July 28, 2025- On the way back from Coffee Klatsch, this morning, I passed the scene of an accident, at a surface street intersection. There were six bystanders helping, so I kept on going. A police car was en route to the scene, as I reached a block south. To be clear, I would have stopped and rendered what aid I could, had I been among the first on the scene. We make room for other people in our lives, without crowding theirs.

Towards evening, I witnessed a conflict between two men. Larger men than I stepped in and separated the two. One was escorted out of the building and the other stayed around, and cooled off. I later talked with the guy who stayed. I learned that he has been pushed around by people in the community, for some time. He also expressed gratitude for those of us who have treated him well. We are seen as more important, in his life, than the bullies-some of whom I know for a fact have been pushed around, themselves.

We are at a crossroads in our social being. Many have found themselves in a position where they are not sure whether their long-held convictions even make sense anymore. Some will just double down on those tenets and see where that leads. Others will seek to expand their mindsets, even turning their backs on the tried and true. In each case, though, none should merely be set aside nor should they be banned from expressing selves.

I could expand on this further, but for now, let’s just say that I am hard-wired to support the Big Tent. It’d be a sadder world, if everything were streamlined and homogenized-or even brought into a state of limited and forced-choice. Anything that doesn’t lead to the hurting of innocents or the vulnerable is on the table.