What's next for health care reform?

The news is replete with the conflicts between the many views on health care reform.  And I think we are lucky to live in a country where people are allowed to express opposing viewpoints.  Not every country is so lucky.  Prisons around the world are full of people who dared to speak up.  But I am concerned that we are forgetting how to have civil discourse on this and any number of issues.

Talk radio is quick to speak loud, oftentimes untruthfully and carry “a big stick.”  We see it and hear much the same on television too.  And who is being forgotten in all of this finger pointing?  The nearly fifty million individuals who have no health care, who are looking to their elected officials to make the right decision on a very important issue.

I saw on the news this morning that the “tea party supporters” are planning visits in DC today and again, I say, aren’t we lucky that we live in a country that welcomes all views.  However, are they maybe forgetting loved ones who may need health care help of some kind in the future.

As is so often said, by so many, tens of millions of people are a mere pay check away from financial disaster.  And if a lost job visits you or some one you know, let’s hope some form of health care is available.  After all, we are the wealthiest nation in the world and we deserve to be free from wondering: “will we survive?”  In the mean time, I hope the rest of us who believe in the possibility that resolution can come, a resolution that meets the needs of those who are currently left out, don’t forget to do our part.  We can begin with a quiet moment of prayer on behalf of those who are in the position of making the ultimate decision.