The political histrionics are in full swing as another Presidential election saturates our attention. Obama’s strategy remains the same – blame most of the problems on previous administrations and “structural” issues and spread more federal largess to key business leaders and voting constituencies (He is from Chicago, after all). Republicans are spending too much time reacting to each other and too little attention to vision and practical solutions. We have the omnipresent phenomenon of everyone shouting over each other instead of engaging is honest debate and dialogue. We have Rep. Maxine Waters calling thoughtful Republican leaders, “demons” and telling Californians to not let then in the state. So much for a new bipartisan, post-racial, synergistic future! The Right talks family values but needs to offer solid ways forward for economic stability for the families it wants to serve.

“Election polemics and politics-as-usual”, you say. Yes, we have a colorful history of parties spewing venom dating back to 1800. But this is not an excuse for incivility and insufficient effort to hear one another. Instead of commenting on “those politicians,” I want to address our personal responsibility as we prepare to cast our ballots.

I challenge all of us to sit down with our colleagues, families and neighbors that may have different views and listen to each other as we discuss issues we all have in common, from economics to education, from safe schools to safe borders. Let’s take an hour and agree to listen to each other, with a view to offering a way forward instead of just attacking our opponesnts. On immigration, for example, how do we uphold the law and show hospitality? How do we have military preparedness and national security while streamlining the budget? How do we stimulate business and protect the environment? The issues can be local or global and we will not always find middle ground. But beginning the conversation with the aim of finding solutions is much better than shouting down opposition sound bites.

I am not calling for a lack of passion, just kindness, humility and practicality rooted in sound principles. Passion and principle united create powerful changes for the good. Maybe if we listen deeply, we will be better informed, understand our neighbor and find new answers that are veiled behind the hot air!

One of the amazing things about our planet and human nature is that we can create wealth, enriching our lives and serving others as we discover new artistic expressions, products, services and skills that enhance our human experience in diverse ways. From colorful canvasses to new mathematical formulae, we keep on uncovering new mysteries of the universe and unveiling new artistic visions. Someone helps folks connect with each other and a thousand millionaires are about to be born. Life saving medical knowledge and life-giving wells are transforming famine-ravaged parts of our world. We do not live in a zero-sum bubble of limitation and scarcity. We have a vibrant world of possibilities that we are called to steward well.

Our economic future will be as bright as our imagination, as solid as our ethics and as sustainable as our love for others. Wealth creation is more than economic opportunity. We enrich the world and ourselves with every encouraging word and each act of kindness. When we look past our personal wants to the hopes of others, our vision grows and possibilities become tangible. If each of us thinks deeply and acts decisively for the good of others, present pathways of self-destruction can be altered and new avenues of prosperity unearthed.

We do not need Utopian promises from political elites or dystopian rumors to dissuade our efforts. Equipped with faith, hope and love and empowered to act, our daily decisions forge a future far richer that any stump speech.

In the midst of the passions of political debate and the problems confronting our civilization, it is easy for us to feel helpless. Massive deficits, Middle East tensions and visceral concerns for our own families can have a paralyzing effect on the soul. What can one person do? Leaving aside either a “bunker and bullets” strategy or noble crusades for charitable causes, is there anything we can do to forge a better future for our country?

We can be PRESENT. This is an acronym that is also descriptive of the disposition that can change the future. Are we really present when listening to others? Are we present at work, using our time well? Are we present to the hopes and needs of those we meet everyday? Let’s explore each facet of this important quality:

P: this stands for being present, fully engaged in whatever the moment brings us. Imagine the dignity we bestow on others when we give them full attention. Think about then clarity that comes when we confront what the politicians are actually saying.

R: is for reverent. Whether we are part of a religious community or not, life calls us to humility and awe as we consider the magnificence of creation and our own consciousness.

E: is for encouraging. All of us can help another forward, offering support and insights that will stimulate courage under fire.

S: stands for supporting the success of others as we realize that all work is service, and that life is much more fulfilling when we help others rather than focus only on ourselves.

E: this second E represents engagement. We need to find our causes and commit our time, talent and treasure to their missions. We cannot do everything, but if all of us do something, we will change the world.

N: stands for nurturing the next generation as we parent, mentor, teach and open doors for younger women and men. Whether we are married or single, childless or with a full house, we can create a better tomorrow by nourishing the dreams of today’s children and younger adults and even inspiring seasoned citizens that they have much wisdom to offer.

T: truth must guide our decisions, whether it is the transcendent precepts of our moral and religious convictions or the empirical discoveries of careful investigation. Opinions are not facts and the internet is not the final arbiter of reality.

Lets implore God for mercy, give to charities and vote. In all of these and other activities, let’s be PRESENT and not lose our liberty by default.

The chattering classes and politicians enjoy offering sweeping pronouncements. I am not immune to this, so I will claim here and now, “mea culpa” for my declarations of principle. I only ask that they be evaluated.

One of the disturbing trends of the past century has been the collectivization of people-groups and voting constituencies, at the expense of individuality and true community. The 2012 Obama’s strategists have “written off” the white blue-collar votes and are aiming their election appeals downward to non-White poor and working groups and upward to academic and professional elites advocating maximal private (read sexual) liberties. This cynicism is not absent from Republican campaigns, as populist tirades against Romney multiply, with capitalism under fire. Analysts and spin doctors evaluate ethnic “blocs” and “evangelical” groups, with little attention to the variegated realities of the American populace and, most ominously, almost no regard for individual dignity and freedom rooted in truth and virtue.

