The shock lingers still. Shock that so many Americans would vote the way they didthe forgotten people, angry, fearful, agitated, and motivated.

The pollsters didnt get it. The media didnt get it. The campaigns didnt get it. I certainly didnt get it. And that troubles me deeply.

How could so many people believe, think, and vote so differently from me? How could our country be so divided? How did we not have a clue about the size of the population that was determined to change things so dramatically?

The most advanced communications technologies ever devised. 24/7 media on multiple platforms. Social media accounts that dazzle us with speedy new bits of information and opinion. Despite all the incredible communications technologies we all use every day, every moment, we have become a more deeply splintered society than ever before.

Im wondering if we have been evolving from horizontal communities that sought the ideal of interacting generationally, racially, religiously, economically, politically, and across sexes and orientations, to vertical silos of political views, religious beliefs, and identity characteristics, where we feel safe and self-assured that our way is right.

And because of this we have lost the importance of experiencing and appreciating diversity of identity and views. We have lost the ability to converse civilly with those who may be different from us in one or more ways. Rather, if we do visit opposing news sites, blogs, or social media accounts, we can post vitriolic, hurtful, hateful comments cloaked safely in anonymity. And the churning media news and talk programs only encourage this trend.

Whats the result of this?

I confess that I have unfollowed Facebook friends, even unfriended some, because I didnt agree with what they posted.

I confess that I have routinely read news and opinion blogs that line up strictly with my own beliefs and opinions so I can justify them.

I confess that I have ignored the person with a different skin color or a different bumper sticker or a different economic status, failing to greet them let alone trying to engage them in meaningful conversation.

I confess that I have stayed content in my urban home and avoided going to the suburbs or the exurbs or even the no-urbs-at-all.

I confess I never had an opportunity to learn something else from someone else.

So I for one never saw it coming. I hadnt a clue. But I am far from alone.

How do we begin the conversation with someone different without ending it in an anger or tears, or worse?

And how do we continue to stand up for justice, freedom, protection of rights, without making the othersthose who might disagreeautomatic enemies?

How do we work diligently for the rights of the marginalized, the poor, the rejected, the feared, while reaching across the aisle to see what common goals we can work toward together?

Im not sure how to answer those questions, yet. Perhaps ever. But maybe a good start is to recognize the silo-ization of our society, to confess how weve contributed to it, and to take one step to start breaking down those restrictive silos that keep us from seeing, knowing, and trying to understand those who think differently.

And then, to take another step.

God, help us.