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Tear gas is released into a crowd of demonstrators protesting the 2020 election results at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (CNS photo/Shannon Stapleton, Reuters)
Jan. 21, 2021
Christina Gray
Catholic San Francisco
Limiting consumption of network news and interaction on social media and spending more time in prayer have helped a majority of Catholic San Francisco readers reclaim their peace of mind and restore their goodwill toward others, according to a reader survey.
“Turn off the television, avoid the problems and violence in the news, seek prayer and peace with God,” said one of the nearly 100 respondents to a Jan. 15 survey sent to subscribers of the paper's email newsletter.
The survey asked readers for tangible ways they are seeking or finding peace and extending it to others at a difficult amoment in the nation's history.Participants were invited to first reflect on the prayer Pope Francis offered to Mary, the patroness of the Americas, after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, asking for her intercession in “helping keep alive the culture of encounter, the culture of caring, as the way to build together the common good.”
The following is a summary of responses which have been edited for brevity. We eliminated names offered by some participants to this anonymous survey to respect the privacy of all.
Less screen time
Less is more when it comes to television news and social media accounts, respondents said. Learning to give oneself a “time-out” and knowing how and when to step away has become an essential survival strategy.
“In an attempt to ease myself off social media, I constantly remind myself to respond kindly to people with whom I disagree or don’t respond at all. Instead, I need to pray,” was a response that summed up the instincts of about a third of the survey participants.
“I am staying close to Jesus, Mary and Joseph, our Father and the Holy Spirit and continually asking the Holy Spirit for guidance,” said one person who is not letting “evildoers” hijack her attention.
Peace through prayer
Prayer revealed itself to be both a personal means and an end for some respondents.
“I’m praying for those around me by name or image, including those who most distress me and may threaten our country,” said one respondent.
“I feel that my prayers will help, and that my prayers are answered,” said another. “I want to remain hopeful and pray this world can become a better place if everyone could treat others the way themselves want to be treated.”
“I am consciously seeking peace through prayer,” said one woman. “I think God’s love unifies and is creative and can heal. I have surrendered the future to God.”
Several people turned their prayers inward first, asking for guidance on how to respond.
“This allows me to converse with God and discover how he would desire me to act in tangible ways as you described,” one said.
To seek out or to avoid opposing views
Steering clear of opposing voices -- even those of family and friends -- was a clear strategy for a number of respondents. But some found peace in the opposite action.
“I choose not to engage my liberal friends when they want to rail about the past president. I let negativism pass me by,” said one.
Another answered: “I simply do not initiate discussion.”
A minority expressed an active attempt to hear out those who feel so differently than they do.
“I strive to listen, not to agree or disagree with or add ‘fuel to the fire,’” said one respondent.
“I try to never judge others and to listen to their reasoning,” said another.
Others talked about engaging with others in the hope of finding common ground.
“I've reached out to Trump supporters to try and understand how they think,” said another.
One woman said it helps to be able to see those with different political, religious and life views as “children of God.” She also said “ad hominems” are insulting and ineffective.
“I am probably the least powerful person in this world but I know if I follow and practice the Golden Rule and love and pray for my perceived enemies, God is working within me and using me as His instrument of peace,” she said.
Following Christ’s example
Respondents voiced genuine confusion about the widespread polarization and demonization of “the other.” For some, staying focused on the Gospel message and example of Jesus and “not on the chaos around me” is stabilizing.
“I suggest people look beyond the furies currently leashed upon us, and look to Christ's promise, and worship him and love one's neighbor as oneself,” one man said.
"I assume always the good in people, Cath-Right and Cath-Left,” this respondent said. “Let this time be a time to grow close to Christ who is the truth.”
One person, however, wrote at length about how her family is finding a path to peace by gently and non-confrontationally talking the truth to people. “We cannot build the common good on a platform of lies,” she said.
Peace is a personal responsibility
Blame on leaders of every stripe and those who follow them was not in short supply in this survey. But a minority of respondents said that peace is a personal choice.
“We are an army of one,” said one respondent. “All we can do is radiate love and acceptance, no matter how hard that may be in these tumultuous, unprecedented times. We must see everyone as the face of God (even with a mask on).”
One person said she goes out of her way to verbally thank essential workers from behind her mask.
“I do this to let each person know how much I truly appreciate them and what they’re doing in such a difficult time,” he said.
Several people spoke of a renewed focus on serving one's neighbor, literally. Checking in on the homebound, running errands, bringing in their garbage and even “trimming their cat's claws.”
Others spoke about the grace of reaching out to those struggling emotionally.
“I believe we need to reveal to others those distant stars of light that give us hope,” said one person. “So many go through periods of darkness and need to be shown these signs of hope.”