Change is in the air—can you feel it? There's a “vibe shift,” a palpable change in the collective mood across the nation. 

The current emotional climate is complex and uncomfortable, but with this shared uncertainty comes great potential. As David Blankenship, co-founder of Braver Angels, noted, "… as a fellow member of Braver Angels, I enter 2025 with buoyancy and full of hope, because every day I see growing numbers of Americans taking action to turn the tide." 

After the tumult of 2024, we all needed time to regroup and recharge. Now, as 2025 arrives, many of us are ready to reconnect.

• Faith communities are working to reconcile their politically diverse memberships. 

• The media, now divided into traditional and new outlets with varying degrees of public trust, seeks to re-establish its role. 

• The major political parties grapple with internal conflicts as they try to redefine their place in our lives. 

Challenges abound, yet hope is growing. New alliances are forming. Surprising shifts are happening across the political spectrum. Young people in particular are stepping up, many eager to lead, to reject the polarization that has long dominated political discourse. 

Let’s embody the courageous spirit of' Braver Angels in 2025, Our mission is not to change minds, as tempting as that always is, but to deepen our understanding of each other. It takes bravery, humility and faith in other people to truly engage and learn from those with differing beliefs.

In 2025, I invite you to get more involved with us at the Colorado Southern Front Range Alliance of Braver Angels. Take an ecourse or an online workshop. When you're ready for more, volunteer with us. Get certified to moderate or serve as a debate chair. We need your help to spread the word, host and moderate events, and expand our alliances. We're eager to connect with faith communities, schools, universities, media, and political leaders to help decrease division and encourage civil discourse.

Thank you for your involvement this year—reading our newsletter, participating in workshops, and volunteering. What unites us remains far stronger than what divides us. Happy New Year!

On the cusp of the New Year, I look ahead to the prospect of Braver Angels standing tall together in advancing our mission of “Bringing Americans together to bridge the partisan divide and strengthen our democratic republic.” In order to do so, it is essential that – both within our initiative and more especially beyond it – we strive to inhabit a shared fact-based reality.

Very likely you have read or heard commentary to the effect that we tend to isolate ourselves in information bubbles defined by the social, media, and social media environments we inhabit. Much of the great potential of Braver Angels lies in the very fact that it brings into conversation people whose views often are shaped by these disparate environments. Through conversation, we gain exposure to facts and opinions that may not be readily apparent to us. We have seen this very phenomenon come alive in our Southern Front Range Alliance Civil Discourse Series. 

Valuable as such interactions are, they can use support. Please consider some suggestions:

• Consume media outlets that have made special efforts to provide balance and objectivity, such as the Associated Press, AllSides, and Tangle.

• Take the Pro-Truth Pledge and encourage others – especially elected officials and other public figures – to do likewise. (For more about this, please see my October post.)

• Consult the website of the Problem Solvers Caucus, which is “a bipartisan group of Members of Congress organized to get to ‘yes’ to help solve some of our country’s most pressing challenges.” 

Additionally, I believe it would be very helpful were pairs of Red and Blue public figures to issue periodic statements in which they jointly attest to the veracity of factual matters that both agree are important to an accurate understanding of current events. Such a practice – including the maintenance of a list of such curated, agreed upon facts – would help fortify the foundation for bridges across the divide.

Enjoy this holiday season, and let’s reconnect with redoubled energy in the New Year.