It’s late Saturday afternoon so I guess I better settle down and let the neurons out. They’ve been waiting patiently since this week’s prompt was announced yesterday … well more precisely Thursday night.

What the heck am I talking about? It’s Five Minute Friday — in my case, Five Minute Saturday — time where I join with over a hundred other writers in corralling our thoughts for minutes on a common prompt, then congregating at Kate’s place (http://katemotaung.com/2016/11/10/five-minute-friday-common-a-giveaway/) to share our thoughts and encourage each other. It’s a fun and addictive [in a good way] exercise to keep the writing juices flowing. I highly encourage you to check out the words of wisdom at Kate’s place and, perhaps, get out of your comfort zone and join in.

This week’s prompt is COMMON. I apologize in advance for the political tenor … I don’t like to mix politics into these posts. At any rate, the timer has been set for five minutes, so it’s time to GO…

It’s been an interesting week. Half the country has erupted into disbelief and rejection of the election. In fairness, with the country so sharply divided, these “demonstrations” probably would have occurred no matter who won, although it is ironic the “inclusive” party backers are the ones showing so much intolerance. Hmmm.

But now it’s time to put our disappointments aside, pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and work together for the common good. Yes, the common good. Not the Republican good. Not the Democratic good. Not guns or gays. Not old or young. The common good. We all have a vested interest in this country and we all — despite our political stripes or personal agendas  — have to come together. It’s time we acted in the best interest of everyone.

We see this division in the church as well. In God’s eyes there are no denominations {everyone doesn’t believe in God, I get that}, just a common belief life is better when focused on the greater common good through Jesus.

In fact {again, I realize not everyone is a believer, but the parable teaching remains the same}, the apostle Paul gave us a pretty good example of the common good in His parable … STOP

… about the Body of Christ. It goes something like this … Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body — whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” … If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:12-21, 26-27)

In secular terms, that principle is the same. We all need to come together for the common good, not as individuals but as Americans. Just as the body is connected through the life blood [shedding] of Jesus, so are we as Americans connected through the life blood [shedding] of our forefathers and veterans.

Will we disagree on issues? Certainly! Will we disagree on how to do things? Of course! Should we destroy the fabric of America and its symbols? Absolutely not!

It is time for political correctness and political inclusion to be replaced by some good, old fashioned common sense. Here’s a thought. Let’s work together starting with the hopes and dreams we have in common.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: When you feel like giving up, talk about pressing forward. When you don’t see a way out, talk about how God can make a way. When it’s been another day of waiting, talk about how you’re one day closer. Today Is Your Day!