They used to say "all publicity's good publicity. The old joke among entertainers used to be, "We don't care what you say, so long as you spell our name right!"
Now Indiana is on the headlines of every front page in America. But very few Hoosiers are enjoying the publicity. Pence least of all we can suspect.
The world is filled with flux and change. Uncertainty hits the moment we get out of bed. Where's the stock market going? Where's the price of gas heading? Will the flu vaccine keep my kids safe or make them sick?
With so many questions bouncing around, so often out of reach, it feels really good to enjoy a bit of certainty every now and then. It's easy to catch the bug of "I Know Betterism". To hold an issue dear where we get to know we're right, and any disagreement is wrong. Many seek that bit of black and white as a platform to laugh derisively at the other side.
And as we watch strong judgement symbolized into law by one side and used to create sanctions by the other, many of us sit in the crossfire, wondering when it will end.
But we don't have to play that game. We don't need laws to know our own mind. We don't need rules of etiquette to avoid offence. For the leader inside you knows patience and sympathy. And it's the leader in you most likely to help us find comfort even in uncertainty. It's the leader in you already at work, seeking that small path to bring us all back together.