Do you find yourself exhausted by politics? Perhaps you are just really worn out by the antics of "the other" party? Do you have some commentators you love and others whose mere presence on a flat screen causes you to run from the room?

I for one, am very, very tired of partisan politics. I'm tired of my side, your side and the other side. I want someone to rise above it all.

Then I remember, if peace begins with me, so do repaired unions. If we want to see others work out big issues, we need to be better keepers of little ones.

In family unions—you are not right and your brother wrong. Sorry. It is what it is. You each have a perspective. Work toward that miracle called understanding.

In business unions—ask yourself every day if the things you allow to get under your skin; the people you dread working with and the situations that are beyond reason are really as dire as they seem. Return all mountains to molehills.

In marital unions—do you let partisanship filters predict your partnership? Have you grown to know your partner in such detail that you know what will drive you nuts even before he/she does it? What if you allowed your partner to be freshly interpreted each day? What if you listened for what you could learn and looked for what was good? Then what might happen?

Let's work toward building more perfect little unions. Let's grow goodness one relationship at a time. Perhaps it will create a groundswell and form the roots of understanding that keep the growth of our nation from being undermined by pettiness and partisanship. Grow goodness, grow.