politics - This Little Light

I encountered a discussion the other day that got me to thinking. I am very well aware of the followers I have and am likely going to lose some of those with this post. I just hope that before you hit the “unsubscribe” button, you will at least take a deeper look into yourself and think about things a little more. I thought about not posting, for fear of losing followers, but I feel that I was given the opportunity to be on TV, not just to be on TV and get “famous”, but to reach out to the world and do good. Well, here goes…

The statements that started the conversation: When Trump was elected: “Praise God who put Trump in office – God chooses our leaders” When Biden was elected: “I will pray to God that our country will survive this, the devil is in our country again.” Not only are these really bold statements in general, but they are deeply contradictory to each other. How can God be in control of one election and not the next one? If God is in control, He’s always in control, right?

**Tony and me at the City Museum in St. Louis, MO**

Now, I was admittedly upset when Trump was elected – not because he was a republican either, but I won’t get into why. Through the last four years, I’ve slowly come out of my shock and understand that God does everything for a reason. I can’t tell you why He takes babies and children away, or allows fatal wars to wage for decades, and I can’t tell you why He chose Trump to be our leader for four years either, but I have a theory.

Since the beginning of history, we have changed the way we treat each other as we have become a more densely populated species. At first it was all “eye for an eye” and “love your family and hate your enemies,” then about 2000 years ago, some pretty fantastic guy came along and said “no, love your neighbors AND your enemies.” Since then, we have been constantly redefining how we treat each other. We started with slaves that owed money, then we went to slaves that dared occupy their own land when we decided we wanted it, then we went to slaves that we went out and sought from other countries.

Finally, enough people decided that having slaves is bad. So, we fought a war to end slavery. Then we were like “okay, they’re not slaves, but they have far more melanin than me and are therefore inferior in every way.” Another wave of thought came declaring, “no, they just have more melanin and were never given a fair chance after they were freed, but they are human and should be treated as such” (BTW, this was ONLY about 60 years ago, not centuries). Then everyone (well, the privileged ones anyway) thought they were PRETTY good people and that a utopian society had been achieved.

Hitler was, at one time, the leader of Germany. Yes, I suppose God DID put him there if we are sticking with my line of thinking, but I don’t think it was to kill off a bunch of people directly. I think our entire span of history, we have been going through cycles of complacency and awakening. I’m not (by any means) a historian, but I think Hitler’s reign of terror really drove home the idea that if we are dealt a difficult enough time and a hated/feared enough group of people to blame, we can not only be persuaded into abandoning our morals, but we can be convinced that it was right and just to abandon them.

**More cousins at the Atlanta aquarium**

After Hitler, we were reawakened to the harsh realities of our human nature. We would never be like that again. We had a common enemy, he was defeated and we will never succumb to that again. We were more aware of the Jewish religion and were more careful to be nice and inclusive to those of other religions. We continued to improve our humanity, better and better every decade – slow to us, but change is slow. Then, I think we got complacent again. We (well, at least, me as a privileged white person) thought that every one was almost equally treated, the vast majority of people had love and inclusion in their hearts, and that we were almost there.

Then, something changed. Trump was elected. ***Disclaimer before you get mad, I completely understand that numerous, if not the majority of Trump supporters are good people who just believe that he was going to/did change the country for the better*** We can differ all day on policies and how the country should be run, and that’s fine! That’s how changes for the better are made, but what Trump did, whether or not intentionally, was to bring to light some of the people with evil and hate in their hearts. Trump acted as a divisive sieve to filter out all the degrees of anger on both sides. His words spurned fear, hatred, blame on the other side, and he even seeded doubt that facts weren’t facts that caused a deep paranoia among his followers. He got out on a social platform and spewed rhetoric and propaganda that struck fear in the hearts of some of his followers and made the other side hate his followers even more. Some people blame the media for dividing us, but with Trump standing on his own personal propaganda machine (twitter), we didn’t need the media to know just how scheming and deceitful he could be all on his own.

**Me and Tony Kayaking – me trying to turn a kayak into a paddle board.**

Personally, I’ve learned so much from these past four years. I’ve learned that I have been complacent until this period, I have falsely believed that racism and xenophobia were all but extinguished. Turns out we have a lot more work to do. Trump was ordained by God. Does that mean he’s a saint? No. But, I believe God places trials on us to make us realize areas where we need to improve to better do His work and spread His word and strive toward betterment as a people. I believe He wants us to stop. Think. Consider the views of the “other side” and communicate. Hopefully this will have been an awakening and we will grow toward the light instead of crawling back into the darkness.

**Baby Oscar at Pawleys Island, SC, infatuated with a kite**

I was inspired by the sermons my preacher was giving over the past 4 weeks and thought maybe I could pass the message along to you guys.

