Skip to main content

Hope For Today - and Tomorrow



On November 8, my stomach was in knots as I watched the election results. I was shocked and surprised. I watched the numbers flip flop so many times in just a single state. It was close. Too close.

On November 9, I woke up and found out the new president-elect. I was surprised. I was also deeply disappointed. I had listened to some of the things Trump had said. The hateful words that were said on the campaign trail horrified me. About the same time, I had heard about his acceptance speech. I heard that it was tactful, almost graceful, that missing from it was all of the hateful things he had said for over a year.

November 9, I also had to wake up really early and get on a plane. I was scared, not of the plane ride - those are nothing to me at this point. The election results scared me. Not because Trump was elected. But because so many people had voted for him - either because of the hate-filled things he said, or in spite of them. So, as I contemplated what this meant for our country, for my beloved friends who will be significantly impacted by the hate that has been incited, and for my God-given neighbors (which means all of humanity), I had to go spend time with hundreds of strangers for the next 7 hours.

Honestly, that was the best thing I could have done. Life moved along. People were in all sort of moods, but smiles seemed to be most prevalent. No one was mean, or hateful. In fact, it seemed to me as though people were even nicer than usual. No one acted entitled. No one acted as if they were better than another. People were just kind and compassionate. 

I was watching "Dead Poets Society" this morning. The character, John Keating (played by the late Robin Williams), had the students stand on the desk. He told them that sometimes, you need to gain another perspective on what's before you. Once on the plane, and in the air, I gained another perspective. We flew over trees, homes, roads - but what stuck out to me was a baseball diamond. It was so tiny from where I was. I could see the whole thing with just a single glance. Yet, people run around it with some amount of effort to play the game. Things have a way of changing when you step back. What normally looks like a struggle, simply doesn't anymore. Seeing the world - my world - from a radically new perspective helped put everything (the election included) into, well, perspective.



This election campaign was hard. The election results have revealed that this nation is divided. We can no longer honestly say the Pledge of Allegiance. Not when the last line contains "One nation ... indivisible..." We are divided. We all know that now. It is painfully and abundantly clear. But there is hope. There is so much hope. I posted an observation on my Facebook page last night. Within an hour, it had exceeded my most reacted to post in my history of being on Facebook. I'll share it here:

Y'all, I think we're going to be okay. I'm sitting on the plane. A young family, who doesn't speak English, got split up in the seating. Several people worked together to help them sit together. That's what God's kingdom looks like. That is what makes America great!

There is hope. I've seen it already. We have to be willing to come to each other, approach each other, out of a state of love and compassion. The only way to overcome this deep, hurting divide is to approach each other with kindness. Christ calls us to "love our neighbors as ourselves." Sometimes, I feel like we don't quite get what that means, or what it looks like. Sometimes, it's hard to remember that everyone has their own story, their own reasons for things. It's time we all replace anger, fear, and hurtful ways with kindness, compassion, and deep Christian/Godly love for each other. 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Easter Egg Dyeing Party - Reflections

This one goes in the books as a "must do again"! We had a lot of fun, especially for something that got thrown together last-minute. For this year's party (which was actually more of a hang out), I bought the following: 25 clear plastic party cups (5 ounces) 1,000 toothpicks (I thought it said 100 - oops!) 100 vinyl non-powdered gloves 5 dozen eggs 1 gallon of vinegar (this was entirely too much!) 2 boxes of regular, assorted food dye 1 box of Neon food dye (We need at least 2 boxes) 1 party size bag chips 4.5 dozen cookies plastic tarp/sheeting plastic tablecloth shaving cream crayons gemstone stickers I found a chart for a lot of different colors you could make with food dye plus water & vinegar. I printed that out and one of the teens happily took charge of counting out the 20 or more drops of dye for each color. These produced wonderfully vibrant colors on the eggs. I showed the youth how to draw on the eggs with crayon which would le...

Hidden Crosses

One thing that's been catching my eye in worship lately has been just how many hidden crosses there are in just the sanctuary. I want to know how many crosses the youth see in the worship space. I want them to look beyond the purposeful and obvious crosses. After we tally the crosses we've spotted, we would head to the youth room. Once we are settled in the room, the first question I have for the youth is "What does it mean that there we found more crosses when we started to look for them?" I plan to focus on how Jesus can be found in the unexpected places. My second question for the youth is "Who is Jesus?" Have them write their answers, so no one is influenced by others' answers. Each youth will then open their Bible to Matthew 25:34-40 . I will have two volunteers read all the way through - one after the other. More questions for the youth: Who is hungry near you? How can you feed them? Is it possible someone is spiritually hungry...

Making and Keeping Friends - Reflections

We had a good time chatting. We didn't always stay on-topic, but that's okay! We started with a game of "switch sides if..." It's a pretty simple game. The youth pick a wall from two opposite walls. The leader reads out a statement, such as "Switch sides if you prefer cake over pie." If you like cake better, you walk to the other side of the room. If you like pie better, you stay where you are. After each statement, those who moved talked about why they moved. We learned quite a bit about each other, and had fun, to boot.  One of our congregation's members is very sick and has been in the hospital for several weeks, and will continue to be there for at least another few weeks. The youth spent time creating cards for her. They are also sponsoring a card shower for the congregation to participate in, as well. The youth will be collecting cards next week to be delivered along with the ones they made. I didn't take pictures of the card-ma...