This blog is not about politics; it’s about helping us on our journeys toward becoming our better selves. However, occasionally something from the political sphere may enter in to further that pursuit.
My ears have been ringing lately with talk of how we Americans must make our country great again, how we must become a tougher nation as we eye those new to our land with suspicion.
I remember a time when I experienced similar ear-burning declarations.
It was just a few years after the Second World War and our country was busy building a brand new era. It seemed like every dad had recently returned from either Europe or the South Pacific, and there were stories to tell about battles with “Japs” or “Krauts.” To say that these words were used derogatorily would be an understatement.
Indeed, at many dinner tables in my neighborhood, the war was still being fought.
So when a former German soldier moved in next door to us, we were about to get our own lesson in making America great again. Rudolph Deckinger had served with distinction in the German army and had the medals to prove it. He was a baker by trade and had two children, both older than I. I remember how the older kids in the neighborhood gave Rudolph Jr. a hard time, always trying to draw him into a fight, taunting him with ugly slurs, indeed making his world perfectly miserable. He was seen as an extension of his dad, still an enemy, in a war that was not yet over.
We kids were taking our cues from certain adults.
Many, in their minds, continued to fight the Second World War, keeping America great by playing the tough guy, building walls around our neighborhood, keeping the bad guys out. Any of that sound familiar today?
This meant that Rudy Jr. had become a kind of permanent outcast with no one to stand up for him.
That was, until Mr. Browning stepped in.
John Browning lived across the street. His young son had a disability so he knew something about how weakness was preyed upon, particularly in a tough-guy world of good guys and bad guys.
One day when the neighborhood bullies ganged up on Rudy, Mr. Browning entered the fray. He was a pipe fitter by trade and had hands that were like vice grips. He peeled these guys off Rudy like they were rag dolls and declared we’d finish this fight on Saturday at three o’clock.
This is when I witnessed neighborhood diplomacy of the highest order.
Mr. Browning got with Mr. Deckinger and planned a neighborhood picnic in the Deckinger back yard. Mr. Browning would bring his grill for hamburgers and hot dogs, and Mr. Deckinger would make German cakes and baked delicacies. Our job was to get the word out to all the neighbors.
At three o’clock on Saturday the party commenced and all the neighbors came, including the neighborhood toughs that had given Rudy such a hard time. The party was a huge hit, everyone mingled in a spirit of friendship and goodwill, all the while gorging on the tastiest German chocolate cake you could imagine.
It happened to be near Rudy’s birthday so Mr. Browning used the occasion to say some very ingratiating things about him. He went on to say other things, that the war was over, that we were one people, that we were all neighbors. He had Mr. Deckinger stand with him and lifted a glass to toast him and his family. Our Lorentz Place neighbors responded in kind and we collectively felt the dark clouds dissipate and the sun shine in.
So when I hear the tough guy talk, the “gotta build bigger walls” talk, the “get out your guns” talk, I think of Mr. Browning grilling burgers and Mr. Deckinger baking cake, and am reminded of how we can become exceptional people. Not by showing how tough we are, but by demonstrating how kind we can be.
Just a thought…
Pat
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