Excessive attachment to political parties agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one party against another, and opens the door to foreign influence and corruption. – George Washington
Where is George when we need him?
For that matter, where is Fred when we need him? I can’t get that kid out of my mind — the young man who dressed up as Mister Rogers for Halloween. He had to be all of 12 
years old, if that. Does he know that Mister Rogers is the antithesis to everything the prevailing male attitude stands for in America today? Does he realize he picked the one image that is terribly missing?
This kid is a prophetic genius. He brought back an image highly regarded in the Kingdom of God and lowly regarded on earth; i.e., an image that embodies the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the kind, the poor in spirit, the peacemaker, and the insulted. Compared to the white American male today, Mister Rogers seems like a wimp. Blessed are the wimps. Blessed are the 98-pound weaklings. Blessed are the insulted (not the insulters). You will not find Jesus among the bullies; you will find Jesus with the bullied.
Remember, this is the Kingdom of God. We’re supposed to be on a different bandwidth from the rest of the world. I guess Mister Rogers has always looked like a wimp. But I ask you: who is going to own heaven? Who is going to inherit the earth? Who is going to be called a child off God? Who is going to receive a great reward?
If Jesus were to show up today, He just might come in a shirt and tie, sweater, slacks and sneakers.
We have to straighten this out. Everything got crooked. We have to get back to what the Kingdom of God stands for. I have to again call attention to the millennials; they’re getting this part right. They are the hope of righting this ship. One 24-year-old Christian was recently quoted in the New Yorker as saying, “We can’t be married to the agenda of the donkey or the elephant. We must be married to the party of the lamb.”
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so he did not open his mouth. (Isaiah 53:7)
Think of Jesus — quiet before His accusers — being mocked, spit on, whipped, insulted, and struggling to carry the very cross He would be nailed to up the long hill to Golgotha, and ask, “Is this the way to save the world?” Yes. Yes. A hundred times, yes!
John Fischer The Catch 
Love this, from Today’s Catch: “You will not find Jesus among the bullies; you will find Jesus with the bullied.”
You will find Jesus among the bullies yet not behaving as one of them.
Jesus ate, drank, and socialized with the bullies of his day whether they were the religious authorities, tax collectors, zealots, opportunists, others seeking some form of validation… and even His own disciples.
While Jesus was direct and to the point, calling many of them hypocrites or children of the devil, He was still loving and compassionate toward them at the same time.
Even as they mercilessly mocked Him and beat Him and nailed Him to the cross, Jesus loved them and prayed for them to be forgiven.
As His followers we need not be afraid of or shun the bullies of our time.
They, too, need the Truth – both direct and to the point – spoken with firmness, patience, and compassion as we try to help everyone understand the depths and the mysteries of the true gift of God’s love offered to every soul on this planet – no matter anyone’s station in life or society.
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves…”
~ Matthew 10:16; Luke 10:3; (Acts 20:29-30)
“I believe that appreciation is a holy thing–that when we look for what’s best in a person we happen to be with at the moment, we’re doing what God does all the time. So in loving and appreciating our neighbor, we’re participating in something sacred.”
~ Mr. Rogers
John’s article was good. Your thoughts, Bob, made it even better. Thanks to both of you.
Good point!
The greatest appreciator of all…now that’s a facet of God’s personality I have never given much thought to before.