As you may have guessed from the above photo, today's blog involves Cheetah's. While in the Kalahari, we came across these two Cheetah brothers. You may notice that one brother has a collar on him. He's part of a research project that studies Cheetah's in the wild in order to learn more about their species and enable scientists to help them in their bid to keep them from extinction.
These two brother's have figured out that hunting together is more productive.... and I'm sure there are many lessons that can be talked about here, but not today.
Cheetah's, unlike many of the big cat species, are almost always daytime hunters. They can hunt nocturnally, but their night vision isn't as good as some of your other big cat species, like Leopard or Lion. I probably don't need to tell you that while they are daytime hunters, their particular talent lay in their speed.
What you may or may not know is that Cheetah's are constantly on the lookout... for prey... for threats.... etc. And in order to keep this lookout, they will often climb up on whatever offers the highest point around them. Often this is a termite mound. On this day, however, this brother chose to climb a tree in order to get a different viewpoint. By climbing the tree, the Cheetah can scan the horizon, looking for prey. He can also scan for threats. While up in the tree, this Cheetah also took a few minutes to smell the air and to smell the tree. Through what he sensed he could once again discover if there were any threats nearby, if prey were nearby, who had been through this part of his territory, and also to make sure that no one else has marked his territory. In all, this Cheetah gained a lot of knowledge just by looking from another vantage point.
And now, I'm going to make the leap from this African Cheetah to what is happening today. You may or may not know it, but there was a presidential election this week. This election was the culmination of one of the most divisive election processes in U.S. history. And of course, just because the election is over, doesn't mean that the anger over this election is gone. In fact, it almost seems to be rising up.
And this anger is on both sides. Those who voted for the candidate that lost are still angry. Those who voted for the candidate that won are angry. And both groups are extremely vocal in their anger. Throughout the election campaign process, people, as they often do when riled up and heated, made promises that if their candidate lost, they would move to another country. Both sides predicted dire consequences should the other candidate win. Think Chicken Little and the sky is falling.... Neither side was willing to give, and both sides drew concrete lines in the sand. Name calling ensued, with one side calling the other racist, bigots, stupid, deplorable, and sexist to name a few. The other side clapped back by calling them murderers, cheaters, lazy, immoral, and Godless. There was an insinuation from both sides that you couldn't be a "Christian" and vote for the other candidate. And even though the election is over, this behavior has continued to escalate. It's childish. It's immature. And it's dangerous. And this behavior, this unwillingness to acknowledge that a different viewpoint can have value, will keep us from growth. It will stagnate us and doom us all to forever squabble over petty issues without ever allowing us to take any positive action towards solving any of the problems we currently face in our nation. We will all loose.
You see, we forget that this nation was built upon and founded by those who had different viewpoints. And, I would argue, that when we valued different viewpoints, we made some of the greatest strides forward as a nation. The abolition of slavery stemmed from people who had a differing view from those who had traditionally held power. Women's suffrage came from differing viewpoints.
People who view things differently are the people who have helped us make great strides in technology (computers), transportation (cars, airplanes, rockets), music, art, literature, religion (read the New Testament) etc.... Every stride forward has been because someone, somewhere, began to think outside of the box.
I personally learn the most from people who think differently than I do. Those who view things differently teach me valuable lessons about myself, others, relationship, love, respect, and about the great diversity that exists within the human race. They teach me what it means to really understand someone else and myself. I may not change my position, or agree with their viewpoint, but I always learn something more about why I view things the way I do. And all this brings immeasurable value to my life. I do not have to agree with you for you to bring value to me.
There is a disturbing trend of people saying to others that if they don't agree with what is happening, they should leave the country. I vehemently disagree with that thought process. If those people left, so would the opportunity for growth, for understanding, for new thoughts and ideas, for relationship, for learning.....Don't go. Instead, stay. Stay and reach out to those who differ from you. Stay, and be bold and vulnerable enough to reach out and teach others what you know. Be willing to agree to disagree on issues, yet still hold a space wherein you value that other person and what they bring to the table. Be willing to do the hard work of coming to the table and offering your voice and skill, and viewpoint, in order to help us bring about progressive and new strides as a a nation. Stay, and do the hard work of forming relationships with those who are unlike you. Love is hard, hate is easy. Don't do easy.
For the record, and I know this will probably shock a lot of my conservative friends, the candidate I voted for lost. And yes, I am conservative on several issues. Yes I am a Christian ( of which you do not get the right to label me as otherwise-- only God has that right). And yes, I voted for what some might call the non-conservative choice. Some of my most favorite and dearest friends and family voted for the candidate that won. Guess what, my sky is not falling in. My relationships are not compromised or damaged. Why? Because I value relationship over differing viewpoints. The relationship comes first for me. Nor do I degrade or dis-value others viewpoints. They have merit. They have value. And I learn much from them. And honestly, the list of the things we agree on is so much longer than the few items on the list where we disagree. I would rather do the hard work of having loving, healthy, and respectful relationships. I gain more from that hard groundwork than hate will ever give me. I refuse to do the easy thing. And today, I am challenging you to do the hard work of coming together, regardless of whether or not you agree on a few issues. I challenge you to not do easy.
So, if you have made it this far, and you still like me Yeah!!! And if you don't, well, I respect your right to have that opinion. I hope that we can come to a point of mutual respect. Either way, I'll leave you with a few more photos of those amazing Cheetah brothers, because come on, who doesn't like Cheetahs?
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