Goodwill

by Jacob Thomsen

You are walking down the street, downtown in a major city. You see banners and flags of a political ideology that you do not agree with. There is a rally going on and these people are shouting things that you vehemently disagree with. What are you thinking at that moment? Are you thinking about how wrong those people are? Are you thinking about why those people are crazy? Maybe you’re even thinking that those people are evil.

This is something I’ve been contemplating for some time now. It’s remarkably easy to fall into any of those lines of thought regarding political ideologies that we disagree with. I’m often guilty of it myself. Because of our current political climate, we view them as the “other” or someone who is an enemy. At this point, I could say that Christ tells us that we are supposed to love our enemies, but the real question here is, are they really our enemies?

We are Americans. We are unified under one flag, under God, indivisible. That’s what it says in the Pledge of Allegiance. Do we believe that? The thing about those who believe a political ideology that we disagree with, is that they are not intentionally trying to destroy America. I’m not going to argue against the fact that the consequences of their decisions are sometimes very bad, but they are doing what they believe is best for the country, just like the political ideologies that you and I hold.

Unfortunately, modern news and social media are among the primary causes of the division that we deal with today. They sensationalize hot topic issues to get more engagement and bolster more and more extreme viewpoints, thereby also driving their profits way up. It’s why the viewpoints attributed to the majority of the people, are actually from a loud minority.  It’s everything we see in the media.

Today, in our country, if someone who is a popular figure holds a viewpoint that the other side disagrees with, they will try to “cancel” them, and it’s true for both sides. Then it becomes a situation where people don’t want to see that person succeed because of their political ideology.

This is the opposite of goodwill. Goodwill that has driven our country forward for its entire existence. We admire stories like President Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill, or Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Antonin Scalia being friends. Ideological foes can be great friends and will the good of the other.

That’s what love is, to will the good of the other. The aforementioned relationships were not based upon being enemies, but friends. As Christians, we are called to a higher level of thinking. Let’s no longer fall into the trap that modern media sets for us. Let’s actually love each other and will the good for our friends who are in our nation, under God. Let’s be indivisible.

What it takes to get to that point is to see them as people, not their political ideology. Your political ideology is not your identity. You may be married, have kids, like a certain football team, have certain hobbies and skills, and most importantly, are created with dignity and worth in God’s image. Remember these things apply to those who disagree with us as well.

We need to learn to listen to one another. James 1:19-20 says, “know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” This is a perfect way to begin to show love to each other. It also shows that there’s no point in getting unreasonably angry so quickly over these things, because our unrighteous anger is not productive.

Christ calls us to die to ourselves, to die to the desires of our flesh. Those desires include belittling and attacking the other side for their mistakes. Let’s die to those desires and be reborn to love. If we can begin to love those that we perceive as enemies in our country, and I mean actually love them, “agape” is the word used in the Bible, then we can begin to turn the page on this era of hatred across the aisle in our country.

When we have friends and family that we disagree with, we still want them to succeed; we still will the good for them. It’s important to remember that America is a big, mixed, crazy family. When one American succeeds in making life better, we all succeed. It’s time that we bring goodwill back into our lives. If we stand firm in our beliefs and at the same time will the good for our fellow Americans, we can make America a better place.

Four Years, Two Trees, and a Lifetime Apart

It was August, 1995. The weather was very hot that summer, in the 90’s if I remember correctly. We were learning how to cope with being new parents to our son Christopher. That meant lots of sleepless nights, bottle washing, diapers, and the other marks of a newborn. It was fun, exhausting, and challenging all at the same time. And in the midst of this, Ruth’s father was lying in a Bellingham hospital dying.
 
Dad had multiple strokes over the years. The last stroke was severe enough to require hospitalization, and we all knew that he would probably not live long. The last few years of his life were spent quietly feeding the cows on the farm or playing with the grandchildren. Dad was not a leader, but a follower. Despite his low profile life, we loved him and we knew God loved him. 
 
We received a call on the morning of September 5 that Dad had died. We made the trip to Bellingham for the funeral, and spent the next months learning how to cope without Dad.
 
Some time passed and during one visit, Mom told us an interesting story. There was an old apple tree in their back yard. It was a pathetic looking tree, really. It was all bent over and had obviously seen many harsh winters. What’s worse, it didn’t seem to bear any decent fruit. The apples from the tree tasted exceptionally bad. In fact, the only person who ate them at all was Dad. He ate the apples each year. When someone would suggest that maybe the tree should be cut down, he would not even consider it. The tree was there for Dad, and Dad was there for the tree.
 
Mom told us that the day after Dad died, an interesting thing happened to that apple tree – it split right down the middle. Through no outside influence, the tree split from top to bottom and died. The family cut the tree up and hauled it away. Apparently, God decided that its work was done, and that it was time for it to rest. It seemed like an extraordinary sign of love for a quiet, understated farmer.
 
Fast forward with me now to 1999. It was summer again (although hard to tell by the weather). I was standing next to our house, looking up at the apple tree just outside our bedroom window. For the sixth consecutive year in a row, I debated whether to cut the tree down. While not as pathetic looking as the apple tree in Mom and Dad’s back yard, our apple tree didn’t exactly look great either (maybe they all look this bad?). And unlike our parent’s tree, this one didn’t even bear any fruit. I had just never gotten around to cutting it down, but this year would be different.
 
Well, things happen and sometimes our best laid plans are never realized. It was like that with the tree. Our interruption was in the form of Stephanie. She came along two weeks before her due date, and while we were thrilled with her arrival, some things just didn’t get done. Like cutting down that apple tree.
 
