Polls agree: Americans are exhausted by the contempt and dehumanization that is all too common in our politics, in our media, and in our communities too. We’re stressed, anxious, and afraid because we’re fed a steady diet of stress, anxiety, and fear. And it’s making us sick—emotionally, physically, and spiritually too.

New campaign focuses on an urgent new issue: how we treat each other when we disagree.

I shouldn’t have been so confident at the beginning. At just 21 years old, I really had no idea how much I did not know, how many lessons I had yet to learn. Being fresh out of college and now an official 5th grade teacher, I was overflowing with excitement, purpose, and dedication. Fuel that energized me for many years to come.

Dolly Parton scribbled down the original lyrics for “Coat of Many Colors” on the back of a dry cleaning receipt. She always kept a pen and some kind of paper nearby because she knew the lyrics were coming, but she didn’t know when.

A few days ago, two of my oldest and best friends, Bob Brown and Beau Doherty, came to visit my wife Linda and me on Cape Cod. I met Bob 46 years ago, when he interviewed me for a summer teaching job. I was eager, open, and completely inexperienced. Thank goodness, he hired me! And I met Beau 36 years ago when I interviewed him for a job at Special Olympics Connecticut. He was bold and experienced and joyful. Thank goodness, we hired him! These guys are old friends, and old friends are a special treasure in life.

This week, I’m handing the pen to my colleague Alicia, who shares a beautiful reflection on musician Glen Hansard—a man whose life modeled qualities we may not always recognize as expressions of dignity: curiosity, humility, generosity, and a genuine desire to connect with others.

Last week, the National Governors Association, under the leadership of CEO, Brandon Tatum, outgoing Chair Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, and incoming Chair Governor Wes Moore of Maryland, announced a major new initiative: “The Center for Dignity in Politics.” The Center will support Governors who want to lead with dignity. It’s a game changer.  

If we’re going to ease divisions in our country, we’re going to have to solve this riddle: Why does our culture reward contempt when we value treating people with dignity?  

In 2009, during my final year as a city council member, I received a call inviting me to a hastily organized neighborhood meeting. It sounded important, so I dropped everything to attend.

In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional, and just 8 years later, in 1962, the Court ruled that public schools could not offer prayer.  These two landmark decisions, combined with larger cultural shifts, placed schools in the middle of our country’s culture wars.

This past week, I spent a lot of time talking with my colleague Dr. Samantha Ball about the “dignity gap” – the dramatic finding from our Dignity Barometer, published last March.

Last month I visited Berlin for the first time. I expected to learn about history. Instead, I found myself learning from three small brass plaques embedded in a sidewalk…

It’s a special thrill to see an exceptional public speaker give one of her best speeches. I had that thrill last weekend when I saw Tami Pyfer make the link between Dignity and Democracy in her TED talk in Philadelphia.

My granddaughter, Isla, 5 years old, was sitting in front of the altar at church with her brother Francis, 7, who was about to receive his first communion. The priest was giving a short homily about the meaning of communion for the children when he asked, “Why do you think it says in the Bible that we need our ‘daily bread’?”

It’s beyond humbling to share the Dignity Index with passionate leaders from the Middle East living the reality of war. It reoriented me. And discussing what Dignity looks like when engaging with people who think just the opposite of you, especially when the stakes feel existential and urgent, requires an unlimited combination of courage, imagination, practicality, and more than a little humor—traits that were on full display by the leaders we met with last week in Greece.

On Monday, Pope Leo XIV released his first major teaching as Pope, an encyclical (or letter) entitled “Magnifica Humanitas,” or “Magnificent Humanity.” The topic? AI. The insight? Humanity is magnificent, not technology. The warning? We should all be worried. The advice? Disarm AI! 

In this space of our newsletter, we often talk about treating others with dignity. But you can’t truly honor someone else’s dignity unless you also honor your own. 

I don’t know anyone who isn’t trying to figure out how to limit and manage their smartphones. Doom scrolling, constant contempt, and endless distraction are tearing us apart. I’m reminded of the old TV series, “Get Smart,” where agent Maxwell Smart used his shoe for a phone. If only we all had to keep our phones in our shoes!

I’ve been spending time recently poring over old photos and scrapbook items in an attempt to organize decades of memories. As I read through a stack of newspaper clippings from my time in local public service, this letter to the editor caught my eye.