Walk Softly and Shift Diplomacy

I was so heartened to hear President Barack Obama talk today in Europe about softening our tone when dealing with those who disagree with us (the United States).. He also suggested that nuclear weapons must be disarmed and we in the world must use diplomacy instead of brute force to resolve our differences. What a difference from the bellicose rants and saber rattling of Dick Cheney and George Bush. Obama went on to say that we in the United States do not consider Muslims our enemies. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. At long last someone who leads this country is mending fences instead of threatening to invade—as we did in Afghanistan and Iraq—and inviting all to the conference table to learn to live in peace.nnMy feelings have always been that change starts with each individual; that it is up to us to do our part to clear our minds and open our hearts to the differences in peoples around the world and to learn to respect those differences. When I hear a President who wants to make peace not war I am lifted up to where peace and tolerance live. nnI have always written and spoken out that we must do our part to rebuild the infrastructure in this country. We may not mix the mortar; we may not be able to architect an economic plan that can right the sinking ship of the last few years—but we can stop the blame game and we can start to do our part to encourage the shift from negative to positive input to all the things that are being done. nnI encourage all of us to give programs and alternatives a chance. The loud and accusatory noises heard in the media do not help. Talk and print are both cheap. Rolling up your shirt sleeves and making a proactive effort to bring about change is what we need.