Ideologues and totalitarians love to see people collectively, often with eyes of exploitation or benevolent despotism. When Republicans limit increases for federal social programs, they are “starving the poor.” Of course, no one dares questions the terrible inefficiencies and unethical practices of those administrating these programs. When Democrats suggest that military spending be curtailed, they are “weak” and “unpatriotic.” Cynicism and immediate quests for office, power and wealth override what is good for the community and nation.

Community is not the same as “the collective.” The latter has its roots in the insipid and insolent ideology of Marxism, while the former is founded upon the cooperation of free people associating for the common good. The collective focuses on conformity enforced by an elite; community is cooperative and driven by shared values. The collective breeds dependency, true community empowers personal flourishing in an ethos of service. The collective subverts moral, political and religious traditions with fabricated unification. Authentic community strengthens the deepest beliefs and bonds and helps us live with our deepest differences.

Our Founders were not Cartesian individualists, Ayn Rand libertarians or theocratic ideologues. Somehow through their arguments, compromises and passionate debates, they forged an experiment in freedom we are still aspiring to realize. They would be aghast at the Marxism that permeates the collective unconscious of so many thinkers. They would equally recoil at the hyper-libertarian ethics ruling the extremists of the Left and Right.

Community begins with the dignity of the person and the freedom to love and serve. Government exists as a subsidiary agency to familial, personal and religious mores. Government does NOT exist to bestow rights, but to protect them! At the same time, there is no liberty without transcendent truth, virtue and the rule of law.

“Structural change” in economics is a Leftist euphemism for government intervention and forced redistribution of wealth. “The magic of the market” is sometimes a cover for libertarian disregard of racism, redlining and oppression. We need free markets and morality. We need effective oversight and maximal creativity. We need community compassion joined with personal responsibility.

I challenge all the Presidential candidates to articulate honestly the reality that without personal virtue, liberty is doomed. I further call on candidates to celebrate the diversity of American flourishing as people of all ethnicities and faiths fulfil their dreams in a land that remains fertile for the responsible.

Let’s choose community over the collective. Community can be messy and will always be imperfect; however, it offers the most for all to thrive and the least repressive ethos. The collective may distribute resources, but in the end it will restrict and oppress in the name of an impersonal ideology. Community welcomes diversity and debate; the collective calls for uniformity (“don’t let anyone tell you otherwise”). Community fosters individual potential; the collective suppresses “counterrevolutionary” thinking.

When we choose community, we are freely serving others in love. This love is not primarily a feeling. It is rooted in a vision that sees every person as valuable, from conception to coronation, from the least-able to the very talented. Community says, “Yes!” to creativity, wonder and joy. Will you join me in building community? Or will we acquiesce to elite-driven collectivism that will quell our future?

Halloween is over and the Christmas crush has started. A full year before an election and we are already saturated with political news. The globe is cooling…or warming – it all depends on who you read. Is solar energy a farce or our future? I hope it is the latter. Stay tuned for more bailout buzz as your public servants make fools of themselves. In the Theater of the Surreal, “devout” Roman Catholic and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi excoriates Roman Catholic bishops for having “that conscience thing” concerning funding abortions and birth control contrary to church teaching. Ms. Nancy, just be honest and find another church. Our President declares that the concerns of the Occupy Wall Street protesters are the reason he became President – as he jets off to another round of fund-raisers with his special “1%” friends. Meanwhile, Republicans seem to take tired old Newt Gingrich seriously, in spite of multiple character and political compromises. Perhaps it is all a case of ABO – Anybody But Obama – infecting the process.

But today I am thankful. Not for the nonsense mentioned above, but for the real blessings bestowed by God on our nation and planet. The Thanksgiving Holiday is the least sullied, least commercialized day off remaining on the calendar. It is a simple moment: we return thanks to God for all the blessings, take time with family and friends, look for ways to serve the less fortunate and tuck into a good meal. We pause to consider that all we need for sustainable, prosperous living is within reach, if we will be creative, ethical and generous. This week I return thanks for hot water to bathe in, food and water that is healthy, and work that is meaningful. I embrace family and friends and pray that I can be a friend to another who is lonely.

A few days ago I went to the YMCA to exercise. In the gym I saw a dad and his son playing basketball. The little guy was good and reminded me of another “fiery humanist and repressed basketball star (too short)” at his age. The quote about me from my father’s description in his 25th Anniversary Harvard Alumni Journal. What was wonderful was the affection of the Dad and the joy of the little boy as they shot hoops and joked together. For a brief moment, all was right: a parent enjoying his role, a child cared for and laughing and a community center supporting these healthy activities.

I am thankful to God. I am grateful for Kathy and 31 years of loving marriage. I am overtaken with joy when I think of each of my adult children. They are not exempt from challenges, but they are full of faith and making their way forward, all the while thinking of others. I am grateful for churches to worship in, students to mentor and teach, colleagues to grow with, audiences to encourage and facebook friends opening vistas of humor and wisdom. I am thankful for health and humbled by friends who return thanks while severely ill. I am glad for life, and join with others in mourning the loss of family members. We laugh through the tears, hug each other and keep walking by faith.

I am thankful that I can make a difference through my prayers, words and works. I am grateful that I can think out loud without fear of imprisonment – something denied to billions on our beautiful sphere. And, despite all the hot air, I am glad I can go to a polling location and cast my ballot.

I am thankful and encourage all who read this to pause and praise in the midst of pressurized lives.