On the day of her birth, Stephanie arrived in the world with all the usual baby fanfare. After visits by the relatives and after Ruth was somewhat settled at the hospital, it was evening and I headed home to get some rest. With Christopher tucked into bed and with my adrenaline finally slowing down, I fell into bed exhausted. It was just past midnight, which made it September 5. As my mind wandered over the events of the past few hours, I silently prayed a thank-you prayer for our new little gift. In the dark silence of the bedroom, I heard the whisper of leaves outside the window, and then a solitary thump broke the quiet night air. It was the sound of a single apple falling from the tree outside our bedroom. A single gift coming down to earth from up above.
 
You see, that year our apple tree did bear fruit. It had more apples than we could have ever imagined. But even if it didn’t have apples, I guess I just didn’t have the heart to cut it down anymore. I wondered if maybe, just maybe, Stephanie might like the apples from her tree. 
 

Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth, and it endures.    Psalm 119: 89-90

Our next interview: Rep. SuAnn Olson

We are very excited to present to you our fourth legislator interview. Our purpose in doing legislator interviews is so that you can better get to know the legislators representing you, from both a personal and legislative perspective.* 

For our fourth interview, we decided to visit with Representative SuAnn Olson from District 8. This past session, held in early 2023, was her first year as a Representative. She served on the House Agricultural and Judiciary Committees. We know you'll enjoy learning more about her background, her experience in the legislature, and much more.

You can watch the interview here. 

Happy Independence Day!

On this day, 248 years ago, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, and 56 men would later sign that incredible document. Among them were farmers, lawyers, merchants, ministers, a printer, and a musician. Their ages ranged from 26 to 70 years old, and they were either born in America or halfway across the world in Ireland, Scotland, or England. One thing they all had in common was courage.

They were courageous enough to sign on to a document that would surely mean death if they were captured by the Royal Army. They had the courage to stand up for what is right, and to fight for the freedom that we love today. Millions of Americans have enjoyed the greatest country in the world because of the courageous actions of so many great American heroes, that all began with these men.

It’s important to remember that as we reflect on this holiday and think about what Patriotism means to each of us. It’s not simply a love for one’s country, but the courage to stand up for what is right in the face of imminent danger. The courage that was shown by those 56 men, 248 years ago.

Happy Independence Day!

Things that Last

It’s Tuesday, and I am sitting in a surgery staging area as I write this blog post. It’s one of those little ER-type spaces surrounded by a curtain, with plugs and hose connectors of all colors adorning the wall like some weird Christmas decorations, and a rather uncomfortable looking chair with levers that I imagine could turn you into a walking pretzel if used incorrectly.

I’m here because I took a member of our family for an outpatient procedure this morning; one that is typically characterized as relatively routine. I’m sure it’s going well, but I would argue that anytime you’re under anesthesia on an operating room table, I don’t think it qualifies as “routine”, at least not in my world. That said, I’ll admit that a big part of my perspective was shaped after we nearly lost Ruth during surgery a few years back.

I’ve been mulling all this over while bells chime and hospital staff peek in every 10 minutes to see if I really don’t want some Jello or Graham Crackers. Eventually something struck me, albeit a slightly melancholy thought. There is very little that lasts beyond us here on earth when we are taken up to glory to be with our Lord. As a result, if we can identify things that truly make lasting impacts during our lifetime and beyond, we should focus on them. So, what things might fall into that category?

The first thing that outlasts our time here on earth is clearly our family. They are the core around which all else during our life is built; the key element that guides and shapes who we are while alive. Lord willing, our children, grandchildren, and generations to come will be around for many years, and while they continue to expand our ever-growing list of descendants, the work we did on behalf of our family is never wasted. This is one important reason we are called North Dakota Family Alliance.

That is not to say we always see the fruits of investing in our family. It is easy to sometimes get discouraged and think that our time and effort are having no positive impact, but keep in mind that we can only see the short-term and external effects, not the impacts on them as eternal beings. We often hear that we are not called to be successful, but to be obedient. Investing in our family is something that lasts, whether or not we see it.

The second thing lasting beyond our time here is the relationships we have with those outside our family. We all have friends and others who know us and whose lives we touch. These interactions outlive us, and therefore, matter far beyond what we currently experience. As with our families, it is our values, hopes, and vision for the future that will inspire others long after we are gone.

A third thing that will last beyond our lifetime is what we’ve accomplished. Whether we help feed others through our farming, design homes, provide clean drinking water, pave roads, or help codify our values into law, these things will last. But only to a point. Eventually, these too will fade away, so the important thing is not what you accomplished, but how you accomplished it. It will be remembered if you were a person of vision who inspired people, or if you always looked for faults in others and dashed their dreams. It will be remembered whether you showed love toward others or animosity.

I’m sure there are other things that last beyond our time here on Earth, but these are the ones that immediately come to mind. However, did you notice a theme across all of them? Each one is about relationships. How we interact with others, be it our family, friends, or coworkers – that is what lasts.

So what is the takeaway? I encourage you to work hard and be happy, as you glorify God in your job and build things, balance the books, or stock shelves. When God provides material possessions, be thankful and accept them. Make art, improve your environment, contribute to the good of society around you, pass on your business to those who will make it prosper, tell stories and teach life lessons to your grandchildren, and do much more. These are good things. But remember that it is your interaction with the eternal beings you encounter every day that will ultimately be the most impactful legacy you can leave. So go make a difference in someone’s life today and build your legacy – build something that will last.