It wasn’t until I read some text messages from my children on Wednesday that I learned protesters had stormed the Capitol.

I had been at the office in a meeting that morning and had not seen the news.

I immediately turned on the television when I got home and saw with my own eyes, the mayhem.

What on earth, I thought, could have possibly led these people to intrude uninvited into the meeting place of the nation’s Congress?

Yes, the Capitol is the “people’s house” but there is still protocol and respect for the historic facility that must be observed.

Surely, these less than respectable folks don’t enter into their neighbor’s homes without some kind of invitation.

I know I am from the South where we place great importance on manners, but from where ever these protesters hailed, surely their mama taught them better, and I am sure they are embarrassed and ashamed.

This week I started reading a book by Alan Cohen. I have not gotten past the first chapter of “The Dragon Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” but just the preface was something I found enlightening and words I feel could definitely be food for thought as to the political climate of our nation.

My attempt in trying to retell this story Cohen shared would not do it justice; therefore, I decided to share it below:

Friends and Spoons

There is a story about a man who left this earth and was taken on a tour of the inner realms. He was shown a room where he saw a large group of hungry people trying to eat dinner, but because their spoons that they were trying to eat with were longer than their arms, they remained frustrated. “This,” his guide told him, “is hell.” “That’s terrible,” exclaimed the man: “Please show me heaven!”

“Very well,” agreed the guide, and on they went. When they opened Heaven’s door, the man was perplexed to see what looked very much like the same scene: there was a group of people with spoons longer than their arms. As he looked more closely, however, he saw happy faces and full tummies, for there was one important difference: the people in Heaven had learned to feed each other.  

Working together is our only option for survival and Wednesday was a wake-up call.

No matter what side of the aisle you lean, we have to stop this degree of divisiveness and remember the things we share in common, lest some country comes along to take advantage of our vulnerability.

And that, I am afraid, would be hell.