This election season has been tumultuous to say the least. Friends and families have been broken up by what color they have decided to vote. I am guilty of alienating people simply based on how I THINK they will vote and, therefore, judging their entire character and deciding how they feel about everything based on one comment they make. It has gotten ugly. At one point, after hearing the sermons online (cause COVID), I thought about all the people I know that I am friends with in real life, not just electronically – people that I work with everyday or interact with, people who are family members. On one shoulder, I was judging them and thinking “how can they think this way?!” thinking that they were a lost cause and deep down inside, wondering if I should even be associating with them. But on the other, much more obvious shoulder, I was thinking “but I really like this person in EVERY OTHER WAY! Our everyday interactions are always fun, light hearted, and pleasant, they are a hard worker and have never given me flack about doing their job or helping out. I even look forward to being with this person” So, how can two shoulders on the same body be so opposed without needing serious chiropractic intervention?

One metaphor I like to think about when I’m frustrated and confused at how many different beliefs there are and why everyone doesn’t see the world like I do is to picture a Monet painting or think of all the microscopic pixels in a beautiful picture. If all the paint dots or pixels looked just like mine, the picture would just be one flat, solid color (maybe semi-gloss cuz I’m pretty interesting). The world would not work if everyone had the same ideas. Tony and I joke sometimes that if everyone was like him, we would all still be living in caves and hunting/gathering because “it works so why change?” – there would be no inventions or searches for better ways of medicine or technology. We would all die from childbirth or a puncture wound. It takes view points from every angle and dimension to make the picture that is our world. Everyone’s tiny pixel of light adds to the depth and meaning of the world.

So the message that my preacher was talking about was that no matter how we vote, we are all still the same people, the same body of Christ (or humanity if Christianity isn’t your thing). We still have to love each other as we love ourselves. Everyone has their own set of experiences that make them who they are and how they think. The worst way to help someone see a better way is to tell them they’re wrong. Nothing makes people dig in their heels and throw you like being told they are wrong or stupid, or blind, or naïve. We CAN get past how someone else may have voted and still love each other. As the preacher said (though he did a magnificent job of not eluding to which way he was going to vote), after the election is over and everything is settled back down, we still have to love those who we disagree with and maybe try to show them the light.

**View interpreted by no less than 5 perspectives**

Maintaining relationships is the best way to share ideas and change as a person. Cutting someone off just because you have put them into an imaginary box that categorizes everything they believe based on how you want to think about them will never help to coax them into a “better” way (just in case your way is, in fact, better). I feel like there are so many good ideas on both sides, but political parties do not come a la carte. They are like basic cable – you like one channel, but get stuck with all the other crap that comes along with it. We are an intelligent species with a 4D spectrum of life experiences and ideas. How on earth do we only have two (real – sorry third party – love you!!) choices every time? Why can we not pick a group of intelligent, non-bribed people to sit around and have intelligent conversations to figure things out? This is SO frustrating to me!

Here are some suggestions on talking to people or posting on social media to help you grow as a person and help others to see a different perspective:

DO: “I believe that this issue could be handled like this – 2-3 well thought out and *researched* points to follow up for why.”
NOT: “Anyone who thinks this other idea is a good idea is either blind, completely naïve, or just an idiot!!”
DO: “I am honestly confused as to why people would think this is the best way, please, with open ears, I want to hear your thoughts.”
1. Then, read/listen to their thoughts (hopefully not just emotionally spewing rhetoric they heard some lunatic saying).
2. Say thank you.
3. STOP
4. Think about their answers, try to see it from their side, from their experiences, try to imaging what has caused them to feel this way. Is it fear? retaliation for a wrong doing? Lack of understanding of another person’s situation? Fairy tale brain (guilty)? Evil demonic possession?
5. ONLY respond when you have let any emotion wash off of you and have had time to consider their side.
6. TRY TRY TRY to never argue with emotion
NOT: I’m posting this article/headline that I haven’t actually stopped to think/research if there is any validity to the sensational message it is implying because when I first read it, it made me mad and it should you too – and if not, you’re STUPID!!
DO: Think about who all will see/hear this statement before letting it out. You may be thinking of someone in particular when you proclaim a statement, but you are, in fact, addressing everyone who might fit under this large net that you have cast. Think of your sweet Aunt whom you love and would never want to hurt, and how she might feel when she reads your post and wonders why you disapprove of her so.

**If all else fails, just go off the grid**

Pro-tip – if you read something that makes you think “WOW! That’s unbelievable!!” whether good or bad, stop, research a little to find out if it’s true, half true, or just a conspiracy theory manifested by a bored journalist who wasn’t getting much air time.

We are more than the allotted red or blue (or whatever color the third party is), we are every shade in between, specks of this and specks of that and some even have a little glitter added. Depending on our lives, what we’ve experienced and the people we know who have experienced different life events, our view on subject matter will differ extraordinarily and we may just need to stop and think about this before we assume the worst.

Tag: politics

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