January 20, 2017

  • Looking Through Rain Soaked Windows

    An Inaugural Poem

    The sky weeps on this sad day
    Tears roll down driver’s side window
    Water soaked brakes keen in traffic
    Mourning the demise of decorum
    The cremation of civility
    The burial of bipartisanship
    We are now contentious relatives
    Contesting the last will and testament
    Of democracy recently deceased

    So sorry that I'm being a little melodramatic. I know it isn't the end of the world or the end of democracy. It isn't even going to change how I live. However it is the end of many things. And the beginning of other things. I see so many parallels between what is happening nationally and what is going on in the microcosm of my life that I am - saddened. I read vitriol on Facebook. I see comments on my 84 year old mother's Facebook page and wonder how her friends of many years have come to the point where they can't agree to disagree and still remain friends. I rarely respond but I shared a photo that was on my feed that I felt was appropriate to her situation. The photo was simply this text:

    "Some of the most incredible people I know voted for Donald Trump, and some of the most incredible people I know voted for Hillary Clinton. The people that I know who voted for Trump are not racist, misogynistic, or hateful and the people who voted for Hillary Clinton are not hateful and intolerable. If you are someone who woke up this morning and is going to start seeing people as who they voted for, and not as the person you have always known them to be, then you are is what is wrong with America. I will never think any less of any person who has different views than me, because some of the most beautiful and inspirational people I know will disagree with what I believe all day long, but at the end of the day they are still that beautiful inspirational person I've always known them as. Don't think less of people because some of their beliefs don't align with yours, and don't lose quality people in your life because you choose hate over love."

    Unfortunately some people read it and thought I was defending the Trump supporters and others condemned me because they thought I was a Clinton supporter. No matter how I voted the point is that we need to remain civil to each other. Name calling and belligerence never makes a bad situation better. We need to bring back the love. You know the kind - "love your enemy" and "love your neighbor as yourself". It doesn't say love only the neighbors who voted the same way you did. Neither does it say that loving your enemy will turn you against your friends. I could go on but I hope I've made my point. I love you all no matter your ideology. I can't control the decisions of others but I control my own - and I have decided on love.

Comments (14)

  • I agree with the need for civility. I admit, however, that I've lost respect for some people over this election, not because of who they voted for, but because of the hatred they bombarded with which they bombarded my Facebook feed and their response when I shared something intensely personal and painful to explain how the memes they were posting were hurtful. I don't throw the hatred back, though; I just unfollow and ignore. One of them actually asked me to send some jam, as if now that the election is over, everything goes back to how it used to be. smh

    • I can completely understand. That only proves the cognitive dissonance theory. Anyway There are many who are overjoyed and very vocal. But just like the football fans who tout their team and are willing to come to fisticuffs with any who won't back their team - these will be the first to turn negative when things don't turn out the way they anticipate. I'm willing to sit back and watch... I may not say "I told you so" but I may not be able to avoid thinking it...

  • An excellent poem for this inaugural day! Although it may be slightly overstated, we have a lot of work to do to rid our society of the vitriol brought out by this election. The quote from your mom's feed is an excellent (and non-partisan) statement of love and positive values! Your comments and Vi's point out some of the reasons I don't have a FB account!

    • I hardly ever post on FB and generally just use it to keep tabs on what my mother is up to. I took the heat for posting that quote on her feed. That will teach me I guess. Anyway I'm hoping the transition goes well. I just wish Pres. Trump would have not nominated so many foxes to watch the respective hen houses...

  • I don't do the FB thing, so I am spared there, but when I read articles online, about Anything, I am sickened how the comments always end up turning political , Democrats vs Repulican, even if the original article had nothing to do with politics at all, like showing a new house, or some kind soul saving an abandoned animal. We are more than our political affiliations! This continued squabbling isn't making our country look good, or even respectable. It's a shame it's deciding friends and families; sort of reminds me of stories of civil war days, so sad.

  • Expected or not,
    I will not raise a hand in
    salute or clenched fist!

    • I'm wondering how congress will behave. I'm hoping we can turn our attention away from the circus long enough to scrutinize the changes being suggested.

  • I read the words you posted on your mom's facebook. I agree heartily. You can vote for whoever you want, and you'll still be my friend. Some in my family voted one way, some the other, and some didn't pick any candidate for Pres. I love them all, and was just proud of them for voting. There may have been a few that just didn't vote, but didn't tell me. I love them too, even if I do think they were failing an important responsibility.

    • Thanks Gracia! I keep chanting my mantra "They will know we are Christians by our love." If we allow love to guide our actions and responses then I think we as a nation will be alright!

  • Interesting comments, and I want you to know I still love "cousin in-law" Betty even though she is disappointed that I am a too liberal Christian. One of our mutual Holy Trinity friends, Carolyn Beard, sent me an email saying Betty had changed churches evidently because HTLC was too liberal and she didn't want me to feel hurt by what was said. I didn't feel hurt for I know how very conservative Betty's dad was...he didn't want banners in the church and refused to pass the peace ... said we were too much like the Catholics...so there you have it. I still like Betty and sent her some get well wishes for her cold. I don't get my skivvies in a wad over that kind of stuff. But it's too bad some people take it all so seriously that they feel they need to find a church whose members' political views jive with their own! Betty was/is a 6th generation member of HTLC. When we worked on the church history found her ancestor was one of the charter members.

  • The behavior of so many American adults over this time period has sickened me ~ but then I remember ~ there were riots, marches, protests, etc. during the hippie movement, the Vietnam War, during MLK's time, and many times over history. America survived, calmed down, went on with life eventually ~ this too shall pass ~ won't it? This I know ~ God sets up and takes down leaders for His purposes ~ He is still in control. Fear not ~ blessings to you ~

Post a Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *