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

I Can Honestly Say Jon Is My Best Friend

At the beginning of this year, these were Kate Gosselin's words in an interview with Today's Christian Woman : "I can honestly say Jon is my best friend." Kate also says, "When the babies were born, I was well aware that our marriage could crumble. It was close to doing so at times. But we survived that first year. And then the second one. And then each year after that. Even though the issues have changed, it's never gotten easier. "But Jon and I are more determined than ever that we're in this together. We've told our kids many times that we're always going to be a family. There are no other options. Sure, Jon and I take our stress out on each other, and no, that's not always good or healthy. But we work hard as a team every day."
193 comments
READ THE FULL STORY »

My 50 Things

If you Facebook, you may recall a recent fad where people sent around a list of "25 Things" about themselves. These lists contained facts about the sender and encouraged receipients to share 25 items about themselves. Often the rebel about such campaigns, I abstained at the time but opted last week via Twitter to share "50 Things" of interest about me. Here's the list and feel free to comment:
Post a Comment
READ THE FULL STORY »

My Introduction to the Silent Killer

On August 3, 2022, my workplace hosted a blood drive. Finally! A chance to give blood after not doing so since the start of the pandemic! Not that I was fearful but there weren't many opportunities to give and then I just wasn't that motivated to get out and get it done! As I have the freedom to mostly work from home, a meeting was scheduled on the day of the blood drive which made for a nice reason to be on campus. However, the meeting needed to be rescheduled. This led to thoughts of, "Do I go in just to give blood? I could always find another time." I self-debated for a short while but ultimately chose to go in that day.  After checking in and answering a bunch of questions, the tech took my blood pressure and paused. “Do you have high blood pressure?” The last time I had it checked was probably going in for a Covid test or something but a few years ago I was considered prehypertensive by my primary physician. “You’re 170 over…” I didn’t hear the second figure bein
Post a Comment
READ THE FULL STORY »