Inspector Gamache, from Louise Penny’s novels, writes this sentence on the blackboard as he trains each class of incoming police cadets:

DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU THINK

Too often investigators get invested in one theory too soon and then interpret all evidence to fit that. In other words, our ideas about how things are may be skewed,  distorted, culturally influenced , highly  prejudiced and just plain wrong. 

So, I humbly cast a vote last week and believe that  I am being guided by an inner wisdom.  At the same time I understand that there are those who see the world through  a different lens and have had  experiences and influences that have not been part of my life.  They will make a different choice.

Always my prayer is to be an instrument of peace.  I cannot say it better than St. Francis.   

Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

I want my candidate to win and I also want there to be some sort of peace and reconciliation afterward.  I like the idea that we are the United States of America.  May it be so on Wednesday.