Local, national and global events assault our senses as we go about our day, consciously working and unconsciously worrying. What is the meaning of the unrest in the Arab nations? Why is the USA going to rebuke Israel at the UN? Will the politicians stop posturing and figure out how to get spending under control? When will we welcome our troops home from inhospitable lands that resent our presence?

Thanks to the Wizard of Oz, thoughtful people learn to ask what factors are behind the events, ideas and pronouncements that hourly assault the airwaves, radio frequencies and web world. Let’s go behind the veil and look at some current items:

As I listen to global and local leaders evaluating problems and proposing solutions, I am arrested by the contradictory rhetoric in our public discourse. My friends on the Left tout “structural issues” such as “capitalism/colonialism” and “poverty” as “root causes” for anarchy and violence, including Islamic militancy. On the Right, I hear shrill calls for “personal responsibility” and “traditional values” and passionate calls for an end to the globalism and socialism infecting our institutions.

The horrific tragedy in Arizona is being exploited by politicians who want to restrict “violent” rhetoric – and in the process irrevocably change the intent of the First Amendment.

I am heartsick and hopeful as I pen these words. Colleagues and friends have shared tragic stories of emotional and physical pain. At the same moment I am absorbing their concerns, I am happily awaiting the arrival of my adult children for Christmas. My heart is bursting with gratitude for my family and breaking with empathy for some friends.