Freedom, Liberty and Justice for all this Christmas

I want everyone to get along but I also want everyone to be against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I want them to be vegetarian, and to respect President Obama and despise Bush, McCain and Palin.

Or is that what I want?

I think what I really want is to live side by side with others who may not believe what I believe but who will accept there is reason behind my being against war and any kind of needless killing, whether it be human or animal. I believe the world needs idealists - and I certainly was created as one! If i try to run and hide from that - it just sneaks back and bites me in the ass. The older I get the harder it bites.

I understand there are arguments and that I don't have all the answers but I still have to be true to what's in my heart like all people do. Like everyone, the more I feel people understand where I'm coming from the "better" and more comfortable I feel, but lately I don't feel comfortable, I feel terrible. I feel the sharp line between "conservatives" and "liberals", "republicans" and "democrats" as a biting pain, it cuts my heart in a way very reminiscent of the heartbreaks I felt when I first fell in love and understood what true love really entails.

I can't believe 30,000 troops are being sent to Afghanistan and that we still can't wake up to how wrong it is to kill families: mothers, grandmas, children, fathers, brothers in other countries just because they practice a different religion or aren't American or because we want what they have. These are our fellow human beings and there is no logic, no fear, nothing anywhere that makes it OK for us to kill each other! But there I go again....

It's hard not to band together with those who share the same comfort zones and to feel that everyone else is an "alien." As an idealist I'm in the unfortunate position of not being able to just move on as if all of the hate and fear flying around doesn't effect us all. I believe in love and I believe every one of us is connected.

On that note, I don't usually get a Christmas tree because I don't like the idea of chopping down a perfectly good tree just to stick it in the house for a few weeks and then throw it into landfill a few weeks later .

I lived for several years in a Cottonwood grove and throughout my life have had very real relationships with living trees. So for me, not for you, for me....buying a live tree this year is meaningful and sums up what the holiday is all about. I've already picked where I will plant my Aleppo Pine in the backyard next year. For now, he is beautifully adorned and blessing our living room. Alot of the ornaments are handmade by my mom who is a Republican and supports war and who is the number one person who never let's me give up on those who are so very different than me in every way but who I love completely.

Love wins in the end every time but how much sweeter could it be if we gave each other freedom and liberty and justice too.