It's All in the Jeans

That our nation has become more divided in the last dozen or so years has been obvious to most of us. Painfully so.  What is the reason? Where is the dividing line? What can we do to pull it together?

The last weeks have been revealing. Answers to all those questions are becoming clear.

Bottom line, the fault line is culture.  American culture.

The 'coasties,' as some of us have come to call the NY/LA/Boston/DC crowd, simply do not like America.  At least not the America that the non-'coasties' know and love.

This is not a matter of "brains" or education (although some proudly claim it is while crying out "hurray for our side.")  No, there are "brains" and education on both sides of the divide.  It is a matter of in what people trust. What holds a person's faith.

"You can judge a tree by the fruit it bears." -So said a very wise man a couple of thousand years ago. And those words are proving to be a great guide today. They point us in the right direction.  At people's works.  Not what they say, but what they do.

The calamity caused by Hurricane Harvey has not only enabled us, but forced us, to see with our own eyes. Who is doing what? And to compare what our eyes see with words that have be for too long smugly spoken. Words about "values". Words about culture. Words about where goodness and truth actually lie.

Not just theoretical or philosophical goodness. -Words about such that look good in print or sound good when spoken over the airwaves or even in a college classroom lecture.

No. Real actions. Real works.

With our eyes open we are seeing just who actually does, and who merely talks. What people actually accomplish in comparison to what people claim.

Some actions are seen to be life affirming -- life saving even.  People being saved, not from figuratively drowning in words but from literally drowning in deep water.

And if we are willing to think about it seeing such tells us what we need to do. Whom we need to support.

America is the land of blues jeans. -Clothing originally designed to be worn not as a fashion statement, but as a tough outer layer that holds up while its wearer does tough work. Made of heavy fabric that has been riveted at its stress points.

Just look at the jeans people choose to wear.  That's all it'll take. Who wore out the knee? How heavy is its denim and how did it become faded?

Take sides based on that and you will be on safe grounds. As will our nation.

Yes, it's all in the jeans.