Love One Another And Do Your Job!

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”-Colossians 3:12-13*

The last installment of my love series is about agape love.  Agape is Greek for love.  The essence is goodwill, benevolence, and willful delight in the object of love.** As I see it, this is something which is extremely needed in today’s society.  There is too much hate, bigotry, and rudeness in this country and it saddens and disappoints me.  I am a firm believer change starts at the top, and those who exhibit positive behavior will influence others creating a chain reaction.  How can I affect a needed attitude adjustment to this madness?  I have decided to send an open letter to all my elected officials, who represent me, asking them to do the unbelievable; show agape love to one another and do their jobs which they were elected to perform.

Dear Elected Official,

Greetings from south Louisiana and thank you for taking time to read my letter.  I am compelled to write this because I am so disappointed in the state of our great nation.  I am an independent who believes our federal government has been given way too much power and my religious beliefs have been compromised way too often.  I personally don’t think the federal government should be running mail service for the country or establishing educational standards for our children.  I believe the federal government should protect its citizens from foreign threat, secure our borders, and strengthen our infrastructure.  I share this so you can understand although we may not agree on certain topics, I am willing to listen to your side and ask you give me the same courtesy; find the items we agree on, and reach a compromise which is win/win for both sides.

If I am not mistaken, this is why you were elected as a representative for our area.  One of the actions expected of you, in representing me, is to exhibit this type of positive behavior with the other elected officials.  Have you heard of agape love?  Agape is Greek for love by demonstrating goodwill, benevolence, and willful delight.  All Americans should insist on this type of role modeling from all elected officials.  As I see it, you are a paid employee of the American citizens and if you are not meeting the basic standards of handling debate and compromising for the good of all people, then you need to be voted out.

I have three simple suggestions for you and your cohorts:

• Find common ground-I would think before any type of legislation is proposed, the committees who introduce it should find out what they can all agree on. I bet you could ask a Democratic or Republican if they want to protect their families, find affordable healthcare for all, and keep the illegal criminals from crossing our borders, they would all say yes!  Start there.  Discuss options on how to come to a proposal.  Where I come from this is called brainstorming.
• Compromise-Start focusing on the ideas which could work. Discuss and debate in an adult manner.  No need to call names or point fingers if someone does not agree with you.  You should be paid for achieving results and up to this point, I don’t think many of you have earned a salary.  Compromise is about give and take.  Shoot for the stars and settle for the moon.  Your expectation should be to reach a reasonable solution from both sides.  I bet if both sides presented an option together, united in their proposal, and eager to stand behind it, the country would take notice.  An extra bonus might be the media focusing on something positive for a change.
• Be Civil-The fact I have to even bring this up is embarrassing. Please give less fodder to the media who highlights your vulgar actions, disparaging threats, and disrespecting one another.  You, as an elected official, have a duty in representing the American citizens and should not be name calling, pointing fingers, or belittling other elected officials.  The last time I witnessed this type of immature behavior was when I was in high school.   You have been chosen by the people and should maintain goodwill and benevolence at all times (do unto others) and set the bar for the nation.

I know it might sound like I am lecturing you and in a way I am.  Think about all the young children, teens, and adults who are witnessing the actions of many of the elected officials in the federal government.  Is this the type of behavior we want our children to emulate?  This is probably another area where we can agree on and the answer is no.   I believe you should treat others as you would like to be treated.  Try and get to know someone personally and understand how it is to walk in their shoes.  Perhaps it may change your mind.

I will be praying and watching to see if you will be the one to start a positive trend in our capital.

Sincerely,

Kelsey Remmelts

“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Proverbs 16:24*

* The Holy Bible, New International Version Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**https://www.gotquestions.org/agape-love.html