Barriers come in all shapes and sizes. There are walls and fences. They are made of bricks, blocks, concrete, wood, metal, vinyl, plastic – you get the idea.
They are made to keep something (or someone) in or out and some are there just to add beauty to a home or garden. Some mark property boundaries and others deter trespassers.
Some of us are old enough to remember the fences in the front yards of homes around here. That wrought-iron fence wasn't there to keep people out – it was there to keep cattle, being herded from trains to local auctions, from walking up to your front porch and making a meal out of your grandmother's flowers.
The wall on everybody's mind today is the one proposed on the United States' border with Mexico. The money to pay for it wasn't in the budget; the President declared a national emergency to secure funding for it; and now it will be argued in the Ninth District Court and will most likely end up in the Supreme Court.
That's the short version.
Right now, the battle for and against the wall is in the hands of the justice system of the United States. We can watch, monitor, learn, and share our opinions of the process and the final decision.
What we can't do is go to war with each other over the final decision – whatever it is. No matter how strong you feel that a wall is needed or not needed, when a decision is made, one faction of people will not be satisfied.
There are valid arguments on both sides, and just penning that statement will invoke vile remarks from both sides. It shouldn't.
The barrier that many people won't discuss is the wall of words that separates us. It exists and folks don't seem to have a problem with that wall.
Somehow, we must break down that wall of words and not just hear what others have to say – we must listen to what they have to say. We will not always agree but one thing we must agree on is to share our thoughts, ideas, opinions, and listen those of others.
Listening to somebody doesn't automatically mean you agree with them.
Only after we truly understand an issue and how others understand the same issue can we truly form an honest opinion on it.
If you let hate, arrogance, ignorance, or pride block you from listening to the words of others, how can you judge your opinion against facts and how your thoughts and actions impact others? Do you even care?
Members of the mainstream and social media bully crowd who recklessly spread untruths for the sake of forcing their opinion on others do a disservice.
Building a southern border wall is in the hands of the courts. Breaking down the walls between us is in our hands.