I hope you saw Wesley’s rules for voting from yesterday’s blog. They are worth another look:

Wesley’s rules, written in 1774, are as appropriate today as then.

• Vote for the person you judge most worthy
• Speak no evil of the person you voted against
• Take care your spirits are not sharpened against those that voted on the other side

Today, Seth Godin’s blog echoes the theme. Here it is in its entirety:

You can be agreeable without agreeing. In fact, most of the time, we’d rather spend time with people who have a different point of view but are willing to be agreeable nonetheless. It’s far better than the alternative. – Seth Godin, October 9, 2020

I repeat Paul’s instruction to Timothy from last week’s blog about Kindness and Thoughtful Listening:

Stay away from all the foolish arguments of the immature, for these disputes will only generate more conflict. For a true servant of our Lord Jesus will not be argumentative but gentle toward all and skilled in helping others see the truth, having great patience toward the immature. Then with meekness you’ll be able to carefully enlighten those who argue with you so they can see God’s gracious gift of repentance and be brought to the truth. This will cause them to rediscover themselves and escape from the snare of Satan who caught them in his trap so that they would carry out his purposes. (2 Timothy 2.23 – 26, Passion Translation)