Skip to main content

Today and Tomorrow, Being Side By Side


It began late last night. Shock, disbelief, anger, and grief. My Twitter and Facebook feeds began to try and capture many stunned emotions. Even my Instagram and Snapchat feeds began to showcase the dismay.

Of course, all the feeds contained the celebrations of many Trump supporters.

Reflecting back to the 2012 election, I was curious what some tweets may have been at that time from Romney supporters. What would be the tone and would the verbiage be similar? 

 As Scripture says, "There is nothing new under the sun."




First, here's a few tweets from this morning:


Now, let's step back to 2012:





I don't share those old tweets to diminish anyone's struggle or hurt they are processing today. Frankly, I share them to offer that I and other conservatives know what you're feeling. What may be difficult to comprehend is that half the country does not agree with where President Obama has taken the country. His administration's policies have pushed many away.

Equally, those who voted for Trump are not deplorables, rednecks, ignorant, racists, misogamists, all-white, all-male, bigots, or evangelicals. I know that I have grown weary of being labeled, name-called, and shouted-down or over for the last eight years.

What we need to do now, more than ever is to listen. Hug. And listen some more. Let's stop trying to shove agendas, polices, or how we want someone to change down throats. I know that I need to take more time to understand how and why someone thinks differently than me. And not just one...several people. Many people. Make the time to listen. Hopefully, you'll get the chance to share your thoughts as well. But it starts with listening.

In those moments, it's not about me or you being right or wrong. You feel a certain way and have a certain opinion. Maybe you're spot-on or maybe there's an avenue you haven't considered.

That's dialogue and conversation. With that, we can heal. With that we can be side by side.

New voters, remember this:


 Everyone else, including any #NeverTrump folks, check this out:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

See You Around, Mike

Three weeks ago, I attended the memorial service of a dear Brother in Christ. Sunday, June 10, would've been his 56th birthday. I miss my friend. But what's sad is that I didn't miss Mike until he was gone. At least in the middle of the odd month, but definitely by the last week of it, Mike would always reach out to me with a request. It was usually to load a certain worship music video or some game show music. Sometimes, he needed some specific slides created or sound effects. Mike put a lot of thought into preparing the lessons. For certain lessons, Mike asked the kids to write something that was bothering them or something that was a sin. Then he had them take hammer and nail to that card and attach it to an old rugged cross. Mike often brought in props to physically connect the Bible stories to the kids. For example, when he dressed as an innkeeper and walked in a wheelbarrow full of fresh cow manure. He was adding the smell of a barn to the lesson just to help
Post a Comment
READ THE FULL STORY »

May We Never Forget

On this 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, I'm posting below a story I wrote on the 10th anniversary. These are my reflections on that day.  Looking at the first paragraph, it's interesting how times change. No one has asked me questions of where I was or what I was doing. I'm not sure if many of us have forgotten but more likely we're so very distracted. We've navigated almost two years of a pandemic that's taken and changed so many lives. We've navigated political and cultural changes poorly and emotionally to the point of creating more divisions.  We are not the country we were the weeks and months after 9/11. The bipartisan efforts then were refreshing. The amount of American flags flying proudly and in solidarity was inspiring. Today, it seems many despise their own country and its flag. But even this is not new. While she has stumbled over the years and will continue to do so - America will always be the most amazing country in the world. It
Post a Comment
READ THE FULL STORY »

Reverse Discrimination of Christmas

With Christmas slowly fading from your memory, did you find yourself this year taking a stand for Christmas? I'm not talking about stealing the stand beneath the Christmas tree. Perhaps you missed it but 2009 was the year of sticking it to retailers who refused to display or say "Merry Christmas!" Boycotting secular businesses because they aren't promoting Christmas: righteous or ridiculous? I'll vote for both.
2 comments
READ THE FULL STORY »