“There’s something wrong with the world today
I don’t know what it is
Something’s wrong with our eyes
We’re seeing things in a different way
And God knows it ain’t his
It sure ain’t no surprise, yeah”

For those of you that might not have recognized the title and/or first verse of this week’s column, it’s courtesy of Aerosmith. I love music of all genres, and those that read me regularly know I try to work them in when appropriate. The all-American band from Boston is the greatest seller of rock music in history. Their sound, which is rooted in a combination of blues and hard rock, is recognized immediately when you hear it. What even makes it more unique is the folk-rock angle they use in many songs to provoke some thought. Please, if you haven’t listened to the song recently or ever, simply Google Aerosmith Livin’ on the Edge.

The words within that song seem to represent what I witness each and every day in our Nation. It doesn’t matter if it’s here at home or in my travels out of state; people are frustrated, fed up, and downright uptight. The world of today seems to have them on their last nerve. You can see the stress, anxiety, and in some, the willingness to be combative written all over their face. It doesn’t matter if it’s road rage, somebody cutting them off, restaurant rage over the long wait times for meals, COVID rage over you fill in the blank, grocery store rage due to lines, availability, and pricing, Government rage over the complete mishandling of whatever they touch.

This leads to Americans being divided and angry over so many things, most driven by the current world we’re living in. Back to the first verse of that song, one of the most frustrating things for me is trying to understand how simple commonsense things can be viewed so differently and then blamed on political affiliation. You would think in the instant information world we live in today, Americans would have the truth, the facts, and be able to process and understand the information. However, from my vantage point, it’s the exact opposite. There is an abundance of misinformation and lies from social media to the mainstream media and everything in between. A good portion of which is spewed by elected officials and their press representatives.

Which even more magnifies the situation while you’re watching the evening news or checking your cell phone and are bombarded with doom, gloom, and misinformation overload.

Folks, I’ve got news for you; none of this is an accident. Everything that is being fed to us is by design to divide. Please, you must look at everything with your eyes wide open and not allow anything, especially that which is politically motivated, to blind your common sense. You must accept nothing as truth without checking the facts and then asking yourself, does this make any sense?

Back to the lyrics of Aerosmith. “We’re seeing things in a different way, and God knows it isn’t his.” There is a war being waged to divide the American people for reasons so much more important than masks, vaccinations, and any decision President Biden makes. All Americans must seek out the truth. We must return to understanding and decision-making based upon our love of God, family, Country, and community.

One of the things that rattles my cage is any time I watch, hear, or read and the word “end” being used. Whether it be end COVID, end racism, end hunger, end poverty, end cancer, end illegal immigration, end terrorism, I’m sure you can add to the list. If only this were possible. Unfortunately, these terrible problems are going to be with us for the length of mortal time. The list of things that need ended and/or cured is never-ending. This list does not discriminate by race, religion, ethnicity, gender, social standing, or by anything else.

The only way to combat and reduce any issue to its lowest percentage is through the education, understanding, caring, and, most importantly, unification of the American people.

This begins with honesty when accessing the problem.

Please let’s all take a step back from the edge, take a deep breath, relax, say a prayer, and do something positive to make the world a better place.

God Bless America.