Like many, I have struggled the past couple of years. Probably not in the same manner a lot of people have – for which I am incredibly grateful. I still have my job, all of my family members, my home, and so much more.
What I struggled with were things going on in the world; both the world around me and the actual, physical world that we live in. In my own city I saw more shootings and stabbings, Black Lives Matter marches(though organized to be peaceful, they led to a lot of violence), people dancing, stomping, spray painting and destroying police cars, damaging the courthouse, people publicly hating other people for not agreeing with them, and so on.
I saw loneliness.
I saw people dying, everyday. Thankfully no one I personally know, but still a lot of death.
I saw people who are “good”, “Christian”, and whom I thought were on the same course of thinking as me lean extremely far to the other side – and no I don’t mean just politically but yes, in that way, too.
I saw fear everywhere. Fear of getting Covid; fear of job loss; fear of death; fear of travel; fear for their small children and elderly parents.
It seemed as though everywhere I turned there was negativity. It was unlike anything I’ve experienced in my lifetime.
Missing the days of my youth when everything was light hearted and care free, I began reading more. I enjoy reading things from both sides of the fence – both secular and religious; democrat and republican.
I enjoyed and had my eyes opened as I read books on the Kennedy Family, Racism, government hideouts and more, sprinkled with vastly different autobiographies on Elton John, Hillarie Burton from One Tree Hill (my favorite teen drama from my college days) and Mariah Carey.
I also read Candace Owens’ book “Blackout”. To some, she may be too outspoken, but I really enjoy hearing someone who is political, and in the same age range as me, speak on various topics and lean alternately from what is constantly shared on main stream media – aka: conservatively. It is not something I hear often. I won’t share or go into tons of details here but it was packed full of information that I had never read or heard about, and was well worth the read.
Speaking of being worth the read, it is always my intention to try and write things each of you will find relative, helpful, encouraging, or at the very least, thought provoking – but it seems more often than not, my postings turn to spiritual topics. It is not on purpose, but the older I get (Wait, older?! Ignorance is bliss…and so is refusal to acknowledge the obvious) and the closer my walk with Christ becomes, the more difficult it is to avoid writing about His work in my life.
Despite which side of the political equilibrium (Talk about an oxymoron! Very few political things EVER amount to anything close to “equal”) you find yourself on, the problems with our government all boil down to Republicans not wanting to get along with Democrats and vice versa. Each side wants their way, and feels any sort of compromise with “the other side” will make them look weak. So, basically, we have a bunch of children running our country. Don’t you feel safe now?!? 😖It has become disheartening to look at anything on social media, because everywhere you click, people are attacking their so-called friends, or “Followers” with reasons why their opinions are wrong, because they tend to lean towards the opposite side. Whatever happened to getting along, respectfully disagreeing with someone, and NOT letting it affect your relationship with them? We have become so consumed with fighting to get our way, in all walks of life, that we refuse to look at the people who are hurting or affected along the way. For those opposed to government healthcare, what about the person who couldn’t afford their own health insurance before, who can now get the help they need? For those in favor of governmental healthcare for everyone, what about the higher premiums we will now have to pay, to help fund healthcare for those who can’t afford it? There are ALWAYS two sides of EVERY story, so before we begin arguing and judging, be willing to look at every side.
As God would have it, and seems to do more and more often, while sitting here typing this blog, Chris Tomlin’s “Your Grace is Enough” begins playing on my iTunes. As this year ends and a new one begins, may we offer more grace, than we do judgement.